What to do... What to say... Shall you carry my treasure away?

For some reason, whenever I sit-down and start to begin or title a blog, the music from Les Miserables comes to mind.

"Beyond rubies is our little girl..."

And it just so happens that this song actually embraces my situation (not that I am French or already have a girl or have anyone threatening to take my little girl away...  So, I guess that the parallels really aren't that striking or accurate even) but it's just that in about three months, my wife is going to be giving birth to our first baby girl!

Samantha.  My wife is fixated on naming a girl a boy's name, so she will often be called "Sam."  We are going to have a little girl named Samantha (Sam for short)!

We already have three boys.  We'll have three boys and one girl.  Four children when we have our fourth wedding anniversary.

Our oldest boy will be twelve, then nine, then two (will turn three in less than one month), and one little tiny baby girl.

I suppose that this post has been almost exclusively factual and there hasn't been much feeling or emotion, but that will come later.

I'm really not sure how to take care of a little girl...but I am excited and anxious to have a girl!

JPS

Should we feel like "unworthy creatures" or should we "be filled with the love of God"?

It is true that we should retain in remembrance our own nothingness and the greatness of God; His long-suffering for the children of men, calling on the name of God daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come (Mosiah 4).  But can we read that, get confused, and create a false dichotomy in our minds, and think that we are worthless while God is great?

No, no, no!

God is great and we owe Him everything (even our own lives if necessary...), but God wants us to be humble and meek show Him that we recognize our own nothingness not in our low self-esteem or feelings of self-worth but in our being filled with His love and passing-on that love to our brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, sons and daughters, and all those we meet, see, our talk to!  God does not want us to stay at home (or stay at work or stay in our car or stay in the woods) and feel sorry for ourselves because we see and recognize our own nothingness.

He wants us to be happy!  Not only that, but He wants us to make others feel as happy as we feel.  He wants us to share that light that we are feeling.  He wants us to pray for help and strength to be led to those that need that light, but don't just sit and wait to be told where to go and what to do; get out!  Get out of the house (get out of the office or get out of your car or get out of the woods and down from that mountain) to where people are that need to see your example and need to know what you've discovered: you are a child of the everlasting God, He has created you, He loves you, and He will give you whatever you ask for (that is right).

The false dichotomy is in thinking that it's either one or the other; you're either nothing or God is great.  We are the children of God!  You (yes, you reading this right now) were created in the image of God and created by God.  You are nothing only in the sense that it's not in human nature to want to obey--not God or your parents or your boss or your children--but we know that we don't have to be sucked-in to those lies (you are worthless or you are a failure or you have nothing to offer) because we can be obedient, humble, patient, full of love, submissive, and follow our Parents advice and example (Mosiah 3:19).  We can do great things!

It is true that we should retain in remembrance our own nothingness and the greatness of God. But can we don't have to get confused and we shouldn't create a false dichotomy in our minds and think that we are worthless while God is great.  God is great!  God is the greatest of all, but we are great.  We are created in His image!  Don't be fooled or tricked into thinking that just because we need to be humble, that that means that we have to hate ourselves or think poorly of ourselves; we need to love ourselves because we are choosing to listen to our Father and His Son.