Values

If you grew up as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, like I did, and if you are a woman, then you probably remember the Young Woman's Theme. It has changed a little bit through the years, but it goes something like this....

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places and we strive to live the Young Woman values which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue (this is a new one)
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple and enjoy the blessings of exultation.

I always loved the theme. I even cross stitched it....yes I am that geeky. For a while I forgot about them all together...not that I hadn't already ingrained them into my brain and into my life style, but I just didn't contemplate them much as an adult, until I came across this quote from one of Dr. Laura's listeners.

Dear Dr. Laura,
I would like to say I always enjoy your program, but too often you make me look inside myself at a level that is not always enjoyable. However, the results have been that I am a more confident person because (this is the line I like, so don't skip it) I am sure of my value, because I am sure of my values. -JoAnn.

This is what we should be teaching our kids...and reciting to ourselves everytime we look in the mirror..."I am sure of my value, because I am sure of my values.

I love this quote!!!! Our world is increasingly lacking in a lot of these values. With the Young Women's Values outlined for us LDS girls, and I might add that they are very poignant for Women too, it gives us a grid to work from. We all have our own kind of beautiful. These valuse don't tell us that we have to get into the mold machine and be molded into copies of each other in designer jeans and heeled boots, with our fancy bag hanging off our elbow, and an iphone stuck to our ear. These values encourage us to be GOOD PEOPLE. It doesn't say be perfect or be the best, the theme says, acknowledge that you have power in you to be more than the world thinks you should be. It's not always easy to follow these values, but if you stick with them, you won't regret the person whom you have become... no one ever gained anything worthwhile because it was easy. The best things in life are hard to achieve and usually they are the things that we have to sacrifice for.
If we exercise Faith in Heavenly Father, we can have a knowledge of our Individual Worth. We can feel of His love for us...on an individual level. By understanding our own worth, we can see that God has given us a Divine Nature as women...it is different than men...being a woman is divine...we are the one's that have the power to create life (very godlike) and nurture. This is an especially diminishing value. It worries me. As we gain the knowledge we need in this world, we can use our Faith to strengthen us and testify to us when we find Truth. We can then use that knowledge to make clear decisions. No decision comes without consequences, it's just that some consequences are good, and some are, well, not. So sometimes we have to use our faith and knowledge to help us get over a bad choice and a bad consequence. For sure, we know that Good Works always make us feel better. Why? because we put our own needs aside...we forget about our own boo-hoos and think about someone else's boo-hoos. As we do good works, we are also exhibiting our divine nature, because women like to help lift another's burdens, we like to strengthen, we like to feel like we are making a difference. Besides, by doing service, you learn to love those whom you may not have loved before. We develop deep and lasting relationships with those that we serve...parents, children, students, neighbors, friends. Integrity....don't even get me started about this one. Does anyone have it anymore? Don't be flaky. Don't agree to come to a gathering and just decide you have better things to do. Don't commit to someone or something unless you are going to do everything in you power to fulfill your agreement. What ever happened to "my word is my bond?" If you have Integrity, your word will be your bond and those you serve will know it, and they will trust you and rely upon you. And finally, the newest of all values is, VIRTUE. I.LOVE.THIS.VALUE. Raise your hand if you think virtue is utterly overlooked today. OK. My hand is waving above my head is yours??? Virtue is defined a couple of ways that I like. Chastity. Effective force or POWER. Valor. WOW! I never looked at Virtue as being a power. But it is. These values are virtual super powers. Not all super powers(flying, stretchiness, fast running ability, super human strength, invisibility, etc.) bring happiness and fulfillment of life's purposes...but the powers that we have when we clothe ourselves in the Young Woman values, strengthen us to be SUPER, STRONG, Courageous and HEROIC.

So I pose this question to you: Are you gonna wear the Young Woman's values or those BIG STAR/Monarchy/Dulce and Gabbana jeans?!

P.S. Why don't the boys recite these values every week? Would it not benefit the boys as well as the girls to have a little more character? I think I might have to write a note to the Education Department @ the Church Office Building.