When I think of creating a sacred summer, dozens of ideas come to mind—all wonderfully amazing things I could do with my children to bring a sense of the sacred into our summer.
But then it occurred to me one day.
Sacred isn’t something we do.
Sacred is something we are.
Sacredness begins within the secret chambers of the heart, reaches out to the world around us, and then circles back to envelop our hearts in peace.
In the sweet words of Marjorie Pay Hinckley:
“True spirituality makes you loving and grateful, and forgiving, and patient, and gentle, and long-suffering. True spirituality breathes reverence into every act and deed. It compels you to get in touch with your Heavenly Father every single day of your life.”
Don’t you love that? “True spirituality breathes reverence into every act and deed.” That is the essence of a sacred heart.
Imagine if just one person embraced the subject of sacredness with such passion, such zeal and devotion, that it literally became part of them. Can you imagine the result? Christlike light and holiness would naturally radiate outward and encircle everyone in that one person’s sphere of influence.
You can be this person—no matter your station, stature, or calling in life. You can create a sacred chamber within. You can embody sacredness.
My call right now is to be a mother. And oh how I need sacredness in this daunting stewardship. I want to have the light of sacredness emanating from me like the beacon of a lighthouse. I want my children to feel safe and loved and peaceful in our home. I want them to feel that when they are with me they are in the presence of a true disciple of Christ. Nothing I endeavor to give my children can surpass the gift of who I am and how I mother them.
I think I have focused too intently on how to be a good mother with all of the accompanying shoulds and to-do’s. I’ve lingered too long in the valley of “I need to do this, that, and the other in order for my children to be happy.” I’ve stressed too much about implementing programs and lessons and activities. I’ve worried too often about how to make their childhood “perfect,” and not enough on how to perfect myself for them.
I may be a slow learner, but Heavenly Father is ever patient with me. And He is teaching me now that what I do for them will never satisfy that deep longing I have to be a good mother. The only lasting legacy I can give them is myself.
So this summer, I will endeavor to become sacred for them.
- I will dive daily into God’s word searching for answers and strength and peace.
- I will call upon Father and pray for my children with all of the fervor I can muster.
- I will model for them the virtues and practices I want them to embody someday.
- I will speak with the tongue of angels.
- I will take time to be still as often as necessary, to calm my anger, hurt, or the sense of overwhelming responsibility I feel. And in those moments I will just breathe. And pray.
- I will center myself through daily pondering and meditation in order to create a calm pillar of strength within me so that stress, emotion, and opposition have no power over me.
- And most importantly, I will seek to obtain the Holy Spirit as my guide, because when He is with me, I am able minister to my children as if the Savior Himself stood beside me.
This could be the summer of sacred becoming.
