I don’t know if Cassy Budd would use the term healing in the telling of her story, but she speaks healing truth to me. I was so grateful to have this devotional, entitled “On Failure and Finishing,” pop up after listening to Craig Manning’s address. (What a wonderful divine Valentine’s Day gift!)

Cassy is a master storyteller, and she hits on so many false beliefs that many of us carry around…and on how the Savior wants to help us in and with and because of our weakness and failure — not after we figure out how to save ourselves! Learning how to let go and let Him is so much what our part is about.

Once again, I express gratitude for the courage it takes to share weakness in such a vulnerable way. I truly believe it is only in the context of our weakness that we can help each other find God’s strength and healing power. (Again, if we could save or fix ourselves, why would there need to be a Savior?)

My favorite insights (if it’s possible to have favorite insights from a talk like this) are at the end as she talks about her spelunking guide, Mike. The parallels to the Savior’s grace, wisdom, and love are stunning.

(I shared this with multiple friends, and hope you will do the same.)

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Editor’s note: I never did get the additional motherhood posts posted around Mother’s Day; I often bite off more than I can chew when it comes to all the ideas I have for what to post. So when I saw this essay from my friend, I figured I had a chance to redeem myself, maybe a little. I love my friend’s honesty. I, too, struggled with my temper when my kiddos were small, and I, too, have found that God has helped me become better. It gives me hope as I struggle against other weaknesses that are part of this mortal condition.

“Losing my temper: Utah’s Young Mother of the Year confesses all” was written by a friend of mine whom I admire a great deal. I appreciate how real she is, and the testimony that God can help us with our weakness when we ask for His help. It won’t always come immediately (after all, we are here to learn and progress and grow line upon line), but He does care about our desires to be better.

I’m reminded of a talk on motherhood by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever.

One young mother wrote to me recently that she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.” She worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be able to be equal to the task, the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.

But one thing, she said, keeps her going. I quote: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him.”

I truly believe heaven heralds the work of mothers. It is worth it, moms, now and forever. God knew He would send His children to imperfect parents. He will help us and our children as we (and they) turn to Him.

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“I am a recovering addict,” “Ana” said in one of the first meetings we had as a new ward. She openly shared her struggles with drugs, and how much the Church’s addiction recovery program helped her.

If she was afraid of what we would think, she didn’t show it. I don’t think she was, though. She was comfortable enough in her own skin — comfortable in the reality that our struggles in mortality include weakness and even sin — that she wasn’t afraid to say “I’m not perfect. I’ve made mistakes.”

And we all respected her more because it wasn’t just that she was willing to share her struggles, but that she then testified so boldly, so powerfully, of how God helped her and changed her. The Spirit was strong and I felt uplifted, filled with hope that I could face my sins and weakness and shortcomings with faith and hope.

Another woman who comes to mind is “Emily” — a woman who taught lessons that taught me much about the scriptures. But she also just talked about her life and struggles with depression, and as an imperfect mother of a large family. “I only yelled once yesterday! I’m proud of myself!”

It’s not that I believe we should revel in our weakness and sin. But she wasn’t doing that. She was rejoicing in her progress, and acknowledging in her confession that the beauty of the gospel message is that because of the Savior, Jesus Christ, we can progress, change, grow.

And they reminded me that I don’t have to be perfect.

The truth is that we are all imperfect, and I am grateful for women like Ana and Emily who are willing to share their weakness and how the Lord helped them find strength. They remind me of what the Lord has said:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

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