A guest story by Joyce Sowards of The Super Hero Next Door Podcast
A Place to Soul Search
It was a calm, cool evening with the sun beginning to set. I was half-way done raking the raised border of my small, but sizable garden. Spring had arrived early with a few unusually warm days. Being outside without the threat of a chill was nice. It seemed like years since I was able to create, shape and essentially, play in the dirt.
Normally, this time of day would be spent picking up one child from practice, while rushing to drop off another. Squeezing in some dinner after we’re all home after the sun had already set, finish homework, gather the kids around for family prayer (which was hit or miss), send the kids to bed, and hope to watch a little Netflix with my husband. Inevitably this might lead towards going to bed way too late with the knowledge that tomorrow the whole process would start all over again until Summer break.
Overnight, that all changed. The whole world now was in a quarantined time-out so to speak, from the hurried existence we all created for ourselves.
The upcoming General Conference was focusing on the 200th Anniversary of the First Vision. I couldn’t help but ponder about Joseph Smith going into the woods to find solace and solitude to pray and receive answers. I too was seeking solace and solitude during these times of uncertainty. I was wrestling with feelings of inadequacy as a mother, a sense of loss, and wondering how I can make the best of this situation for my family and I. It was going to be a time for some honest soul searching and I needed a place to do that. I don’t have a forest nearby, so the next best thing is to plant a garden right?
Starting a garden to me became a symbol for this transformational time. Not only would it be a place for solace and solitude, but a visual, slow progression towards more beauty and peace. A chance to bring to pass all the things that I wrestled with in my heart through a little hard work, patience, and gratitude.
Isn’t it interesting how physical places can become sacred because of the events that happened there? I’ve come to conclude that moments in time can also transcend their reality and become sacred in their own way. Marks in your life’s timeline that you can look back on as proof that you were headed in the right direction.
Tender mercies of the past.
That evening in the garden became both a sacred place and spiritual moment for me as I thought fondly on some the experiences that have impacted my testimony. Tender mercies brought peace to my mind.
Like the time when I was baptized at 8 yrs old. I remember feeling protected and that I didn’t want to do anything that would wipe away my new, clean, sin-free state. My nightmares stopped and I was no longer afraid to go down to the basement by myself. A bit silly looking back, but at the time it meant the world to a little girl with an overactive imagination.
Or the moment when I had the intense confirmation that the man who sat in front of me at Olive Garden (who I had only met 2 days before), surrounded by all of my friends at the time, with his great big smile and contagious laugh, would be my husband and the father of my children. Crazy, but true. I couldn’t deny it and knew that it was real.
And I can’t forget the time when I was pregnant with my first child. Even though I was very sick with morning sickness and 2,000 miles from friends and family, those uneasy feelings were diminished the day I felt peace in my heart that Heavenly Father was pleased with me for helping to bring one of his children into this world. To know that I carried a child who was just in the spirit world before entering the womb. Having that connection to Heaven will be an experience I will never forget.
A mother’s example.
Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy also had moments of confirmation which reminded me of just how influential a mother can be in her child’s life.
When Joseph was just born, Lucy went to woods and prayed that she would devote her life to God and promised to seek out His truth.
At one point she decided to join the Methodist church and asked her husband to join her. He obliged her for awhile, but after talking with his father, he changed his mind and stopped attending. A saddened Lucy went to the woods to pray among a grove of wild cherry trees and that night she had a dream where she saw two trees in a wide, open meadow. One tree was flexible and swayed in the breeze. The other tree was rigid and immoveable. She later received her own revelation about that dream. That the gospel would soon be restored and when her husband heard it he would be flexible like the tree. This story can be found in the Podcast, The First Vision.
I can’t help but think that Lucy’s example of going out to the woods to pray for answers was the catalyst that helped a young teenage boy, Joseph Smith, to do the same after reading in James 1:5. Lucy too had been searching for truth from God for nearly 20 years and knowing that she played a part in the restoration as a Mother to a future prophet meant the world to me. That the preparation paired with the seeking is the most important part. Without it, there is no revelation.
Navigating emotions.
With spring break plans cancelled, our oldest son’s senior year abruptly to an end, and my husbands business closed for a time, it brought in some emotions that required some navigating. The practices and games that once consumed our evenings and weekends also came to an end. This increasing, closing-in on our little world we created for ourselves was becoming a little surreal to me.
But, I also felt at peace; that things would work out. We have the tools to flourish during this time. We can make our homes that we are quarantined to, a place of solace and solitude. I’m so thankful for the inspired home centered Church materials, the amazing resources at our fingertips to be true disciples of Jesus Christ and further the work that was restored.
This is just a test among the many tests we will have in life. I know if we seek The Lord throughout the day, He will impress upon our hearts what we should be working towards and working on. How to use this time to prepare for what’s to come.
There was a particular question our Prophet, President Nelson asked us to ponder before Conference. “How have the events that followed the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?” Naturally we might think about the translating of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Keys of the Priesthood, the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the trek the Saints took west in search of Zion, etc. We see a progression; a development of pivotal moments in our Church history. But, I think we can look even further to our present time and our personal events that have made a difference in both our testimonies and the progression of His work.
Hold onto them, reconnect with those sacred places and precious moments. Be open to personal revelation that will come. We are all in this together and we each have a role to play.
Get to know Joyce Sowards
Besides my love for Podcasting, I’m a wife and mother of four. Everything I do points back to them in some way and I can’t wait to introduce you to my family in future episodes. We live in the beautiful southwest desert of Las Cruces, NM., where green chile is a staple in every home and endless blue skies grace our landscape.
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