Girls will be girls.

Recently I have been spending a ton of time with my nieces. As Clint and Jodi have moved into their house, I have been the designated girl watcher. This means that we have girls day just about every day. Last Saturday, Clint and Jodi had to run to Chandler to pick up a pool fence and they asked if they could drop Lily and Jenna off at my house to play for the day. I wasn’t even awake, so blurry eyed I walked outside and picked them up.

Now, for those of you who do not know Lily or Jenna, they are THE girlest little girls you have ever met. The first thing they want to do is play with high heel shoes. Lily always says, “the back doesn’t fit quite yet.” and it always surprises her. Lily then pulled out my bra and wanted to put it on which means Jenna wanted to wear one to. Poor girls, they want to wear bras so bad. I just let them know that soon enough they would have to. I asked Jodi when the obsession with bras had started and it was when Lindy was packing for Hawaii and we were making them wear Lindy’s bras as hats.

My interactions with them have caused me to reflect on each of us as children of our Heavenly Father. There is such an innocence and trust that they demonstrate. Everything is fascinating and the world that they live in is full of wonder and miracles. I want that. I have become more cynical of life situations that present themselves instead of just embracing the good, having faith that it will work out and watching the magic unfold for me. For this life is magic. It is full of beautiful skies, breathtaking technologies and love. What is more magical than love. It has the power to bring us peace and comfort. This unique love comes from our families, friends and Jesus Christ.

Why??

Because.

It mattereth not...

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered" - Nelson Mandela. This has always been one of my favorite quotes. The insightful nature of it almost anyone can relate to.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the home ward I grew up in. It was a great time to see old friends and recount the wonderful memories of my childhood. One of the comments that I continued to get was that I hadn’t changed much. I took great pride in this. I still look 18 years old. Then, one woman said, it was because I did not have any responsibilities. So much for feeling good about it, then that feeling only lasted a minute. I decided it did not matter what she thought or said, I knew the truth about my life. I had changed. I had grown and matured and become someone unswayed by a perceived insensitive comment.

It reminds me of the letters exchanged between Pahoran and Moroni during a time of war. Moroni writes and condemns Pahoran for neglecting them. Pahoran’s response is one of compassion and understanding. Essentially he says, it mattereth not. I was grateful in that moment to be in a place where I can say, it mattereth not.

How do we get to this place? I don’t have a clue, but it is a lovely place to be.