Thoughts

I have been reading a lot of Merrilee Boyack's books lately. One of my friends suggested I read "Strangling your Husband is Not an Option." You should have seen Kevin's face when he read the title he he. When I looked it up at the library I decided to place her other books on hold. They have been so insightful.
 I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and things that stood out to me. In her book "Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy" she talks about how we as women compare ourselves. "It is strange to think that probably every one of us has been judged and compared unfairly, and yet we still continue to do it to ourselves and others."
She mentions how we may notice someone got a new car and we may feel bad about our old one. Someone has a great new dress on and looks like she lost weight and we criticize ourselves for a failing diet. We listen to great Sunday School lesson and think of how we struggle with teaching a basic lesson. Then we go to RS and see so many great women and we feel inadequate.
What we don't realize  is that the family got a new car because theirs got totaled, the payout from the insurance was lousy. The sister lost weight because her father passed away and the new dress was for his funeral. The teacher for Sunday school has a father who teaches at BYU and gave him amazing files on the course subject. In RS there's a sister who is struggling with her son; one dealing with health problems, another dealing with the past of an abusive first marriage.
We walk out of church feeling bad about ourselves. "I'm not as slim as Mary", "I'm not as talented as Joann" etc....
 I find myself comparing myself and I need to remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the only ones who can make righteous comparisons. They know the truth about each one of us. What we desire and hope for. We don't know what people go through.

I love how she mentions that Pride can go both ways. One sister may say "Well I was the RS Pres, always had my children and myself dressed neatly and on time to church" In her heart she is critical of others. Another sister may say  "If I had money like that family I could afford nicer clothes." In her heart she covets what others have. Both are being prideful in different ways.

I want to work on this. I know there are times I compare, criticize and judge. I don't need to look at others for what I should be doing or becoming, I need to look upward. We as women are our best enemy. We constantly put ourselves down. "I should have done this," "I could do better at that," "I'm lousy at this." etc... I know that's not what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I need to work on ME and not worry or compare myself with others..

Aside from that I was called to be the Secretary for the Stake Relief Society. I'm excited for this calling, I'll be working with some great women.

We also had our first broken bone in the family. Poor Luke broke his leg. They did a CT scan and MRI and he needs to have surgery. We will be going to Primary Childrens next week.