Who can find a virtuous woman?
*Today is a rough day to be a mom.
*I have the most amazing daughter who has such a strong testimony and relationship with her Heavenly Father. She prays constantly over her decisions and listens intently for inspiration and guidance to make sure that her life in in harmony with our Heavenly Father's will. I have watched her relationship with the Father grow and develop over time, and I have learned not to question her inspiration because she is often closer to the Lord than I might be in my distracted world.
*Melissa is beautiful, talented, and so full of potential. She is also brilliant. She was Valedictorian, which she worked so hard for. She is simply stunning inside and out. She had her choice of universities to attend and instead of choosing based on other peoples' opinions or national rankings, or even the amount of scholarship money she would recieve... Melissa prayed.
*She prayed to know what the will of her Heavenly Father was. Where should she attend college, which university would provide the social and educational opportunities that would help her grow into the woman our Father wants and needs her to be. The answer was to attend BYU Idaho. Her decision was criticised repeatedly by many of her role models and people of influence in her life. She never waivered. She knew what the Lord had told her to do and she was going to follow Him regardless of the other voices telling her that she must not be listening to the spirit if she was told to go there....
*So now she is at school, in the major she prayed about, in the classes she prayed about and in the apartment complex that she prayed about. And as if to test her resolve (and mine), the advesary is testing and trying her.
*Now let me be clear, she has already had some AMAZING experiences that have boosted her self esteem and self confidence. She is in the Relief Society presidency and has had wonderful feedback from both her choir and piano instructors. She likes most of her courses and is feeling challenged, which is better than feeling bored.
*Her main challenge is that she is living in an apartment with girls that have a very different view of the standards than she does. She is in a situation where she has to stand up for what she believes at a school where she naiively thought others had the same ideals and the same testimony that she does.
*Some of her roomies have issues with 'R' rated movies, morality, stealing, word of wisdom, church attendance, etc.... They all chastised her for not attending BYU and for listening to the spirit, it was as if they had never even thought of praying about life choices. The spirit in her apartment is even more of a challenge than her physics course. It is NOT good.
*It's not that she dislikes or judges her roommates ... but they seem to have judged her as the good little mormon girl and ridicule her publicly and privately. She is in a battle constantly in the one place she thought she could find refuge from the world.
*So being the mom that I am, I did a little snooping on Facebook this morning and was sick to see some of the comments and pictures these girls openly post. The terms and nicknames and provocative poses that made me feel as if my daughter was having to live in Sodom and Gomorrah.
*As she recounts experiences from the lives of her friends as well, it has become obvious just how rare she is. What has happened to our world that virtue in thoughts, words and actions has become so rare? There is a reason that the Young Women have a new value of Virtue... because this value is not as common in our youth as we may have thought.
*I am so grateful for such a wonderful daughter. I am so grateful for the friends that she has here in Nampa... for all those girls who share the same beliefs and values, who stand for what they believe and help each other to live the standards that the Lord has set. I am thankful for those young men who can truly see the value in a virtuous young woman, who think more highly of a girl whose beauty shines through her eyes, not through her immodest clothing and crude speech.
*In high school yearbooks kids like to write 'Don't ever change'. Well Melissa and friends, DON'T EVER CHANGE. Stay true to the values you know are true. Stay true to you Heavenly Father and listen to his promptings. And remember that the Lord has said that a virtuous woman is not easy to find, but is worth so much... it is ok to be an outcast and to not fit in with the riff raff.
*As it says in Psalms 31:9 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies".
*Today is a rough day to be a mom.
*I have the most amazing daughter who has such a strong testimony and relationship with her Heavenly Father. She prays constantly over her decisions and listens intently for inspiration and guidance to make sure that her life in in harmony with our Heavenly Father's will. I have watched her relationship with the Father grow and develop over time, and I have learned not to question her inspiration because she is often closer to the Lord than I might be in my distracted world.
*Melissa is beautiful, talented, and so full of potential. She is also brilliant. She was Valedictorian, which she worked so hard for. She is simply stunning inside and out. She had her choice of universities to attend and instead of choosing based on other peoples' opinions or national rankings, or even the amount of scholarship money she would recieve... Melissa prayed.
*She prayed to know what the will of her Heavenly Father was. Where should she attend college, which university would provide the social and educational opportunities that would help her grow into the woman our Father wants and needs her to be. The answer was to attend BYU Idaho. Her decision was criticised repeatedly by many of her role models and people of influence in her life. She never waivered. She knew what the Lord had told her to do and she was going to follow Him regardless of the other voices telling her that she must not be listening to the spirit if she was told to go there....
*So now she is at school, in the major she prayed about, in the classes she prayed about and in the apartment complex that she prayed about. And as if to test her resolve (and mine), the advesary is testing and trying her.
*Now let me be clear, she has already had some AMAZING experiences that have boosted her self esteem and self confidence. She is in the Relief Society presidency and has had wonderful feedback from both her choir and piano instructors. She likes most of her courses and is feeling challenged, which is better than feeling bored.
*Her main challenge is that she is living in an apartment with girls that have a very different view of the standards than she does. She is in a situation where she has to stand up for what she believes at a school where she naiively thought others had the same ideals and the same testimony that she does.
*Some of her roomies have issues with 'R' rated movies, morality, stealing, word of wisdom, church attendance, etc.... They all chastised her for not attending BYU and for listening to the spirit, it was as if they had never even thought of praying about life choices. The spirit in her apartment is even more of a challenge than her physics course. It is NOT good.
*It's not that she dislikes or judges her roommates ... but they seem to have judged her as the good little mormon girl and ridicule her publicly and privately. She is in a battle constantly in the one place she thought she could find refuge from the world.
*So being the mom that I am, I did a little snooping on Facebook this morning and was sick to see some of the comments and pictures these girls openly post. The terms and nicknames and provocative poses that made me feel as if my daughter was having to live in Sodom and Gomorrah.
*As she recounts experiences from the lives of her friends as well, it has become obvious just how rare she is. What has happened to our world that virtue in thoughts, words and actions has become so rare? There is a reason that the Young Women have a new value of Virtue... because this value is not as common in our youth as we may have thought.
*I am so grateful for such a wonderful daughter. I am so grateful for the friends that she has here in Nampa... for all those girls who share the same beliefs and values, who stand for what they believe and help each other to live the standards that the Lord has set. I am thankful for those young men who can truly see the value in a virtuous young woman, who think more highly of a girl whose beauty shines through her eyes, not through her immodest clothing and crude speech.
*In high school yearbooks kids like to write 'Don't ever change'. Well Melissa and friends, DON'T EVER CHANGE. Stay true to the values you know are true. Stay true to you Heavenly Father and listen to his promptings. And remember that the Lord has said that a virtuous woman is not easy to find, but is worth so much... it is ok to be an outcast and to not fit in with the riff raff.
*As it says in Psalms 31:9 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies".
