After I had finished my first reading of the book Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society, this is the first song that started to come to my mind and heart. I was very new to songwriting. I’d only ever completed and shared ONE song before sitting down to notate this one. I wrote it out the “old-fashioned” way with a pencil and staff paper. It was long and arduous. But it was a beautiful process.
Now it’s the pinnacle number in the program I present and on my album. It represents the overarching message of all the music. We women are truly daughters of God with divine worth and an essential mission to fulfill.
President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“To be a righteous woman is a glorious thing in any age. To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on this earth, before the second coming of our Savior, is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help to enrich, to protect, and to guard the home—which is society’s basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife.” (Daughters in My Kingdom, pg. 165)
And yet, we women sometimes forget our true nobility. We forget our power and influence. We are bombarded by voices all around us. Messages everywhere try to convince us that we are not enough or that we need to be more “this” or more “that” in order to be valued and of worth.
Mary Ellen Smoot, the 13th general Relief Society President, and her counselors, Virginia Jensen and Sheri Dew, recognized this danger and were inspired to present the following declaration in a general Relief Society meeting:
We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:
Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.
Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.
Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.
Delight in service and good works.
Love life and learning.
Stand for truth and righteousness.
Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.
Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation. (Daughters in My Kingdom, pg. 172)
President Kimball also taught the following:
“Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world (in whom there is often such an inner sense of spirituality) will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways (emphasis added)—from the women of the world.” (Daughters in My Kingdom, pg. 95)
There’s actually a video for this song that you can watch here. My very talented brother played a large part in its creation. I’m extremely grateful for the lovely women that willingly volunteered to participate in something that I’d never done before (or since! Hopefully that will change super soon… I have a new children’s song that we just finished in the studio, and the video for it will hopefully come about in the next month or so).
I’ve been blessed to lead hundreds of women in choirs around Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and now Wisconsin in singing this song. I’ve seen the tears in their eyes and the light of their smiles as they share the truths it contains and as the Spirit bears witness to their souls of their divine heritage.
May it be an anthem that brings you to a knowledge of your individual worth as well.