young women/church/reflections on faith

I serve in the young women presidency in my ward. One of our young women received her Young Womanhood Recognition award today. (It's comparable in scope to a boy receiving the Eagle Scout award.) This young woman, Bethanie, had a program tonight. She asked me to speak as well as the other young women leaders. She also had three friends perform musical numbers. Two girls, Lindley and Kayla, sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (and Lindley played the piano too). Another friend played a piano solo of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief".

The words to "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" really struck me. It's a beautiful song, but I was especially touched by the last verse.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

It just seemed so true. Most of us, myself included, are prone to wander, to not be as close to our Lord and God as we should be. I don't mean to wander. I have always had a faith and belief in my Savior and in the church. I have always tried to live the gospel. Yet, I know that I can do better. And while I am sometimes prone "to wander" or at least to not make time for important things, such as scripture study, I do want the Lord to take my heart and seal it for his courts above.

Watching Bethanie, as well as the other wonderful, talented and deeply spiritual young women in my ward, I see what I want Michelle and Ella to be like. These girls are so amazing. They know who they are... they know that they are daughters of God. They have worked hard to develop their talents. They love and serve one another as well as others. They know that God lives and loves them and that Jesus is their Savior. Quite often, on Sundays, as we stand to say the Young Women Theme, I get tears in my eyes. There is something so powerful about these young women saying, "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places..." Truly, they do strive to stand as witnesses of God each and every day. And they do know that they are children of God. Debbie Paur read "The Touch of the Master's Hand" during the program. That story always makes me cry. All of us have the potential to be great... All of us are of worth. It's hard for me to always remember that... about myself and about others. I am so grateful for the young women. They are not perfect, but they are so good. It gives me a lot of peace about the future. There is much in this world that is ugly and awful and even frightening. But there are so many youth that are strong and capable and that will make great leaders. When I look at them, I feel optimism about the future. I am so glad that I get to work with them. They teach me a lot more than I teach them, I'm sure. But while being in young women's requires quite a bit of time, it is a blessing in my life. And I hope/think it is a blessing in my girls' lives. I often take them to activities and my girls get to see these amazing girls and have become close to many of them. I hope that they will grow to have such strong testimonies and such faith.