Oh boy, oh boy.  I’m so excited about this, it gives me chills.

Remember the story of Gideon, found in Judges 6-11?

Thanks to this talk from April’s General Conference, I noticed more clearly this little part here:

“They stood every man in his place.”

Yes!  Exactly!  Because they were where their leader told them to be, doing exactly what he said to do, 300 men conquered thousands upon thousands.

No matter what the odds stacked against us, no matter how simple our station in life, as we are where God wants us to be & doing what He’s asked us to do, things will work out alright.  We need to stand in our Place.

Now here comes the part I’m all but giddy about.

Savor that little morsel and keep it in mind still while we move on to this talk by Elder Ballard.

“Sister, we, your brethren, cannot do what you were divinely designated to do from before the foundation of the world.  We may try, but we cannot ever hope to replicate your unique gifts.  There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman…”

“Because all women have within their divine nature both the

inherent talent

and the

stewardship

to mother,

most of what I will say applies equally to grandmothers, aunts, sisters, stepmothers, mothers-in-law, leaders, and other mentors who sometimes fill the gaps for these significant mother-daughter relationship.”

As much as the world tries to tell us that men and women aught to be… Oh, bother.  Let me just find that quote from Sheri Dew.  It was so profound, I still remember it and feel its impact 8 years later.

Context:
“Satan understands the power of men and women united in righteousness. He is still stinging from his banishment into eternal exile after Michael led the hosts of heaven, comprised of valiant men and women united in the cause of Christ, against him. In the chilling words of Peter, “The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 4 Lucifer is determined to devour marriages and families, because their demise threatens the salvation of all involved and the vitality of the Lord’s kingdom itself. Thus, Satan seeks to confuse us about our stewardships and distinctive natures as men and women. He bombards us with bizarre messages about gender, marriage, family, and all male-female relationships.”

Here’s the part I wanted to say:
“He would have us believe men and women are so alike that our unique gifts are not necessary, or so different we can never hope to understand each other. Neither is true.”

Thanks, Sister Dew.  You rock.

Indeed, we are different.

But we all have our Place, and each of us have our own divine mission to fulfill, our own path to find and follow.

The members of the LDS church in the 1800′s had to flee their homes repeatedly until they were finally driven out clear over here to Utah.  It’s a desert here!  A completely dry and baren nothing, gorgeous mountains aside, and here they found their Place.  Here they built and lived and tried their darndest to make it beautiful.

Because they stayed in their place, it is beautiful here.  (Fraying at the edges in places as the world gets more wicked, yes, but still beautiful.) The trees they planted are enormous, the cities they planned are blissfully easy to navigate compared to some (Thank you for the grid system, Brother Brigham.  I love it!), and we’re all reaping the fruits of their hard work.

What about us?

It’s up to each of us individually to figure out why we’re here, where we should be, and what we should be doing. My job is different than yours, your family is different than mine, but we share a lot in common.  For one thing, a loving Heavenly Father watches over us all and wants to help us.  And…

The more we focus on what God wants us to do,
the more we turn down the volume of the world shouting at us to buy, buy, buy, & think of me, me, me,
the more we take time to learn, listen, love and serve others,
even when it’s hard,

the happier we are!

And I don’t know ’bout you, but I sure like being happy.

My Place