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This episode has been formulating in my mind for a few weeks.  Each week, members of our faith do a home study on a certain passage of scripture called Come, Follow Me.  This year we are studying the Old Testament, so this month we have been studying Genesis as well as a couple of books not found in the Old Testament, Abraham and Moses, that are specific to our religion. I feel like I’ve got a whole new perspective on the creation story and Adam and Eve after studying these chapters.  When I am immersed in the scriptures and studying, I feel the Spirit so strong and my mind is constantly drawing correlations of how they relate to my clients, my coaching, and my listeners.  So this podcast is going to be a little bit different than maybe some others, but I hope that you will feel it is relevant in your own life.

And just as a note, in addition to my Come, Follow Me manual, I love the Don’t Miss This YouTube Videos with David Butler and Emily Belle Freeman, as well as their study journal.

The Creation

As I studied the creation there were a few things that stood out to me:

1  God is a creator.  And as a creator, everything had a divine and specific purpose.  And to understand this, means that you have to understand your own purpose and potential.

How does this relate to my work?  As I work with women, I am constantly reminding them of their potential and who they were created to be and showing them how to live up to their full divine purpose and potential.  To be the woman they were created to be.

2  Our Heavenly Parents are law-givers.  All of Their laws have a purpose, just as their creations do.

The Law of Chastity has a purpose.  To protect the sanctity of our procreative powers and to help us become one once we are married.  Chastity before marriage, fidelity afterwards.

3  Through the creation, God set a pattern for growth, for becoming, and progression.  Everything is built line upon line.

Just as the earth was not created in a day, neither are we to become who we were created to be in a day.  We must be willing to grow and learn, line upon line, precept upon precept, until we reach our full potential.  Often we don’t know how to do this in a way that works.  I always say that coaching is what really taught me HOW to live the gospel.  HOW to become Christlike.  HOW to love unconditionally and have charity for those around me.  And of course I am not perfect at it, but I’m light years of where I used to be.  I am able to see myself and others for who they truly are, their divine potential…and also as works in progress.

4  God didn’t expect the results of day 6 on day 2.  He was able to see the progress along the way and be thrilled with the results each day even though it wasn’t finished yet.  With each progression “it was good.”

Often we look at the end result and nit-pick what isn’t right instead of evaluating along the way, validating ourselves, and enjoy the process.  Instead of beating ourselves up for everything that we do wrong, look at what you are getting right, and validating yourself in the process.  You are already good.  You don’t have be perfect or have your desired end result in order to be good.

Adam & Eve

There were a couple of things that really struck me with the story of Adam and Eve.

The first was when Eve partook of the fruit.  She and Adam were told not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or else they would surely die.  They would be cut off from God’s presence.  But, of course, God had a plan for if and when they did.  That there would be a Redeemer that would enable them to return to God’s presence.

I think many times sex is presented to children and youth as a “if you partake in this, you will surely die” without telling them the other part, that if they do, there is always the atonement.  There is always a way.  This fear of being cut off, spiritually separated from God, and possibly their earthly parents, blessings, etc. if they were to sin, is so scary.  And that fear often doesn’t just shut off once they are married.  There’s this constantly underlying fear, even after it is allowed, that they are doing something wrong, and they still might get cut off.  That fear is crippling and leaves them often questioning things just like Eve did.  How can they “multiply and replenish the earth” or how can they “become one” with their spouse and not surely die.

But remember, Eve decided to believe in a higher law.  She saw the wisdom in forsaking the fear and trusting that it was actually the best thing for her, for Adam, and for a posterity that she longed for.  That there was a plan in place where she could not just survive in her Garden, but Thrive in the world. 

I would bet that it was a really scary thing for her to trust herself to do what was actually the best choice for her, Adam, and her posterity.

This leads me to my next discovery.  

After Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, God came back to the Garden to check-in on them.  They heard His voice calling them.  And Satan reminded them that they were naked and they needed to hide.  Why would Adam and Eve need to hide?  Because they were ashamed.  This is the first time that shame is introduced to the earth.  When we feel shame, we hide.  It’s what we do as humans.  They hid because Satan had influenced them to forget who they were; beloved children of God.  That somehow, in their nakedness (which, by the way, God had seen them naked and he is the one created them that way and was not ashamed of it) they were somehow less than and not worthy.  They were not enough.  It was not God who told them they were not enough, it was Satan.  And we know that Satan is the father of all lies.  So if you are questioning whether you are enough, remember where that first came from.  That constant questioning is not from God.

Also, in those moments, Satan must have told Adam and Eve lies about the nature of God.  Is God one who condemns us and is nit-picking the things we do or say wrong? No, He is not.  That is another lie.  We learned in the creation that God sees works in progress as good.  We are all works in progress.  We are all good.  So when Heavenly Father doesn’t see Adam and Eve in the garden (hiding behind the tree He created) in Genesis 3:9 it says “God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”  But I like the verse in Moses 4:15 better where it says “And I, the Lord God, called unto Adam, and said unto him: Where goest thou?”  God already knew where he was.  He wanted to know where he was going.  Where was his heart? What was he progressing towards? How was he growing? Who was he becoming?

I love these questions because I think they are ones that we can all ask ourselves.  Where are you going? How are you progressing? Who are you becoming?

This is really the heart of coaching.  And yes, we coach on sex, but really coaching with me is about helping you show up as your best self in all situations, including the bedroom.  It’s about you becoming your best and highest self.  So what are you waiting for?  It’s time to grow.  It’s time to progress.  It’s time to become the person you were created to be.  I love it when clients come to me and the sex is already good and they just want to up level themselves in every area.  But of course I love it when we can take a marriage that is really struggling in this area and make it amazing.  I love seeing the growth in my clients.  But also reminding them that they are already good.