Beck Vs. Ballard?

OK -So I don't really know what to tile this blog entry. I am mostly responding to a blog entry about two talks given at LDS General Conference recently (see www.sweetspirited.blogspot.com). I honestly don't think I had even heard the first talk - given by Julie Beck at last October's Conference (quilting retreat with my sisters - I must have been blabbing too loud). I did remember the recent talk given by brother Ballard only a few weeks ago (again was with the same sister listening to it at her house).

First off, I have to agree with my cousin that the talk by Ballard is much more "warm and fuzzy" for any mother to read. And after reading Sister Beck's talk for the first time - I could see how some people would be "offended" by it. Greg and I read it aloud together and the first thing that he said was, "That pretty much excludes all working mothers". President Ballard's talk specifically addresses the circumstances that single or working mothers face. So - there is that. As far as the content of the messages - I thought that both of them were right on. But, as I previously stated, I don't think that the Prophet would allow anything to be preached at Conference that was not in harmony with the teachings of the Church - or at least I think it would be difficult to try to pull that off.

One of my favorite parts of sister Beck's talk is:

"Mother's who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from the home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children - more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all."

(Honest reflection: Do I just like that it justifies "doing less" and apply that statement too broadly in my daily affairs? Probably. But it really does make sense. We all need to "calm down" a bit in our hectic lives.)

One of my favorite parts of Elder Ballard's talk is:

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family...What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."

(Honest reflection: I do think that the love I have for my children is deep indeed. However, not so sure how I am doing on the "prioritizing above all else" part of that statement when all I can think about some days is "when is it going to be "ME" time?)

Both talks have great points, but the "undertones" are definitely different. Was talk B given as a "calming down effect" to counter talk A? Not sure. I guess that I can draw two conclusions from this entire thing.

One - I think that people who chose to can be offended by anything and I don't believe that anything that was said by Sister Beck was said to offend people, but rather to remind us all (myself largely included) to stay on the right track and focus on eternal purposes.

The second conclusion I drew was more of an observation. Isn't it ironic that the talk that supposedly "fired people up" was given by a woman and the one that "embraced and encouraged" given by a man? What does that say about us as mothers and as women?

Also - one more thought I have on the matter is: Should I go away from every talk feeling really good about myself and all warm and fuzzy? I do like it better - honestly I do. I just am trying to decide if everyone who listened to Jesus as he taught them felt all happy about themselves. And - if that is the case, then what would spur us on to action? What would it take to make us change bad habits? I honestly wish I had an answer to that one - because even though I read both talks on motherhood and feel like I have a basic grasp on the gospel - I KNOW that I have many changes that I need to make in my life - especially in my mothering and homemaking skills, yet I am reluctant or lazy or whatever.

So - take of that what you will - those are my wandering thoughts. Thanks to both Sister Beck and Brother Ballard for inspired talks and to Carol for bringing this up and making me read and study them! (That totally counts for my scriptures for the day, right?) =)