Queen of Alll Things Awe-Summ!!!

When Nancy from the Blog Something Marvellous sent me the notice that she had awarded me the most coveted Queen of Alll things Awe-Summm award I simply chuckled and thought to myself, she doesn’t know me very well, does she! LOL But then I simply took a moment to ponder this award as a symbol as it applied to a very important gospel principle. The principle I am thinking of is that of the importance of covenants.

As a member of the LDS Church who has entered into the Temple and made covenants with the Lord, I have actually been given the possibility of this award, as set by the terms of the covenant. This covenant, formally named the Abrahamic Covenant, outlines the terms of the relationship of the Father with the children of Abraham, requiring those who wish Him to be their God, to “walk with Him” in obedience to His Word. In reward for this submission of will, the Father has promised all that He has.

To receive the award, or for symbolic purposes the promise of being the “Queen of all things awesome”, I must simply bind the Lord, or hold Him to his word, by my obedience to my end of the deal. I really do have the potential to become literally a “Queen of all things awesome”, and a priestess by right. This thought is boggling to my mind at times, but therein lies my hope as well. Perhaps Nancy does know me better than I think!

So to all my female friends and fellow saints who have entered into sacred covenants, I award this honor of someday being Queen of Alll things Awe-Summm, but until then, this cute honor, to remind us to be obedient, must suffice!

Here are the rules:

List 7 things that make you Awe-Summ and then pass the award on to bloggers. Make sure to tag your recipients and let them know they know. Also link back to the QUEEN that tagged you.

1) I am a daughter of God and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

2) I understand my divine role as wife and mother and am thankful to be both.

3) One of my favorite things to do is study the scriptures, especially with "study buddies."

4) I am a Family History freak! I love to do genealogy...really anybodies!

5) I belong to a Young Adult Branch even though I am a "Old Dog".

6) I love spending time in The Doghouse, real and virtual.

7) It is easy for me to love others, and I am a "hugger".

I guess it is now my turn to pass on the crown....but my Queenly friends have made it clear it is to stop here!

Mothers, Called and Elected

Before the world was created, in Heavenly councils, the pattern was set and the role of women was prescribed. Called by God, to be wives and mothers in Zion, the blessing of exaltation was to be the reward, only predicated on the faithfulness to that calling. Each woman who is on this earth today chose, or elected, to follow this plan and were rewarded with the tools to make it possible, a body of flesh and blood.

As a woman, ours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all living, the one who understood that she had a calling to fulfill and elected, by choice, to do so. Her choice made it possible that “man might be” so that there would be a fullness of joy.

Ours is the grand tradition of Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, without whom there would have been no magnificent patriarchal promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which bless all of us today.

Ours is the grand tradition of the mothers of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors from the Book of Mormon, who taught their sons to have great faith.

Ours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry, and bear the Son of God Himself. We have been called and have elected to help with the divine work of the Lord in “bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Elder Matthew Cowley taught, “Men have to have something given to them in mortality to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. They are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be saviors of human souls… and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley stated, “God planted within women something divine”. That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood.

This eternal calling extends far beyond this life, but is one from which no official release is given. Obedience to the plan that the Lord has set forth in His gospel instruction of discipleship as one who “receiveth His law and does it” makes the promises of Eternal Life sure. Mothers in Zion therefore have received their calling, have elected to fulfill it, and by obedience have made the blessings or promises for doing so sure.

It is such a privilege to be a Mother in Zion.

The picture is of my dear friend Annie, she is to me, a beautiful example of a woman who understands her role as a wife and mother. Thank you Annie for the great example you are for me.

The Different Priesthood Roles of Men and Women

The Priesthood is the power by which all things are created, governed, and ultimately redeemed. Women and men both play integral roles in that priesthood responsibility, as delegated to them from the Father. Both are equally needed and important, and are required to fulfill their priesthood obligations as they covenanted to do, they simply have different assignments within that priesthood organization.

The priesthood responsibility of the woman is to provide physical birth. This is fulfilled through the righteous union of the opposite sexes through the sealing power available in the House of the Lord. Thus, as stated in The Family: A Proclamation to The World,

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose....

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”

Although some women may not have that sacred blessing of actually experiencing the physical birthing process in this life, ultimately she will be able to fulfill that priesthood responsibility if she remains true and faithful. As a testimony of that fact, she experiences the cleansing power of blood every month and is pronounced “clean”.

Men, on the other hand, have the sacred responsibility of providing an opportunity for “spiritual” birth. This process is done through the administration of the ordinances required to allow the spiritual birthing process to take place, these include faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. This may be referred to as the process of becoming “born again.” When the man faithfully fulfills his priesthood responsibility he “may become clean” as well.

Once the woman and the man have worked “with one heart and one mind”, submitting their will to that of the Father, by performing these sacred priesthood duties, they are then ready to enter the House of the Lord to administer in the “higher” priesthood saving ordinances together.

Thus, neither is the man without the woman or the woman without the man, in the Lord. Both are needed to further the beautiful plan that the Father has made to “bring to pass the immortality and Eternal life” of His children.

The Priesthood is the power by which this is accomplished.

Taking Upon Us The Name of God

As I was reading through some Blogs about LDS Women, I came across this Blog called LDS Women of God and was fascinated by a post on the Abrahamic Covenant called, Taking Upon Us the Name of God.

In the post it explained the meaning associated with the changing of the names of Abraham and Sarah, with the addition of the letter H.

The name change served as a reminder that they had entered into covenants and received further light and knowledge.

I loved the explanation in the Blog, go and check it out!