What Would a Holy Woman Do?

Last month we had an inspiring Relief Society activity centered around this theme.  Our guest speaker, shared some insights and experiences she had after reading the book by this title by Wendy Watson Nelson.  Sister Nelson issued a 3 day challenge to several friends to choose one of the normal activities she did in the day and then ponder "How would a holy woman do this?"  I found this phrase running through my mind for multiple days after the activity when I started to feel moments of weakness.... impatience with a child, lack of energy to clean or discipline and just having those words running through my mind help me to deal with the moments in a more holy way.

I love how the challenge is to think about something you already do and then reflect on a better way to go about it.  The hard part is choosing which thing to focus on, but one a day is manageable.  I love how some of the examples were mundane everyday things and others were spiritual matters.  So many things came to my mind where I could stand to improve like
How would a holy woman search the scriptures?
How would a holy woman respond to a request for help from a child?
How would a holy woman decrease contention in her home?
How would a holy woman prepare for family night?
How would a holy woman appreciate her spouse?
How would a holy woman speak about a person who has done something that irritates her?
How would a holy woman put her kids to bed?
How would a holy woman honor the Sabbath?
How would a holy woman prioritize her day?

Today I had the chance to read the whole book with a lot of interruptions in between when various children had needs to be met, and I couldn't help but think a holy woman would not just ignore everyone (like I sometimes do when engrossed in a good book) so she could finish her book about being holy! :)

I feel so grateful that Stephanie let me borrow her copy to read, even though I don't know her well.  She has passed it around to several friends and had them write a brief note about what they learned or loved about the book.  I thought this was a really neat idea, as I was also inspired by the thoughts of others comments, and the book isn't just collecting dust on my shelf like some of mine.