JOSHUA 1:9 BEING STRONG AND COURAGEOUS PART THREE

So there we are standing on the edge of going forward in serving the Lord. Either facing down a crowd of mocking photography chairmen or facing down the Children of Israel. We each have a mission; something the Lord needs us to accomplish. And despite our fears, the Lord has promised us that he will “be with [us] withersoever [we] go.”

Some of my favorite scriptures are ones where the Lord does exactly as He promises Joshua and is big and strong and fights battles to save his children.

I love the story of Gideon and the battle of Midian. Gideon and the children of Israel were being bullied by the Midianites. An angel appeared to Gideon and said “go in thy might and thou shalt save Israel from the Midianites.” Gideon pointed out that he was poor and that he was the least in his father’s house. The Lord said “surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”

Gideon somehow gathered a huge army together. But the Lord had other plans. The Lord told Gideon to weed out his army; twice. First the Lord told Gideon to let everyone go who didn’t want to be a soldier in that battle. 22,000 men packed up and went home. Then, the Lord said, have all your soldiers drink water at this river. The ones who drink this certain way, send home. The others you can keep.

So in the end, Gideon was to try to best this gigantic army of Midian, an army that was referred to as grasshoppers for multitude who’s camels were without number as the sand by the seaside. Gideon was going to go after this army with only 300 guys. Because the Lord wanted to show Israel that they didn’t win battles or wars because of their own strength. He wanted to show them (by using impossible odds) that they would win because He was going to win it for them.

So the Lord had Gideon give every man a trumpet, an empty pitcher and a lamp to go inside the pitcher. Gideon said we’re going to surround this valley of Midianites and when I blow my trumpet, you all blow your trumpets and yell “the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” And then break the pitcher to expose the light. So, in the middle of the night, all three-hundred men simultaneously blew their trumpets, broke their pitchers, held the lamps up and shouted “the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.”

Then the tiny army of Gideon just stood there. The Midianites, awakened and terrified, ran and cried and fled and in their confusion nearly wiped themselves out with their own swords.

The Lord will help us. He will help us against impossible odds. David and Goliath odds. He will help us accomplish whatever mission he has requested of us. I read President Hinkley’s biography and was impressed that he accomplished so much. He didn’t stew and stress at the prospect of something scary. He didn’t hide under the covers. He got his things together and started to march out across his river Jordan. President Hinkley’s biography is entitled Go Forward With Faith.

May we all remember to be strong and of a good courage. To be not afraid, neither be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with us, everywhere we go.

JOSHUA 1:9 BEING STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

PART TWO

So there's Joshua standing on the banks of the River Jordan probably riddled with fear about what he's got to do. He's got to take over Moses's job as leader of the Children of Israel. He's had an insider's view of what that job entails and he's probably scared to death. And for his first big task on the job, he's got to take the entire lot of Israel across the river Jordan to inhabit the Promised Land.

Regardless of his fears, Joshua receives beautiful council from the Lord to “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

I like that even though Joshua was pretty close to the Lord and had been mentored by Moses for years, he STILL needed to have the Lord tell him repeatedly to “be strong and of a good courage.”

I think we need to hear it repeatedly too. We need to remember that the Lord has promised to “go before our face” that He will be “on our right hand and on our left and that his angels will be round about [us] to bear [us] up.”

We can rely on his Spirit to help us remember these things when we feel fearful and weak.

When I was an advertising student in Pasadena, CA, we had a combined project with a photography class. We were assigned to art direct a photo essay showing two disparate groups. Our group chose something like square-dancers and surfers. Another group in the class decided to photograph East-LA gangsters and Mormons. Everyone laughed at the contrast. I smiled too and thought it would be a visually compelling project. But then the photo department chairman started saying disparaging things about members of the church. He gave examples of photos they should take showing Mormons in a derogatory manner. I wanted to run and hide.

I prayed for help; I knew I needed to speak up. All the students in my department knew I was Mormon. My teacher knew I was Mormon. She looked embarrassed by the photo chairman’s comments. She looked at me and I prayed some more. And this great idea came into my mind. I raised my hand and said, “yes, I really like this idea of shooting the combination of Mormons and gangsters. I am Mormon and I would love to talk with you more about my church.” (The photo chairman blanched.) I said, “It will be a great project. In fact, if you’d like to get fantastic photos, there is a visitor’s center behind that large Mormon temple on Santa Monica Boulevard. You can get shots of that temple from the visitor’s center side without getting run over by cars. There are people there who will spend all day with you. They will answer your questions, they will let you photograph them, they might even feed you lunch.”

After the class I was bombarded by the group. They wanted the address of the visitor’s center. They were so fired up. They all knew someone who knew gangsters they could photograph, but they had been worried about finding Mormons. The end result was a gorgeous photo essay. Little old temple workers in their white suits standing in front of the Los Angeles Temple looking confidently at the viewer. A family that had been sealed together posed. The photos were stunning. None of them were in the derogatory light the photo chairman had suggested. It was wonderful. During the final critique my teacher asked me to comment on the project. The photo chairman wouldn’t look at me (in fact, years later, he will still avoid eye contact.) I thanked the group for going to the source to represent The Church. They had gone to east LA for the gangster part and participated in a BBQ with some cousin’s cousin’s gang. The gang photos were authentic and gorgeous. Same with the Mormons. I thanked them for showing an authentic portrait of Mormons, rather than a caricature. It was a great opportunity.

It wasn’t nearly as big a deal as leading an entire nation into a new land, but, I felt strengthened to know what to say. I had wanted to run and hide, just like Joshua might have wanted to run and hide. But the Lord needs each of us to act where we are. He needs each of us to go forward in our mission, whatever that may be.

Joshua’s mission was to cross the river Jordan and to obtain the promised land. It would not be easy. But the Lord would be with him “whithersoever” he went.

What is your mission? What does the Lord want you and I to do? On which river bank do we stand, wringing our hands in fear and dismay?

continues in PART THREE

JOSHUA 1:9 BEING STRONG AND COURAGEOUS IN THREE PARTS

PART ONE

I was asked recently to speak on Courage. More specifically, I was asked to speak on the 2010 Young Women Young Men Mutual Theme:

“Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9)

It is ironic that I would be asked to speak on courage given my speaking history. When I was 14, I attended a youth conference. The following Sunday, my bishop called me out of the audience to comment on my youth conference experience. I went up to the stand and stood at the pulpit and looked out at the ward. I kept standing there, not saying a word, for long enough that my friend got up out of her chair, walked up to the stand and gave a glowing report of youth conference. After she spoke, she looked at me and said, “do you have anything to add?” I shook my head no and went back to my seat.

So courage and speaking have not always gone hand-in-hand for me.

Although, because of my fears and history, speaking on courage was a perfect opportunity for me. In fact, being in a situation that required me to lean on the Lord as Joshua did, was another opportunity for the Lord to show He was “with [me] withersoever [I went].”

I love this scripture! I love to think about Joshua. Moses was the leader and Joshua was the helper for 40 years all the way from escaping Egypt to the Jordan River. I love to be the helper; I find it way more fun to help all you can rather than to lead, to hear complaints and to be responsible.

So at this point in Joshua's story, Moses has died and the Lord spoke to Joshua and told him to “go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give them.” This was the promised land that they had been awaiting for 40 years. This was everything Moses had worked for and that Joshua had helped him work toward.

Can you imagine the intimidation and fear Joshua must have had at this time as he stood there looking out over the river Jordan? Joshua was the new leader. His mentor was gone. And the Lord wanted him to start his new job by taking on this monstrous task.

There were so many unknowns. Joshua didn't know for sure what awaited him and the Children of Israel in the promised land. Would there be a war? Would his people die? Would his people revolt against him? Would he die? And if the children of Israel were anything like my family, maybe just getting them gathered together and ready to march was daunting enough.

The Lord's words to Joshua are beautiful, comforting and one of the best locker-room pep talks one could have:

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage...”

He promised Joshua that if he meditated on the word of the Lord and observed to do all therein, that Joshua's way would be propserous and that he would have success. Then the Lord reiterated:

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

I think I could do just about anything after a pep-rally like that. We too have been promised that the Lord will be with us, if we keep His commandments and if we exercise faith in Him.

continues in PART TWO

GOOD WORKS

Great idea for the upcoming holiday break: most Young Women are going to have a two-week break from school starting this Friday. These two weeks present an excellent opportunity to embark on Good Works Value Experience number 2:

Service is an essential principle of family living. Help plan your family’s menus, obtain the food, and prepare part of the meals for two weeks. During that time help your family gather to share mealtimes. Report to your class what you have learned.

Perfect timing to have a little more flex-time to spend on a two-week project. Plus, wonderful opportunity for the Young Women to learn traditional family holiday favorites as part of their service experience.

STANDARDS NIGHT

Necking. You know that game where you pass oranges from one person to the next by putting the orange under your chin and giving it to the next person's neck? Yep, when I was a beehive, that's what I thought necking was. Only without the oranges.

When I talk to the Young Women about standards, I try to be specific. I try to use their words. I ask them if they know was petting is. They tell me. In their words. Perfect. "What's necking," I demand. (Just to make sure.) They know. They tell me in their words. Good for them. I use their tv shows too. In one lesson about moral purity I used Gossip Girl as an example–of what NOT to do. They knew exactly what I was talking about. So that was convenient. Using Satan's tools against him. Nice.

Our Young Women are being barraged by tons of garbage slung by Satan and his followers. How can we combat the onslaught? Especially when we skirt the issue (literally) and focus on specific skirt lengths or swimsuit yardages...instead of upon the gospel principles behind the standards. It's great to know the rules, but enlightening to know why the rules exist. When we understand correct principles, we are better able to govern ourselves.

We were recently counseled by the Young Women's general presidency to explain the WHY behind the standards. To teach the gospel principles that cause us to develop and maintain certain standards. Hallelujah! When I was 12, 13 and 14 through 18, I constantly wanted to know WHY my parents told me to do things. Once I understood the WHY, I usually decided to go along with the WHAT. (And Dad, 'because I said so' doesn't count as a WHY.)

So we planned our upcoming Standards Night tonight. It's going to be fantastic. It will be in the chapel and will include parents and leaders and stake presidents. It will include specifics. It will be direct and it will be upfront. And it will use the vocabulary of the Youth. It will explain the reasons WHY we believe and act the way we do as Latter Day Saints. It will include refreshments.

However, if it is successful, Standards Night will include more than all of the above. It will include an outpouring of the Spirit. Anything less than the Spirit will be an epic fail. All my talk about being upfront and specific and direct in my language / examples on moral cleanliness will be out the window without the Spirit. Refreshments: who cares? Unless the Spirit has been there to testify to the Youth. The Lord knows each of these Young Women and Young Men. He wants them to understand these principles and to live righteously. He knows what their battles are. He, through His Spirit, is able to convey to each of them in an individually tailored manner, exactly what they need to know. Pretty much as Young Women leaders we have the opportunity to create an environment for the Spirit. Then we sit back, let it do it's magic and serve refreshments.

Good luck to you in your Standards Night. Will you be direct? Will you teach the principles of WHY? Will you spiritually invest for weeks ahead so you may speak and teach with the Spirit? Please don't try this alone. Please don't think that merely referencing Gossip Girl or being specific will convey everything that the Youth need to hear. Please don't teach unless you teach with the Spirit. Especially on this topic. And please remember to define the words. Otherwise there could be some beehives out there afraid to play that orange-passing game....

MEAN GIRLS. REALLY?

Who'd have thought there'd be a reference to "Mean Girls" in a blog about LDS Young Women? Here it is.

Girls as bullies. Sad! What about Divine Nature and Individual Worth? And Integrity (saying we follow Christ and then doing it)?
How is it possible that "Daughters of our Heavenly Father' who pledge to 'stand as witnesses of God' have come to accept and act upon the 'value' of Bullying?

My cousin recently asked for suggestions to help her group of Young Women. They've got a vicious bullying virus. (Some of their mothers have it too!) Perhaps you've seen Young Women not treating each other in a loving Christ-like manner. Perhaps you've heard some unkind words. This is opposite of what should be happening. Young Women should feel lovingkindness and the gentle peace of the Spirit while they are at church. They should feel the fellowship of the Saints rather than despair, depression and isolation. What can be done?

Here are some suggestions:

Don't gossip amongst yourselves (leaders) about any young woman. Focus and talk about each young woman's uplifting qualities, her divine nature, her good choices, her integrity, her virtue, her wonderfulness. If these qualities are not easily apparent, pray for the pure love of Christ and the Holy Ghost will give you a full download on how the Lord sees her.

Pray for charity within your Young Women's group. Discuss ways Christ combatted bullying. Have the Young Women make lists of two or three divine qualities possessed by the other Young Women in their classes / group. Find ways to point out that all children of God have value of the greatest worth. And that our Father has no favorites. Have the Young Women have a group fast for charity, understanding and unity.

When there is bullying, stop the actions immediately. (Remember reproving betimes with sharpness : reproving in a timely manner, in a serious way. And involve the parents.) All bullying, even teasing, should be taken seriously. Parents should be immediately contacted and the issues should be discussed in a formal, loving yet upfront setting.


Here are some resources I found:

1. Check out last month's Friend magazine (September 2009) for excellent basic principles that you can apply in age-appropriate situations for Young Women:

2. In our ward we asked a licensed therapist to discuss ways to combat bullying. The therapist spent an evening with our Young Women discussing bullies and bullying. She taught us assertiveness techniques. We roll-played various ways we could assertively deal with bullying. (Where was this skill-building opportunity when I was a beehive in middle school?! )

3. Some links / books to check out:

a. link with some good books and good suggestions on bullying and on beating "Relational Aggression":

b. this book: (Odd Girl Out)

c. site by/from the US Department of Health and Human Services. wow.

This is just a small overview. Am sure some of you have been working with bullying for quite some time. Please share your experiences. What have you talked about? How did you talk about it? What worked with your Young Women? How have you implemented the teachings of the gospel into talking about bullying? (I loved the Friend's suggestion to use the Good Samaritan parable as an antidote to bullying by being a good neighbor...)

Can't wait to read your suggestions.

ACTIVITIES : WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEK?

This past week each of you were involved with some sort of activity / event for the YW in your lives. mia maids rock is a great place to share ideas and will sponsor a regular feature of activities / events. So chime in! Tell us what you did this week. And tell us what was good / what worked about the idea as well as maybe what could have gone better.

To get you started, here's a list of two fabulous activities we did that were v. v. popular with the Young Women:

1. Study Hall : we supplied snacks and the Young Women brought their homework. They loved it
2. Walking activity : we supplied research findings showing walking's health benefits. Then we all walked 1.5 miles, got a treat and walked back. (Maybe the treat was questionable when couched with health / exercise. But it was the most-popular segment of the evening...)

What did you do this week?

LEADERSHIP MEETING : LEADING LEADERS...?

Hot on our new agenda is a stake leadership training meeting. We have hardly grasped our own stake yw presidency responsibilities and feel overwhelmed with the prospect of TRAINING anyone. How on earth will we train any leaders? I think the 'on earth' is the key. We will not train any leaders. We will only be effective if we pray and study and prepare and then get out of the way of the Spirit, which will train the leaders. I served in a stake primary calling a few years back and found that every time I tried to get in and train or teach or do anything, I merely got in the way. The best training meetings, the best activities, the best anythings happened when I prayed and fasted and studied and prepared, then showed up and let the Spirit take charge. The Lord loves the YW and the YW leaders more than I do. He knows what they need. He knows what they have been seeking. He knows what to say to them. I am merely the messenger, who sends out invitations, shows up and brings refreshments.

Once I figured that out, leadership training meetings were cake.

FOOD @ CAMP

How do you do it?
I am amazed at the ability to cook great food for the masses. When I was a kid, Sister E worked for the local school district as the cafeteria lady. She was way more than average. She made cinnamon rolls every morning for a 'snack.' She also insisted on using real butter in all of her cooking. The kids used to eat all their green beans—probably because of the yummy butter she'd cook them in. She should have won an award.

If I could find her, I'd pay her a million dollars to come cook for our girls camp.

I'm going to try to channel her by preparing some food-snob pizza-on-the grill, caramelized fruit tarts, and any chocolate wonderfulness. What great food experiences have you had @ girls camp?

My dad took the Scouts on a 50-miler and nearly had a brawl over the last grain of salt. Once, we ran out of bread @ girls camp. It caused a bit of stress! Another time, each ward cooked separately for themselves. In general, the food was terrible. One ward in the stake had a visitor who showed up late @ night with an entire car loaded with chips, salsa, candy, soda, and other yummies. The rest of us nearly cried.

So next year I'm trying to take all the good things about food @ camp and eliminate the bad.
What worked for you?
What would you do differently?
Do you hire a camp cook? If so, how do you integrate the YW in the food preparation?
Should I leave my 'foodie' sensibilities @ home? Or is there a way to gourmet-ize camp food?

Would love to hear your suggestions.

CAMP : SHOWER DILEMMA

OK. So, the fabulous Boy Scout Camp built in 1939 has a shower dilemma. Evidently in 1939 it was quite fine to have seven showers all in a row with no shower dividers, walls, curtains or even a hint of privacy. This is not going to fly with girls of 2009. Not to mention with their leaders. What to do?

Our stake YW Secretary is determined to procure PVC piping and create free-standing shower stalls complete with a cute shower curtain from Target. Did I mention how much I love our secretary? I think I'll buy her a year's worth of cookies @ the auction.

If you have any other shower dilemma solutions, I'd LOVE to hear them. Perhaps something that won't cost ten million dollars
and is installable by relief society sisters...

PAYING FOR CAMP

In our stake we've had three years of The Best Fundraiser Ever. We have a service auction. We stole the idea from the Young Adult ward who raised a cool $12,000 for needy families one Christmas. The concept is simple: get people in the stake to donate their cool stuff / services. Then get other people in the stake to buy the stuff / services. We've had professional basketball game tix, financial planning hours, motor-home use for a week, eyelash extensions, private pilot lessons and homemade cookies. Anything you can imagine, you can sell. And most anything you can imagine, you can buy. Plus, we've got this great auctioneer (a real one) who whips the crowd into a buying frenzy. Last year, during a recession, we made more than ever.

There's both a silent auction for the smaller stuff: cookies, cakes, babysitting services, tennis lessons, artwork, yu-gi-oh! card collections, etc. And a big, fast, loud bonifide auction for the big-ticket items.

My favorite part is seeing loving stake members feign battling-it-out over an item, say, a monthly cookie delivery, and end up spending $300 bucks. It's beautiful. And those cookies were definitely worth it.

What fundraising has worked well for you?

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN : INTO THE FIRE

I thought the long succession of weekly activities-to-coordinate was bad. Now I am in charge of the whole stake girls camp. At least until we get a camp director. Our last camp director was FAN-tastic. I am anxious that I am less-than stellar in her footsteps and eager to get a new Post-Sister-Fantastic Camp Director. Last summer the YW in our stake requested Surf Camp. So, Sister Fantastic orchestrated an amazing and exciting girls camp right near the beach in Surftown USA. I can't imagine a more anticipated girls camp. Relatives of stake members trekked across stake boundaries to join our girls camp. Sister Fantastic admitted that she had never received such support from the ward YW leaders. Suddenly, everyone wanted to come to camp and 'help'. Surf Camp was fabulous. Long days lounging @ the beach, tide-pool exploration and hikes with ocean views. It was nearly Heaven. Except, that the living conditions were sub-Telestial. Well, maybe not even that good. Public campground. Gross bathrooms with gross coin-op showers. Tents. Dirt. I know, It was camp; but this was used, dirty dirt. Surf and Skater boys in nearby campsites who had the priesthood leaders on constant vigil. Drunken altercations one campsite over @ 3am.

Yes, we had the fabulous beach and ocean, but gone was the privacy of being able to shout at the tops of your Beehive lungs all the verses of 'I Wear My Pink Pajamas.' Gone was the security of nothing bad out there except for bears trying to get away from all the singing. Gone were the campfire services that alternated between screaming "the Lord told Noah there's gonna be a floody-floody..." and tearful testimonies of daughters of our Heavenly Father. Gone were the mountaintops where we could commune with Heaven.

Is it no coincidence that despite Nephi's proximity to the sea, the Lord asked him to retreat to the mountain to receive instructions on ship-building?

So, next year, it's back to the mountains for us. We've booked a Boy Scout Camp* with a gorgeous lodge built in 1939. Complete seclusion. Just us, racoons, rattlesnakes and, if we're lucky, a bear. I'm told that we can get to the Ocean in 45 minutes for sun, surfing and beachcombing, yet be back home for the best parts of Girls Camp; camp dinners, camp fires, camp songs, camp cabins, camp stories, camp friendships and camp testimonies. I can feel my spirit starting to relax. I can hardly wait.


*Because we're LDS, the local BSA council is giving us rock-bottom pricing on the camp. Hurray for 96 years of BSA-backing!

whew

I just spent three and a half years as a Young Womens president. That's eighteen-hundred-and-twenty Sunday YW meetings, eighteen-hundred-and-twenty mutual activities plus countless stake activities, temple baptisms, standards nights, Young Women in Excellence nights, Young Womanhood Recognition nights, leadership meetings, lessons, rides to-and-from etc. Oh yeah, and eighteen-hundred-and-twenty ward council meetings. I'm pooped. So I thought I'd get a little break by getting a cushy stake YW presidency calling.

Uh, what was I thinking?

The first week we had a two-hour presidency meeting. Plus another meeting with the stake presidency. And then Sunday meetings from ten to five. Yowzah.

Not that I'm complaining. Heaven knows I need all the blessings I can get. And going to meetings has got to have some sort of 'forgive all your sins' bonus. Right?

I'll be back with my take on young womens. But I've got to go lie down for a bit...