The past month has been tough for my family. My husband made an extremely costly error at work. My chronic illness left me immobile for several days. My children have had behavior and potty training issues. My husband’s employee fell ill and very nearly died. With the loss of those extra hands on the job site, my husband has been working from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily.

One night after returning home late from work, two of my small children awoke at the sound of my husband’s truck pulling into the driveway and followed him into our bed. He welcomed their sleepy embraces and snuggled them tightly. I could see the stress of the day fall off his shoulders as he heard tiny voices chime “I love you Daddy.” Our children quickly buried under the covers next to my husband, seeking the warm crooks of his arms to use as pillows. He relished the chance to spend a few seconds snuggling with them, taking care not to move abruptly so they could fall back asleep before he carried them back into their beds.

When he returned, my husband reached across the bed and touched my head, “I love you, Brenda. I miss you and the kids when I work this much.” I reached up and entwined his hand in mine and told him I loved him too. A familiar peace washed over me in that moment and I recognized the feeling as joy. That night I fell asleep smiling, my heart swelling to nearly bursting, with love for my family.

Shortly after this experience, I read a scripture that matched my emotion. The scripture that touched me is found in a book of scripture called the Pearl of Great Price and it is quoting Eve, mother of all. In this scripture, Eve is reflecting on the choice she and Adam made in Eden.

Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed (children), and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient Moses 5:11

After reading that scripture I thought back to that familiar peace I had felt only nights before and realized my heart was singing Eve’s song. Despite the physical and emotional pains brought on by mortality I was still able to experience joy, just like mother Eve.

In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Lehi explained Adam and Eve’s choice further:

And they would have had no children, wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy. 2 Nephi 2:22-25

I am thankful to Adam and Eve, for choosing life, and for giving me the opportunity to experience joy here on Earth and in the life to come.

The post First Person: Singing Eve’s Song appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Clancy shares this poem, with this introduction: There are times in life where I’ve felt like I’m floundering… bobbing along with no direction and accomplishing very little. It was during one of those times, a January in my life, that I realized, as I walked past my flower garden wherein lay the frozen roots of perennial flowers and shrubs, that something happens to those roots in those cold, dark times that cycle through every year. I don’t understand the physics or biological processes that occur, but the results, when the weather warms, is the beautiful conclusion of that process that I don’t fully understand. From that life-metaphor came this poem which helped me have the faith to get through my own dark, cold cycle in life.

Green and lush, with fragrance sweet
And variegated colors,
The flower thrives on warm summer days
With sun and soil and water.

As days grow short and seasons change,
The blossom dies, the color fades,
Withdrawing into its stable roots
Vitality that held the bloom.

Clouds roll in, and snows descend,
Covering life with a blanket.
Sounds are hushed. Life is still,
But growth goes on beneath it.

What growth occurs, the eye can’t see,
The blanket quietly hides,
While covered up with frost and earth
The root grows strong inside.

Gently loosening it’s hold,
The frost begets the waters’ flow.
Days grow longer. Life awakes.
The dormant root, its quiet breaks.

Shoots reach up with perfect faith,
The cold a forgotten friend,
Through the earth ’til surface breaks
Where life begins again.

Harsh, though, that blanket seems
Of cold and snow and frozen earth,
Life demands those quiet times
Where after comes rebirth.

——-

For more Sharing Our Voices content, including poetry, see here.

The post Poetry: Dormant appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.