By Divine Design

Got myself a little job interview over the phone this week.

I'm grateful.

And nervous.

Cross 'em for me...

Pretty please.

________________________


I think the woman is a remarkable creature...not that I'm biased. But, really. I don't think that the "crown jewel of God's creations" is a misnomer.

And it's a shame that so much of this "jewel's" worth is evaluated on the sparkle factor.

A shame.

A brief anecdote might illustrate my thoughts:

Yesterday I did what I often do on Sunday--I went to church. And, like most other days that end in "y," I was running a tad bit late. On my reverent beeline through the storm doors, across the foyer and into Sacrament meeting (the main service), I spied a youngish family that was equally a tad bit late.

I felt somewhat relieved...only to realize that these parents had more excuseable reasons for their lack of punctuality. Four of them, actually.

And then I repented for the n^x time for one of my greatest weaknesses in mortality.

(Obviously I struggle with the "don't repeat" element of repentance.)

I reveal yet another tragic flaw in myself when I say that I noticed that the mother of these four children looked a little frazzled around the edges. I took note of it, actually, wondering to myself if motherhood is really that demanding. Or...if...maybe...she just wasn't overly concerned about appearances.

Two hours later I found myself repenting--yet again.

In the final hour of the church "block" as we say, we were in our all-female Relief Society meeting. The sister who was going to be giving the lesson has a seven-year old daughter who has autism. Regretfully, I don't know enough about autism to know if the condition ranges in severity...but it seemed as though this young girl suffered from a rather severe condition.

As the mother got up to speak, she drew attention to the fact that her daughter was present. She said that her daughter's helper was out of town and her daughter couldn't attend Primary with the other children, hence her visit to Relief Society.

About this time, her daughter started to have a moment. She started throwing books and yelling and not wanting to sit on her chair.

The sister on the left tried to constrain her a little, but that only made it worse.

The young sister on the right was not only a visitor to the ward that day, but an investigator of the Church, and wasn't quite sure how to handle what was going on, so seemed to avoid it all together.

The speaker continued on, but it was obvious she was watching how the situation was being handled.

Just in that hairline moment before the situation crossed into the realm of awkwardly uncomfortable, a woman got up slowly from her chair and walked to the row where the young girl was sitting.

It was the mother.

Of the four children.

The same one I had noticed on my way into church.

She knelt in front of the girl and began to talk quietly to her. I was rows behind the scene and couldn't hear what was being said. But, very few times have I seen such true concern visibly exude from someone's countenance. A perfect embodiement of the characteristics that are unique to women.

So loving. So beautiful. So Christlike.

The girl calmed down.

The mother sat there, crouched down, in front of the girl for most of the class. She read stories, she laughed, she spoke softly.

She nutured.

I was in awe. And I was humbled.

Just hours before I had sized up this woman's outward sparkle. I felt like maybe she needed a little polishing. Like I knew.

But what I saw in that moment was flawless. The inner radiance of that woman cut through the auspices of overly-emphasized physical facades and pricked my heart.

She was confidence.
She was wisdom.
She was kindness
She was charity.
She was beauty.

She was virtue.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Proverbs 31:10