Being Creative

I didn't go to the General Relief Society meeting on Saturday because a) I just got off the plane from my honeymoon and b) I didn't want to be away from my honey just yet. Thanks to my sister-in-law Karen for telling me to listen to Pres. Uchtdorf's talk as soon as I could.

I like Pres. Uchtdorf. A lot. I believe he is possibly the best-looking member of any First Presidency... EVER! I guess I shouldn't say that I have a favorite apostle or prophet, because they're all called of God and speak on His behalf, but there are some whose words resonate within me more than others. Pres. Uchtdorf is one whose words touch me to the very core.

So let me go back to why I am thanking Karen for telling me to listen to his talk as soon as I could. Karen is a scrapbooker. I am not a scrapbooker. Karen has tried on numerous occassions to get me to come to an all-day scrapping shindig, and on numerous occassions I have declined. My lack of scrapping stemmed from an occassion at Pebbles in my Pocket with Robyn and Heather, where the nice lady who worked there told me that they had plenty of extra materials if I wanted to start my page over again. And I thought I had done a good job. Ever since that day, I've thought that I lacked the creativity to produce anything nice to look at.

Enter Pres. Uchtdorf. The gist of his talk was that being creative was creating something that didn't exist before. If you count creating a mess, then I must be the most creative person ever. He talked about how sisters in the church need to stop worrying about what we aren't or what we lack, and start counting our blessings and rejoicing in who we are and what we have. I have often felt terribly inadequate during my lifetime, and I know that it has been because I have been so terribly blessed that Satan has worked doubly hard on me to make me think that I am not. I don't know if that made any sense, but I am now learning to rejoice in who I am and how to use the tools and gifts that I have been given in this life for the benefit and blessing of others and myself.

I remember thinking when I was single that life would automatically get better once I got married. In a sense, that has been the case. Life is different - wonderfully different - but I am still the same person and I am just as blessed as before. The only thing that is different is that now I have someone to share these blessings with. As mortals, we're always thinking about the next phase and wondering what it will be like. When I was single, I thought that married life is where life really began. Now that I'm married, I'm already thinking that having children will be better. We never seem to be content with our current ciscumstances. I think this is good and bad at the same time. Good because it propels us to progress and move forward in life. Bad because if we aren't moving forward at the pace we would like or the pace that others have set for us, we become discouraged.

Pres. Uchtdorf talked about finding happiness in the things of God. He said that one of the ways we find this happiness is through creating things. The most obvious method of creation is to bring children into this world, but beyond that, using our talents and abilities to create smiles, beautify spaces, teach a child, garden, etc. He admonished us to trust in the Spirit as we go about our daily lives, creating. When we bless the lives of others, we are being creative.

I may not be able to scrapbook or even draw a decent stick figure, but I can lift the hands that hang, I can serve, and I can love.