I spend much of my day worrying. Worrying about my children; worrying about my husband; worrying about work; worrying about not having washed the dishes; worrying about the state of the world, the country I live in and the political situation and how it affects me and my family.

I need to look at the bigger picture and realise that it is not just about me.

Sometimes all I need to do is ask for help. Sometimes I just need to stop! Sometimes I just need to pray. Sometimes I forget that there is something bigger than me, something out there that can help me and protect me, guide me and will take on all those things that I worry about – The Lord.
Continue reading Asking For Help →

I’m sure that I first heard the phrase “emotional intelligence” in the Psychology 101 class I took at university. While I have a vague recollection of thinking it was a cool idea it didn’t really click for me. But now, 10 years later, it is making a daily difference in my life.

Emotional intelligence has a few different definitions. Here’s Wikipedia’s brief definition:
“Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.”

I find that succinct but not very inspiring. This is most likely the sort of definition I was introduced to in school. It makes sense, but has little influence when you don’t understand the depth that this seemingly clear and understandable string of words is really describing.
Continue reading Changing My Life – One Emotion At a Time →

Last week, I offered some thoughts on our obligation as (relatively) wealthy, educated women to those less fortunate. I wanted to make the point that we can effect change no matter our role—mother, accountant, bus driver, and so on—if we obey the Lord’s commandments in our daily work and practice charity with compassion and prudence. I wanted to share an interview with a woman who has done and is doing what she can for causes she cares about.

Claire, could you give me some background about yourself and your work?
Continue reading Interview with Claire Lama →

Sometimes I get a lump in my throat when I’m with my children. I look at their chubby limbs and am fortunate that my family has never known hunger; I hold them as they cry over a skinned knee and feel grateful they’ve never felt worse; I talk through a playground fight, thinking how lucky we are to live without fear of oppression.

Most women reading this blog are part of the global and historical fraction of women with access to education, free speech, first-world medical care, and enfranchisement. It’s good to be a Western, 21st century woman and mother.

A few days ago, I scrolled through images of Syrian refugees clutching children, babies, some of them, as they made the dangerous, weary way to a better life. They are helpless, desperate, and vulnerable. I sometimes wonder how I would respond to the hardships so many women have faced: childbearing and illness before modern medicine, war on my doorstep, oppression, hunger, and so on.
Continue reading Selling All We Have →