Why So Serious?

I need to get something off my chest. I know, as 'unendowed' as I am you'd think I'd be happy to have something on my chest, but not this. I've been cynical and humorous, and I carefully considered whether to include a post that is serious. But, I feel like I need to. This blog is about my thoughts and this is where my thoughts are right now. So, here goes.
Do you ever look around at the women you know and wonder what trials they're going through? You know everyone has them, but from the outside looking in, we have no idea the private challenges each other faces. They say that if you had to choose, you would pick your own trials over someone elses. But, when you're going through something, you start to think that other people's problems couldn't be any worse than yours. (I know it isn't true, but it feels true.) You see this woman, and her hair is always cute, her clothes nice and fashionable, her figure just right. Her kids are well-behaved at church and she gardens her yard so it's immaculate. So, do you ever wonder----
Does she ever feel like screaming out loud at the injustices in her life? Does she ever lie in bed, concentrating on keeping her breathing steady, so her husband won't know she's crying? Does her heart ever break because she feels like she has totally failed as a mother? Does she ever look in the mirror and think, "Seriously!"? Does she ever wonder if someone, anyone else feels like she does?
I'd like to think we all have those moments. (Otherwise, I am really alone, and I don't want that!) But, we feel like no one else does, that somehow, we are defective and not as good, or successful, or spiritual, or strong, as the other women we know. This is a favorite tool of that 'father of all lies'-Lucifer himself. I was thinking about him and how he loves using discouragement to beat us down. If he can just get us feeling bad about ourselves, he knows it will affect all other aspects of our lives. He's just jealous, you know. He sees us, in all our 'child of a King' glory, with our bodies and our potential to become like Heavenly Father and he can't stand it. We are a constant reminder of everything he gave up. Just think, he will never know how it feels to kiss someone you love, or that feeling when a summer breeze brushes against your neck while the sun warms your face. He'll never hold a newborn baby to his chest, nuzzle his hair and breathe in that sweet scent. He will never, ever taste chocolate. No, he will never know true joy. So, he pecks at us, nudges us with those thoughts of not being good enough, and when we fall down with the weight of the world and cry out in our anguish, he does the 'happy dance' around us. So, what can we do? Those moments will come. That's when we have to yell, 'Get thee behind me, you jerk!" Then, instead of falling down in despair, we fall to our knees and plead with that Father who loves us so much. The only ones who know our divine potential more than Satan, are our Father and Older Brother. Sheri Dew said it so well-
"The women of the Church are the hope of the world precisely because it is not possible to limit the influence of a woman of God who is filled with the pure love of Christ. For that matter, the same is true of men. It is not possible to limit the influence of a man of God who bears the holy priesthood and who is filled with the pure love of Christ.
Satan knows this, and he hates followers of Christ for it. We are among his greatest nightmares because he knows he cannot limit our influence unless he can neutralize our respective natures. So, if he can get us to break the law of chastity, or develop an addiction, or become consumed with or blinded by the world, he laughs. When he seduces a man or a woman of God, he not only neutralizes those individuals but is poised to infiltrate their families."
We are the 'hope of the world'. How can you feel bad about yourself when you are described that way? We are a bright, shining, light in this dark world. So, the next time you're feeling down, remember, you are not alone. You have a Father who loves you and a Brother who understands. And, you can rest assured, that even if none of the other women you know have felt that way, I have.