August 2007

One of my childhood fears is being lost. I can remember being four and being lost.
I Still find going to new places difficult because I don’t have my bearings. I am always lost.
I missed our ward’s 50th anniversary in July. My sister went and found she was forgotten. No one there remembered her until she mentioned her name. Then they remembered our parents. Even in her home ward she feels invisible. My sister went to girls camp in July to help with the program. The other day one of the leaders was telling her some of the things they had done. She said, “I know, I was there.” After a pause the YW leader said, ” Oh, I guess you were.” She has been stake and ward Relief Society President, stake and ward Primary President. Ward missionary, Seminary teacher. cub scout den mother, wife of a member of the bishopric, mother of seven, public school teacher and is involved in bettering her community. And yet she feels invisible.
This is how I feel going to church. I go alone and most times feel invisible. So I was interested to read-- Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy By Elder David S. Baxter of the Seventy in the August Ensign. He writes,
“Thirty-one years ago, in what I consider to be a landmark address titled “Notwithstanding My Weakness,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to those who feel a sense of personal inadequacy. He directed his remarks “not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security, but to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short.”
Now, more than three decades later, I believe many Church members still feel deeply inadequate at times. Such feelings can come as a result of unfair comparisons with those around us. We “look at others with their lands and gold” and forget that “Christ has promised [us] His wealth untold.” Sometimes the unfortunate actions and unkind comments of others can diminish our feelings of self-worth. Young people are often on the receiving end of harsh criticism from peers, teachers, and even parents. Many adults experience the emotional turmoil that follows personal rejection or fractured relationships. Some worry that they are simply “not good enough,” a feeling that may be reinforced by carping comments from unkind and unthinking spouses.”
So settling into my big sister mode, how do I tell my sister she’s doing fine and don’t worry about what other people do or don’t do, when I feel my own inadequacy ? I guess I’ll say-- I am a child of God. And God doesn’t make junk

Wendy

"You can't think about things you want to change. Just be yourself." -- Ethan Embry.

"Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this." -- Eleanor Roosevelt

"You are nature's greatest miracle. There never has been and never will be anyone just like you." -- Brian Tracy

"You were born rich with 18 billion bountiful, beautiful, totally available and in all probability under-used brain cells awaiting your desire, decision and directional compass to take you onward, upward, goodward and Godward." -- Mark Victor Hansen