I Am

In Spanish, there's two ways to say "I am".

The first is "estar".  In general, estar is used to denote temporary conditions, like physical location, emotion, and various roles we play. 

The second is "ser". This is used to describe essential characteristics of something, like gender, personality traits, and where you are from.

When I step back and think about it, I realize that I base my worth far too much on temporary states of being, and not enough on my essential characteristics.

I don't believe our Heavenly Father is concerned with what our estar roles are as much as how well we perform them. I think what he truly cares about is our essential characteristics: our heritage, how we treat others, and how we fulfill our divine roles in the family.

In a world where our value is based on ever-changing roles and conditions, our self-worth can feel like a tumultuous roller coaster.  It turns out, our divine worth has almost nothing to do with our physical beauty, wealth, occupation, marital/family status, income potential, church calling, education, race, or sexual orientation.  Rather, our worth is based almost entirely on one sublime truth: we are children of God. 

And when we understand, truly understand, that we are literal spirit children of a Heavenly Father, everything changes. The roles we play become secondary in importance to our divine heritage.  Our focus shifts from what roles and statuses we can attain to how well we can let our divinity shine through in whatever role we are currently fulfilling.

Right now, I am a wife, daughter, sister, friend, team member, temple worker, nanny, gardener, grocery shopper, dinner-maker, dishes-doer, bill-payer, budget-keeper, primary teacher, and car-sharer. But what really matters is that I am a daughter of God, and that I fulfill all my roles and responsibilities, whatever they may be, with the honor and dignity that my divine nature requires.