I am a Child of God

At BYU-Idaho we have a devotional every Tuesday. Everyone dresses up in their Sunday best and goes to the I-Center at 2:00 to hear a talk given by whomever the university has selected to talk to us. Today, Sister Dana Johnson (an elementary education professor here at the university) taught us. These last few weeks of the semester have been long and drawn out and have worn me out to the point where I want nothing more than to be in my white creeper van driving home with all of my belongings packed away in dusty bins.

Isabel (my roommate) and I dressed for devotional and walked over to the I-Center, both hoping and praying that what was going to be said would be beneficial to us. We have both felt a lack of the spirit in our lives as the craziness of ending the semester has entered our lives and because of the drama that happens on almost a daily basis in our Perkins hall apartment complex. Before Sister Johnson began speaking, I said a silent prayer that I would have an open heart and mind and that I would be able to learn something I needed to from this devotional.

Sister Johnson stood at the podium and shared a quick story of a time when she let a comment that was made, hurt her self esteem and made her question her value as a teacher and person. After sharing this experience, she preceded to ask these two questions: Do you know how great you are? Do you know how limitless your potential is?

Once she asked these two questions, I knew this was exactly what I needed to hear today. I soaked in every single word she said and wrote down as many thoughts as I could....

-Don't lose focus. Satan is going to try and destroy your self-worth and keep you from reaching your divine potential. 

-"I wondered when you were going to ask." Sister Johnson shared another experience where she was drowning in a canal after falling from her bike. As she was starting to accept that these were her last moments of life, she prayed to her Father in Heaven that if He would help her get out of this canal safely, that she would do everything in her power to raise her family righteously in the church. After making this promise, she heard a voice say: "I wondered when you were going to ask." After hearing this story, the thought came into my mind that we often don't ask for help... even for the little things. Sometimes I think I can handle things myself and don't need to ask God for help, but oh am I wrong. God wants to help us with everything in our lives, even the little things. He's walked the path and been through everything already, He knows how to get through it all. We just need to ask for help. We can't do anything on our own, especially if we don't ask for help.

-It is often our light, not our darkness, that holds us back. Each of us were meant to shine. Let yourself shine and stand out. Don't be afraid to show that you know who you are and that you know you are loved.

-Look twice in the mirror... let the Holy Ghost teach and remind you of who you are. Look past your problems and imperfections and try to see yourself how others and God truly sees you.

-God's love is complete and without limit. He knows us better than we think we know ourselves. 

-You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, loved more than you know, and better than you realize.

These were just a few of the many truly inspiring things she talked about today. As I listened to Sister Johnson, my heart was softened and I tried to view others as Christ sees them. Christ loves each and every one of us despite our imperfections, insecurities, and problems. He sees past what's on the outside and what is weighing us down... and see's what is on the inside. Each of us have problems and struggles-God chooses to see past them and sees our potential and what we are capable of. If only we could look at each other through the same eyes and realize we're each fighting a battle. We don't need to be rude to each other to try and boost ourselves up. Because in reality, doing that only brings you lower. 

We are each children of our Heavenly Father. A Heavenly Father that loves us perfectly. We have no reason to feel down on ourselves or beat ourselves up. We're all going to make mistakes, it's part of life. But that's what makes us stronger and helps us to grow.

The other day I was on Facebook and scrolled past a video that people had been watching for a few days now. I had skipped over it numerous times but decided I would just watch it. It was the music video for the song 'Try' by Colbie Caillat. I began to watch the video and instantly fell in love with it's sweet message. The song talks about people starving themselves or buying that extra shirt just so that people will like you. But ultimately all that matters is if YOU like YOURSELF. When you're all alone in your room, do you like you? Oh how important it is to love yourself. I know how difficult it is to look in the mirror and be happy with yourself even though all you see is a person weighed down by the worldly views and opinions of the world. What truly matters is that you see the good things in life, count your many blessings, and love yourself and God.