God's Glorious Angels

When I was a young woman, I had no need for other women in my life. I thought men had what I wanted, so I spent nearly all my leisure time with men. I did a spectacular job at understanding what men want in a woman, becoming a chameleon and changing myself to please the man I was with in order to obtain his love. It was my quest in life.

While I did indeed acquire a number of husbands (not all at the same time mind you – that’s an LDS joke by the way, and since I’m LDS, I can say that), I later discovered that men really did not have what I wanted. Men taught me what they wanted in a woman, but they never taught me how to be a woman. They couldn't. Only other women have helped me navigate through the University of Womanhood.


These wonderful women taught me that being a beautiful woman is an inside job, not an outside makeover. It does not matter what I wear, how I speak or how others accept me in society. What matters to me about being a woman is that I know who I am – I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father, a woman of eternal value. It matters to me that I know how important my words are as a woman. I can lift up another through kind, inspired words, or I can lash out, shout profanity and belittle those around me. It is my choice. And, I choose to exercise kindness and integrity with my words, rather than dirty my own mouth and harm the ears of others with sharp barbs, profane language and ridicule. It matters to me how I treat others - I try to treat them as I would want to be treated. Hopefully, I treat those around me as my brothers and sisters, with love and tolerance. It is an exercise I must continually work at. As a woman, I have an enormous impact upon all those who enter my sphere of influence. I must acknowledge that impact and be responsible for my words and actions. A beautiful woman is one who isn’t afraid to let her light shine on all those around her!


Recently, I had a small group of women friends over to my house. I’d felt inspired to reach out to each woman individually over the years, and then most recently, to introduce them to each other. The dynamics were delightful. We talked and laughed, empathized and ate, joked and consoled for nearly five hours that night. Several of us had experienced difficulties that day, and it was such a relief to share those thoughts and feelings within the presence of these safe and wonderful women.


From the fabulous film, “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”:

Teensy: We'll leave you alone.
Caro: But we'll be listening from the kitchen, so talk loud.


Along my path I was taught that “a man will want to pinch my butt, but a woman will be there to save it”. I was taught to seek after women who “have what I want” and “do what they do”. How grateful I feel today that I followed the advice of the sage woman who shared that adage with me years ago. As a result, I found women who had what I wanted – sober women, women with loving families, women who had Jesus Christ as the center of their families, intelligent women, who were willing to impart of their wisdom to teach me, both spiritually and temporally, the knowledge I needed to learn. And, I remain teachable.


By being open-minded to the things God would have me know about myself and what He wants me to become, I am able to be that woman of eternal value, who can look behind me and stretch out my hand to other women, who want what I have. I am grateful to have something to give back, to help others. My failures and personal tragedies are now the tools I can use with other women as I share the joy of walking through difficult times with God at my side, and the angels He has sent to help me, the women I call my friends.


My Cup Runneth Over With Angels, Y'all!