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Stand as a Witness

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If you haven’t visited Women in the Scriptures you are missing out. As the name of her blog implies, Heather shares insights into the women of the scriptures. She has a standing challenge to study the scriptures paying particular attention to the women mentioned, the roles they have, the things they’ve done. Some of my favorite posts by Heather are Getting Adam to Partake, How many women would you guess are in the scriptures?, and The Importance of Birth. Welcome, Heather!

Several weeks ago my husband and I took our two little children (3 and 2) on a road trip to “middle of nowhere” Nevada. It was a long trip and, since my 6 month pregnant body desperately needed a break, we broke up the trip by stopping for the night in Wendover, Nevada. Wendover is a little city just barely over the Utah border whose economy consists almost solely of gambling and prostitution. We were there on a weekend night and every time we walked through the casino to get to our hotel room we had to pass through groups of drunk young men who were obviously hanging around for lewd and immoral reasons. As I walked past them with my two small children clinging to my hands and my belly bulging out in front I felt their eyes bore into me. Their stares, their laughs, and their openly crude remarks about my condition made me feel filthy and exposed. When we got back to our hotel room all I wanted to do was curl up and cry; I’d never felt so degraded.
 

Later I realized that the reason I’d felt so humiliated by this experience was that my husband and I, with our little crew of children, represented everything good and virtuous that these young men were forsaking. We were a walking testament to the eternal truth that “…God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife” and that “…God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.” Our presence bore witness against them and they probably felt as uncomfortable around us as we did around them… it is no wonder they mocked us.
We live in a time when the doctrine of the family and the sanctity of life are openly criticized on all sides. It is getting harder and harder for those who believe in traditional marriage and moral values to speak about their beliefs without being classified as “old-fashioned” or “out-of-touch” with the world. Yet, this isn’t the first time in history (nor will it be the last) when righteous people of God have had to take unpopular or difficult stance in order to protect the sanctity of life and the family.
The first chapter of Exodus tells the story of the Puah and Shiphrah who were midwives to the Hebrews at a time when the children of Israel “multiplied and grew” in Egypt. The Pharaoh was afraid the Hebrews would over power them and so he tried to limit their population. Yet, when slavery and hard work failed to dissuade the Hebrews from having more children Pharaoh called Puah and Shiphrah and told them, “… when you do the office of midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live”. (Exodus 1:16) These two women knew that there would be serious consequences for ignoring the Pharoah’s command but they put their faith in God and chose to do what they knew was right. They continued to deliver children and save them all alive, boys and girls.

Months later Puah and Shiphrah were again called before Pharaoh. When he asked them why there were so Hebrew boys toddling around they told him, “…Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come unto them.” (Exodus 1:19) It is unlikely that all the Hebrew women had quick and unassisted births. Yet it seems that they were significantly different enough from their Egyptian counterparts that Pharaoh believed the midwives when they told them that Hebrew women gave birth differently than Egyptian women did. Remarkably, Puah and Shiphrah suffered no consequences for their blatant disobedience of the Pharaoh. Furthermore, as a result of their actions, and presumably many other midwives who helped them, there were 603,550 Israelite men who were over the age of 20 years old at the time Israel was delivered out of bondage. Many of those men probably owed their lives to women who, at great risk to themselves, had the courage to protect the sanctity of life. In fact, Moses himself would probably have not have survived infancy without these women’s courage.


“Puah and Shiphrah Defy Pharaoh”, by Sallie Clinton Poet (Image LinkSource)
Just like Puah and Shiphrah it is often our daily actions and choices that bear the strongest testimony of our beliefs. We can preach, till our faces turn blue, about the importance of traditional marriage, the sanctity of life, and the value of children but none of those words will ever has as much impact as will the individual choices we each make. It is the rings on our left hands, our pregnant bellies, the crew of children we load into the car each day, the couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, the parent who sacrifices to stay home with the children, and our youth who behaves modestly that bear daily testimony to the world that we believe in family and the sanctity of life. Our decisions may not always be easy to make, nor will our doctrines always be popular or politically correct. Yet just like the Hebrew women who were “not as the Egyptian women” the choices we make about marriage and family will set us apart from the rest of the world and bear testimony of what is right. Knowing that we are doing what is good in the eyes of God should give us the confidence to stand, even before Pharoh if needs be, and defend our choices and our beliefs. Or at least the very least it should give us the confidence to make it past groups of drunk and crude young men without feeling ashamed. Even though next time I think I’ll still find a back door to sneak in!

Don’t forget to visit The Red Headed Hostess, Welcome to the Madness, and We Talk of Christ today to see what wonderful goodness they have about the Family Proclamation!

Today’s giveaway:

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“Teach your children to love the hymns. Sing them on the Sabbath, in home evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play, and as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony in your young ones.” (First Presidency Preface, Hymns, 1985, x)

The Purple Cow Bookstore is sponsoring today’s prize of a Hardbound LDS Hymnbook engraved with your family name and one of Cocoa’s favorite songbooks from childhood, Let’s Sing Together.

The Purple Cow Bookstore an independent children’s bookstore located west of the Oquirrh Mountains in Tooele, Utah.  They help you bring children and books together!

Cocoa Signature with Candy 2 © 2007-2011 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

Comments

  6. I raised most of my children in Sodom, oh, I mean Seattle. One day we took my visiting father and step-mother to Pikes Place Market. I had one child in the stroller and one child hold each handle of the stroller. I was obviously pregnant, about 7 or 8 months. A woman screamed in my face, ‘haven’t you ever heard of population control?’ I laughed it off, but the incident has stayed with my for 23 years. I am sad for all those that don’t realize children are a gift from the Lord and wish I could have had an even dozen. Population explosion statistics are lies invented by designing men in my opinion. Good people enrich the world, which all my children have turned out to be in the end.

    Reply

  8. What a blessing it is to have our knowledge. Children and the sacred powers of creating life are such a wonderful and incredible blessing that our Heavenly Father has intrusted to us.

    I especially love the part where you talked about how we can DO instead of SAY. How very true. Thank you.

    Reply

  14. you know, i get the point of your post, and yes we will be different and stick out a bit in different places. my question is why didn’t you do something about the situation??? if that were me, either i or my husband would have found the manager and told them what happened. you are a paying guest, and you should be able to walk through the hotel without having to deal with that. so my suggestion for the next time that happens is to DO something about it. turning the other cheek does not mean taking harassment and/or abuse. and i know if i didn’t do something about it, my husband sure would have.

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  15. I really appreciate that wonderful reminder of the role of women in the scripture. I hadn’t ever thought of the significance of Puah and Shiphrah’s actions. It is so wonderful that the scriptures give us the pattern of how we should live our lives.
    Thank you for the wonderful insight.

    Reply

  17. What a lovely post. I love that our normal daily actions bear testimony of who we are and what we believe. What a beautiful thought.

    Could I also add to being called ‘out of touch’ and ‘old fashioned’, ‘intolerant’, ‘oppressive/oppressed’, and ‘naive’?

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  18. Thank you for this reminder! With 3 kids 4 and under, your last paragraph, especially the line about loading all the kids into and out of the car, really struck me. I complain about car seats a lot! It is good to remember why I am doing this and that it will not last forever.

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  19. Lovely post. I have 3 children under 4, with the 4th due next month. I was married at 28 and we had fertility issues, so once we started, we decided to have them close together. I still get stares and comments. From strangers and family. And I live in Utah. I feel like I am standing up for the plan God has for His children-marriage and families, but it is sometimes not easy. Thanks for the uplifting post.

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  20. Excellent as always, Heather. You make me want to dedicate much more of my time to searching the scriptures. As you said, it is our actions that testifies as much as anything else…but you’ve illustrated that knowing the scriptures also helps us witness in a powerful way. Thanks!

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  21. This post brought to mind my experiences this past summer with my children at our local water park. We received several looks for wearing suits that actually had straps, not threads, and real honest to goodness hiney covers! We discussed why God asks us to remain modest. It was a great springboard for learning.

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  29. I have just been teaching my kids about Lehi’s vision. So when I read your story, Heather, I very clearly imagined those rude drunkards as those in the great and spacious building mocking you because you were partaking of the fruit of the tree. I’m glad that instead of being ashamed from their mocking and leaving the tree behind, as some do even after partaking of the fruit, that you recognized that their behavior stems from the fact that they are NOT partaking of the fruit and know their guilt.

    Also, I like the comment above, “Population explosion statistics are lies invented by designing men in my opinion.” I think I agree! We do need to take care of the earth God has made for us, but He WILL preserve it until His purposes (bringing His children to this earth) are accomplished. The earth IS SUFFICIENT for the needs of all those who will come to it!

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  33. Love, love, love this post Heather. I am so sorry for the run in you had in Wendover– I can relate. You are a beautiful, strong example of what true womanhood is all about! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with all of us. ♥

    Reply

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