Three days before Macie died I did some girly vinyl projects. I put up pink vinyl in her room (I honestly can't remember the cute quote I used, but I know it was from one of the Disney movies), and then painted a wooden sign light light green and put some more pink vinyl on that.
The sign said "Daughter of God." I didn't love how it turned out - the letters weren't spaced evenly and to me it just looked amateur-ish. The font wasn't my favorite. I still had two weeks until she was to be born, so I put it aside to worry about (or fix) later.
Days later, as we were planning her funeral I knew I wanted the pink blanket my mom had made for her to be displayed over the casket. Spencer also suggested displaying the sign. I was embarrassed about it - it had too many flaws. But he persisted. I had made it for her, and he thought it was the perfect touch, flaws and all.
And so it was there. At the cemetery. Right under the beautiful blanket, leaning against the casket.
A few months later one of my friends made a comment to me about the sign. I remember cringing for a minute, remembering that I was embarrassed of what it looked like. But she got teary as she expressed to me how much she appreciated that statement. She has 3 daughters herself, and told me what an impression that little wooden and vinyl sign had on her that October day. She said that every girl should have a reminder like that.
Last week I was moving out some of Tanner's too-small clothes and at the bottom of the 3rd drawer in the dresser was that little sign. I honestly don't know why I put it away in a drawer - I have a sweet daughter who would surely benefit from having that up in her room right now. Who cares if the letters aren't perfectly straight? What better message could she read every single day? After all, don't we all have flaws and imperfections? Ever since I saw that sign in there (and it's still in there, I admit it), I've been thinking about the importance of those words. I work with the teenage girls at church. Sometimes I wonder if they know how loved and how special they are. If they could always truly feel and know they were daughters of God, I am certain they would be even more magnificent.
I plan to hang the sign somewhere soon. Somewhere in Emma's room. Where it belongs.
14 comments:
I LOVE that sign!! It's such a good reminder for all of us.
I was going to email you, but what I was going to say fit so well with this that I thought I'd share here instead. I was reading through an old Friend magazine and it mentioned how Emma and Joseph Smith had lost 6 children. Obviously it was something I've know for a long time and always made me sad. But this time a thought popped into my head - "What a blessing." I'd never thought about it that way. They were blessed with an eternal family in the truest, most guaranteed sense. And, of course, your family is blessed with Macie, who is right where we all hope our families end up someday.
Thanks for that! I remember that so well and yes, I also need to heed your advice and hang a sign like that in my girls room. Macie and Alissa would have been so close...they will be someday!
My mom, when I turned about 16, bought some decals to put on the mirrors of the bathrooms. One said, "I am a Child of God" and the other one said, "Did you think to pray?" Now, knowing my mom--she wanted them for the purpose they ended up serving. Each day I would wake up, walk into the bathroom, and the first thing I would see would remind me of my Heavenly Father and my need for him in my life. Then, inevitably, as I left for my day I would use the other bathroom to check my hair, or makeup, or some other insecure teenage girl thing and see that I was a child of my Heavenly Father -- what a great reminder every morning. Then, when I came home from college one year, I noticed that the one said the word "Child" with a capital in the front -- like you do with deity. That struck me as we often think of ourselves as imperfect, flawed, mortal (and sometimes worthless-feeling) children -- but we ARE deities in training and our Father loves His Children (and their divine potential).
Good for you for reminding Emma and Macie of this fact.
Thank you so much for that sweet message... I really needed it this morning!
Keeping it real. Love it. Heart you the more and more I get to know you. :-)
:) Thanks for the reminder.
Sweet post! It's a perfect sign, and a great reminder to us all.
Very sweet post! Your strength really amazes me.
yes cheri - hang it with love.
this blot entry reminded me of a powerful lesson i learned years ago about our personal imperfections from this story in the Ensign
http://lds.org/ensign/2002/06/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng
(scroll down to the fourth article called "Tatting for the Temple". i love this story, maybe because i relate to it so personally)
I know a few (maybe more) adult women who could use this reminder up in their rooms too. Somedays it's even me. :)
So true! Thank you!
this post made me cry, cher bear... i love your sign and i think it is perfect with it's slight imperfections. it will be a beautiful daily reminder for emma
So I told this story to my YW and gave them each a "Daughter of God" picture that you made for my lesson. They were in tears and listened better than they ever have. And the leaders said they went home and told their families the story. Macie continues to bless a lot of lives.
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