This post is a transcript of an episode of my podcast, “Women Who Know.” This episode originally aired on December 7, 2022.
Hey guys! Happy December!! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a pretty great time! A few days before Thanksgiving though, my almost-2 year old was a few days into RSV and she started having trouble breathing. We had to give her breathing treatments from a nebulizer and luckily we didn’t need to take her to the hospital, but we were definitely worried we were going to have to. I am super grateful she didn’t get to that point though, it was a Thanksgiving miracle! RSV is going around like crazy right now, so I hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy! President Nelson’s counsel to take our vitamins is really proving true, isn’t it? Haha
So, back in July, I was able to attend a conference that was hosted by Jody Moore (the life coach I talk about often) called Impact 2.0. It was basically about going for your dreams and ways to accomplish your goals for women and there were a handful of men there too haha. It was amazing and so inspiring, and we got to hear from so many amazing women. One of the women who spoke was Courtney Rich, and if you haven’t heard of her, she is an amazing baker specializing in the most delicious cakes. Her handle on instagram is @cakebycourtney, so if you haven’t before you should definitely check out her page. I found her several years ago, and I love to bake so her instagram is one of my favorites. I have loved every single cake recipe of hers that I’ve made – and I’ve made a lot haha. So anyways, she spoke at this conference, and something she said really stuck out to me and that’s what prompted my theme for today’s episode.
Courtney’s presentation was about her journey to becoming the cake lady that she is today. She has tons of followers, she’s been on television, she hosts classes at a store in Salt Lake that I can never remember how to pronounce. Among many other things! She is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she told us that as she was trying to write down what she would say at this presentation, she kept trying to take her faith out of the story because this wasn’t specifically a conference for LDS women. She didn’t want to offend anyone or make anyone feel like they didn’t belong. But she said she just couldn’t do it. She said she couldn’t take Jesus out of her story because He was too much of a part of it. She wouldn’t have gotten where she is today without Him, so how could she exclude Him from her journey? She was very kind and inclusive in saying that she loves people of all faiths and respects everyone’s beliefs, whatever they may be. But she couldn’t write Jesus out of her story.
keep Jesus in your story
This really stuck with me, and I started to think about how often I try to write Jesus out of my story. Out of me. How sometimes I feel awkward bringing up my testimony or spiritual parts of my life, so I just don’t bring them up. Or I get too afraid of offending someone or making someone else feel awkward. Or I think that since it’s not a spiritual endeavor that faith and Jesus Christ don’t really have anything to do with it. All the excuses we come up with, right? But Courtney said that the Savior was in every aspect of her cake business. He prompted her and guided her to where she needed to be, where He knew she needed to be and what she needed to do.
“you are mine”
My husband and I recently started watching the TV show “The Chosen,” and it’s really good. I love it so far. In the first few episodes, a woman quotes a scripture from Isaiah, though the show changed the wording to be less formal or they quoted a different version of the Bible than the KJV, I’m not sure. But I am going to quote it the way she does. It’s Isaiah 41:3, and it says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine.” This scripture is involved with a very powerful moment in the show, and it really touched me. “You are mine.” Jesus’s story is all about us. We are His. He could never write us out of His story, and He would never want to. Everything He did and everything He does is for us. Another verse in Isaiah reads, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:15-16). Jesus Christ has literally graven us upon the palms of His hands. And He chose to keep those marks, even after He was resurrected and could have had a perfectly whole body. We are His story. He will never write us out of His story – and we should always remember to keep Him in ours.
the most important part of our story
He is the most important part of anyone’s story. Every single human being who ever lived or ever will live – Jesus Christ is the most important part of every story. And during this season, the Christmas season – we are to keep Christ in Christmas. His birth, His life, and His death…all of it was for us. He chose to do it all for us, because He loves us. In 2 Nephi 26:23-24, we read, “For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness. He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him.” Everything He does is for our benefit because He loves us.
keep Christ in you
So while during the Christmas season it is so important that we keep Christ in Christmas rather than get caught up in decorations and shopping and gifts…it is also so important to keep Christ in us. To keep Christ in you. Always, all year. Don’t write Him out of your story. Don’t look back at your life and erase Him, no matter how many doubts or questions you may have currently. Maybe you feel like you already have written Him out, or you know someone who has written Him out of their story. Take comfort in the fact that the Savior will never write that person or you out of His story. He is always watching over us. He always loves us, no matter what. President Thomas S. Monson gave a conference talk in 2013 titled, “We Never Walk Alone.” In it, he says, “…your Heavenly Father loves you — each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.” (Monson, Thomas S. October 2013. “We Never Walk Alone.”) Whether or not we feel we deserve love, it is simply always there. Whether or not we keep Jesus in our story, He loves us. We are eternally and infinitely in HIs story.
He was always there beside you
President Monson continues, “As we seek our Heavenly Father through fervent, sincere prayer and earnest, dedicated scripture study, our testimonies will become strong and deeply rooted. We will know of God’s love for us. We will understand that we do not ever walk alone. I promise you that you will one day stand aside and look at your difficult times, and you will realize that He was always there beside you.” That is a prophetic promise to us, and it is one that I have found to be 100% true. There have been times in my life where I felt like I was alone, that the plans that I had for my future were ruined, and I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. But hindsight is always 20/20, and I can see now that through all of those so-called “ruined” plans, the Lord was guiding me to where I actually needed to be. His plans for me were far greater than the ones I had made for myself, even if there was heartache amidst the change. I think the heartache is where we grow, where our hearts are softened, and where we learn to trust the Lord. His love for me was always available during those times, and He was always with me. I just needed to remember that He is always a part of my story, just like I am a part of His.
always remember Him
So, how do we keep Jesus in our story? I think the sacrament prayers give us a good idea. We covenant every time we take the sacrament to “always remember Him.” If we always remember Him and keep Him as a priority, and if we turn our thoughts to Him often, we will see how much of a part of our story He really is. In Doctrine & Covenants 6:36, the Lord says, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” He not only tells us to turn our thoughts to Him often, but to look to Him in every thought! Thoughts about our business, our neighbors, our families, our church callings, our every thought. Even the ones that don’t seem specifically “spiritual.” It all matters to the Savior, and He can make more out of any thought we have. In 2 Nephi 2:2, Lehi speaks to Jacob and says, “thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.” I believe that if we turn to the Savior in our thoughts, just as we do in our afflictions, our thoughts can also be consecrated for our gain – for our good. This is very much something I am working on because my thoughts often run away with me and get out of control or too negative. But if I turn every thought to the Savior, how much better will my thoughts become?
