being cindy {baldwin}: Relief Society Declaration Part III: Nobility ...

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening

marriages, families, and homes.

Find nobility in motherhood

Delight in service and good works.

In the LDS church, a lot of emphasis is placed on the role a woman has to strengthen her home and family. For most of my life, I took a fairly narrow view of this idea?feeling like it probably only applied to mothers of children. I eagerly anticipated the day that I'd be able to fulfill my?role as a woman of God by raising my own children in righteousness.


Mahon and I have gotten to experience a much longer period of marriage without children than most people in our culture do. Most of our friends have at least one?and more often than not, two or three?children already. What I have learned in these three and a half years is this: The role of a woman of God extends far past motherhood, although that is an essential part. The role of a woman of God is one of power, of strength, and of joy. It has less to do with the actual circumstances of our lives than with how we choose to use those circumstances. I, as a childless wife, have great power in my own home to strengthen my marriage, family, and home; to find nobility and joy in what I do; and to delight in serving those around me.


I learned very quickly after we got married that, as important as my husband was in our home, the overall tenor of our home really came down to me. If I was happy, he was usually happy. If I had read my scriptures, the Spirit was easily felt in our home. If I put my heart and soul into making our home a beautiful place that we loved to be in, it worked.


Over these years, I have come to understand more fully just how important the role of home-maker?is, whether children are a part of the picture or not. I have come to recognize that creating a home which can "compare to temples in sacredness" is, itself, a sacred responsibility. I have come to have at least a slightly better understanding of the incredible innate power of a righteous woman. I have come to feel delight in my opportunities to serve others, even when they seem small and insignificant. I have always loved the fact that I was born with two X chromosomes?but these years of marriage have instilled in me a deep love and appreciation for the strength inherent in my own femininity.?


I love the words used in this section of the Relief Society declaration to describe essential characteristics of women: Nobility, Joy, Delight.?All of them are words of power, of clarity, of purpose. All of them make me want to stand a little taller, dig my roots a little deeper into the heart of this beautiful Gospel, which teaches me that women have great power, and can also have deep joy and rejoicing.


A woman's role is not something that can necessarily be easily defined. A woman's role can have as many interpretations as there are women in this world. For some, it will include children. For some, it will include a husband. For some, it will include a career. For some, it will include a life where the primary focus is the maintenance of a home. And for some, it will include a combination of all of these things, or none. But?as hard a time as I may sometimes have shrugging off my own pre-conceived notions?I know, deep within my own heart, that none of these things matter, in the end. Each of us, in our way, can be home-makers. Each of us can create for ourselves and our loved ones a haven of peace and rest. Each of us can find joy in womanhood, nobility in what we are specifically called to do. Each of us can delight in blessing the lives of others with our own unique talents.


No matter what our lives actually look like, one thing is always true: We, as women of God, have the potential to do great?things.

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