Ep 14 Divine Worth Podcast: Letting Go of Perfectionism with guest Celeste Porter

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Welcome to the divine worth podcast, where we are letting go of our self doubt anxiety, fear, and limiting beliefs so that we can step into the divine roles that God has for us. I am your host life coach, Karen Papin, and together we are embracing our divine worth.

Karen Papin: Welcome to the divine worth podcast today. We have a special guest. Her name is Celeste Porter.

She has been married to her best friend, Bo for 21 years. And together they have five children. Their oldest was married last February and their second oldest has just begun his mission. As a stay at home mom, she eventually learned the importance of scheduling alone time with God to nurture her spiritual life.

She loves studying the gospel and has come to understand the significance of living with the Savior. Inspired by a desire to help mothers share the gospel in their homes in fun and inconspicuous ways, she felt compelled to start an Etsy shop. [00:01:00] Little did she know that Instagram would become an integral part of her journey.

Her goal is to share the gospel and strengthen homes and testimony. So Celeste, thank you so much for coming and being on here today. No problem. So to get started, I am wondering how have you seen God’s love for you and his belief in you throughout your motherhood journey?

Celeste Porter: Well, it’s been a journey for sure.

I think, holding that first baby in your arms. You just fill this new love that you’ve never felt before. And I didn’t quite tie that to the love of my heavenly father for me until later on in the journey, but as I, decided, to really put my time to , making sure I have time with the Lord every day, he has helped me see the love that he has for me and that’s helped me love my children more.

Karen Papin: [00:02:00] And as we’ve went down that path, I have felt his help in nurturing and teaching my children, the things that they need at specific times, or just specific teachings and doctrines that they need to know.

So what were kind of the things that helped you realize I need to spend more time with the Lord?

Karen Papin: I need to develop that relationship more.

Celeste Porter: I’ve always lived the gospel and like done what I needed to do. I’m a rule follower, all of that, but I didn’t really ever take it to heart until later in life and into my adulthood. Like I knew that the Lord loved me, but I didn’t understand That love in my heart as much.

And so as I was pregnant with my fourth and with my younger or my older kids, I actually hadn’t done the nighttime prayer. I would tuck them in, but I wasn’t teaching them to pray like all these little things we were praying at meals and things, but I wasn’t doing those little things that I wish I would have [00:03:00] from day one kind of a thing. And when I was pregnant with my fourth, I just remember feeling super overwhelmed and not happy, even though I had everything that I had ever wanted. Like I had my family. I was a mom. I wanted to always be at home so that I could Nurture my kids, but I wasn’t happy like something was missing and I can’t remember exactly what happened.

Well, I started reading, which I’ve never been a huge reader until then. And I read a couple of books and then I had a book that called the infinite atonement by Tad R Callister that I had sent to my husband actually on his mission and I had left it on the shelf because I’d always wanted to read it.

And I decided every time I sat down to feed him, I would read from that book. And I started doing that and it just changed everything for me. It filled that [00:04:00] hole that I was missing in motherhood. And I realized, oh, I, I can do better. I really need to do better at teaching them the gospel and living the gospel more in my home.

And. As I did that was just kind of the start of my journey. I read that book, changed everything, and then I just like dove into the scriptures and I just learned to love them and the stories.

Karen Papin: So I’m curious, what specifically about that book really stood out to you?

Celeste Porter: I think I, it just helped my heart learn what the savior had done for me.

Like the actual atonement I’d always had a testimony. I knew that he had died for me, but I’d never really internalized that. And I hadn’t felt that in that book. I don’t know what it was, but just every time I read it, I could just feel of his love. And of course his love [00:05:00] inspires us to do all so much good.

And I think that’s what it was that just started, yeah, taking me down this road. I

Karen Papin: love how When we really start to embrace the atonement and embrace the Savior’s love, just how powerful that can be in our lives. And I totally understand what you’re saying. When we’re little, it’s like, Especially in the church. It’s like we’re teaching. I am a child God to our kids and we know it on some intellectual level, but at some point we go through something and we start to feel it on a more internal, I think that’s the word you use. That’s a good word for it. It’s a more internal feeling and really knowing it internally to

Celeste Porter: for sure.

Karen Papin: What were some of the things that you started doing after the shift

Celeste Porter: where I was like, it’s time [00:06:00] to really dig in. I would say I remember feeling really guilty and really like I have a six year old and this was my fourth child and I was like, I have not been doing what I need to be doing.

And I just remember saying a prayer. Cause I knew like. I should probably repent. Right. And I just said a prayer. And like that guilt after I just said, I’m sorry, I’ll do better kind of a thing in my prayer, it changed everything. And I just felt this love from our heavenly father, but it’s okay. You know, we’re not expected to be perfect ever really in this life.

 And so I, I took from that, okay, I’m forgiven. What am I going to do now? And, our kids were really little and we didn’t have a lot of space in our house. We had to, we don’t, we had an unfinished basement. So all of the kids were upstairs by our bedroom. And so I’d very quietly sneak into my closet every morning and I would pray.[00:07:00]

And then I just began a journal, a scripture journal that I had learned how to do in at BYU Idaho years before. And so I would just ask a few questions from the heading of the chapter I was reading in the Book of Mormon, just really basic things. And then I would always end it with, how does this apply in my life?

And as I filled answered those questions that helped me focus first, cause I wasn’t good at reading scriptures because I hadn’t ever done it really consistently, but it helped me focus on the story. And then as I filled out that last question, I just would always have thoughts come. The spirit would always teach me what I needed to do next.

And I just fell in love with that feeling. I’m being taught and I fell in love with the scriptures. I just love those stories. You know, the savior’s in there. So, so they’re great.

Karen Papin: Oh, I love that. I love the scripture journal and just how powerful that can be. And what I like [00:08:00] about what you’re saying too, is it’s like you had this experience where it’s like, I wish I had been doing all of this before and just like the guilt that comes with that.

And yet you also, it reminds me of Alma, the younger, who’s recognizing all these things that he’s done. And then he remembers the Lord and the atonement. And because of that, he’s able to go through that repentance process and then just find that great joy. And it’s like, it’s not too late.

 You can start now. And I love that you did that too. It’s like. Okay, I’m forgiven. Now, what am I going to do? What am I going to do about it? How am I going to move forward? So I love that You’re not stuck in that, oh, that guilt, but you’re like, okay, I’m going to move forward.

I’m going to learn from this and I’m going to take action.

Celeste Porter: Yeah. It made all the difference.

Karen Papin: Why do you think it’s important to teach our kids who they are?

Celeste Porter: Well, I think for me, [00:09:00] had I learned sooner, I could have just began everything sooner. Right. I think the sooner that we can realize that divine love that Heavenly Father has for us, the better off we’ll be.

Our life will be from that moment on because the choices we make will change. It just, it just does.

Karen Papin: One of the things that really keeps us from being able to See, our divine worth is perfectionism. How have you seen that show up in your life? And what are some things that have helped you go through that?

Celeste Porter: Okay. So as I have been going down this path and growing and learning, I hit a point where I was like, I had all these checkboxes every day, right?

Like I need to pray. I need to read my scriptures. I need to do this and this and this, and I need to teach my kids this. And if I didn’t get it all done, then. I fell short. I wasn’t perfect that day because I thought I had to be as perfect as [00:10:00] possible before the Lord would come in and be a part of my life, which is a complete fallacy.

But I think the hardest time in my life with this was about 10 years ago, we moved to Hawaii for a year. My husband was teaching at BYU Hawaii in their entrepreneurship center. And so we took all the kids. Our oldest was 11 at the time and Got there and it was a completely different environment.

our house was 90 degrees. Like, it was hot and humid and miserable and everybody was having a hard time adjusting and I was not able to do what I was doing back, like for my perfection, like to get my perfect day or whatever in my mind. And I was actually failing at everything. I couldn’t cook right.

Cause everything was different. I couldn’t drive right. Cause they drove different. I couldn’t, I couldn’t mother, right. Because everyone was miserable and unhappy. , and it [00:11:00] was just, I just felt like. Such a failure, like I was in a really dark place for the first three months that we were there and I just remember finally making it to the temple because it took some time.

We didn’t know anyone at all when we got there. So we Figure things out and get settled in. But I finally went to the temple and I just had an experience there that changed everything. And I realized that Satan was a part of this whole darkness that he was really happy about how I was feeling.

, When I came home, that had been taken away. Like that feeling, that darkness, I finally felt good again. And through that process and since that process, I’ve learned about grace, or I would say another word for it is like compensating power. Like the savior is not waiting for us to be [00:12:00] like halfway there, 75 percent way there.

Like if that day, all we have is 2%, he’s still with us. And that is that grace and that power that he has, he just asks us to do what we can and he makes up the difference. And as soon as I learned that, I realized that my checklist and my perfect, whatever I did that day to get there to mark as my perfect day or whatever, those didn’t mean anything.

Like what really meant the most to me was did I love my family? Yeah, of course I got angry or whatever, you know, we lose our patience or whatever, but, does my family know I love them? Do they know I love the Lord? Do they know that the Lord loves them? Like all of these basic things come back, like the little checklist things are important because they [00:13:00] help us like see that divine love and they help us stay on the path.

But it’s really like over time. If we’re on our path up is really what makes the difference. And wish I had learned that sooner too. That perfectionism is Satan’s tool. It is so prominent. I feel like in members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, because we do feel like so much pressure to be these perfect moms.

Karen Papin: I love what you said about even if we’re just giving two percent. That is enough because sometimes we compare our best days to our 2 percent days, like are not very good days. And we think I’m not giving my all, like my father asks us to do our best.

Well, I’m not doing my best because we’re looking at these best days as being our best when in actuality, in that moment, that 2 percent is actually your [00:14:00] best.

Celeste Porter: It really is. Some days.

Karen Papin: So I love what you’re saying here is what you are giving today is enough. And so trust in the Lord and embrace his grace and his love. And keep doing what you can.

Celeste Porter: And yeah, some days are a lot better than others. You know, some days are, I mean, we have happy days. We have sad days. Like you, you can’t be perfect all the time.

You can’t push too hard all the time and you burn out. I’ve done.

Karen Papin: One of the things that you had mentioned was that fallacy of perfectionism which is that we can’t turn to the Lord until we have it right. So how do we challenge that?

Celeste Porter: I had [00:15:00] no idea that even was a part of it because I was doing what I felt like I needed to do. I was teaching my family better. I was studying, I was doing all the things that we’re supposed to do to help us just stay on the path. And the one thing I wasn’t doing.

Well, the one problem I had was pride because I hadn’t accepted him into my story. Really? Like I thought I had, and I had a testimony of the savior, but I hadn’t really brought that atonement into. Into my life, I hadn’t let him come in and heal and change the parts of me that I needed to change and trying to think of a specific story where I realized that instance, and I don’t know that I have a specific one.

I think it’s just over time. I realized that. I wasn’t accepting, his help. I wasn’t, we weren’t yoked, I guess is a good way to put it. Like I was learning who he [00:16:00] was and I was learning about his gospel, but I hadn’t learned how to yoke myself to him. And I’m still learning that, I’m far from perfect when it comes to that, but I think that makes all the difference when we realize, am I actually using that atonement?

Am I repenting daily, but like really seeking and asking for the things that I need. Rather than just going through the motions of life and church . Does that make sense?

Karen Papin: Yeah. Yeah, it totally does. I feel like, that’s what it is for me a lot too. A lot of the concepts that I know to be true it’s not specific experiences that I necessarily remember. I remember feelings more. Yeah. And so it’s, A process. It really is a process. And that’s how we learn line upon line, precept upon precept. And so maybe there’s not a specific experience where it’s like, I was able to hand it over to the Lord, or [00:17:00] I was able to really embrace that.

Atonement in my life at this time and let go of that perfection. It is a process. And I think that’s good for people to know because sometimes we think, Oh, I don’t have this big miraculous moment. Where everything just shifted and changed for me, it’s really just little by little that shift happens over time.

Celeste Porter: Yeah, I love that because, yeah, it doesn’t, we don’t have to have these huge miracles in our lives all the time. It’s just those little things. And if we’re looking for them, they’re always there.

Karen Papin: I think the greatest miracles are actually those things that happen over time.

Celeste Porter: Yeah.

Because we become like him, like that is our goal is to be, to become like he is. And we’re not going to do that overnight. So the miracle over time is that we do become [00:18:00] like he is slowly.

Karen Papin: I think that’s such a freeing thought if we are really embracing it. Because it takes off the pressure of, no, we need to be there right now.

Like I should be that person right here in that moment. But when we understand that it’s a process, it’s like that tension and stress and pressure is relieved from us. And it actually opens our minds up to be able to be like, Oh, this is what he wants me to do next. And it motivates us to be able to make the next step.

Celeste Porter: I totally agree. A hundred percent.

How does Satan derail you from remembering who you are?

I would have to say that.

Celeste Porter: If I, for lack of a better word, if I get lazy and I don’t take time to remember the Lord every day, I’m not praying consistently, I’m not studying consistently and just asking for the [00:19:00] spirit to be with me. The way I have learned is that Satan just comes in and puts thoughts in my mind.

I think that’s like, nobody really likes you. They pretend to be your friend. You’re not good enough. Like all of these things, they just come right back at me. And it’s really interesting to see. And I’m grateful that I finally have learned that’s what it is. And I just know what to do.

Like, Oh, gotta start over, you know, do better. And it’s gone. I don’t have to start clear back from the beginning. Cause I used to think, Oh, I’ve had a little break from studying. I’m gonna have to start all over again and work to earn that spirit and all of that back. But the Lord just sends it right back.

I say a prayer, I asked for the spirit and I opened my scriptures and the light comes back and those thoughts dispel.

Speaker 2: I love that so much. I love that because like, when we’re, I’m a life coach and [00:20:00] when I’m talking with people about goals, that’s an important thing for them to know. Because that totally applies to like any goal we have where if we do have a setback, which we will like that always something that gets in the way of what we’re trying to do and achieve and remembering that we don’t actually have to go back and start all the way at the beginning.

It’s like you can start again the next hour or the next day or the next opportunity you have to be able to do it

how have you found fulfillment in your life? And how has God helped you in finding that fulfillment?

Celeste Porter: So I would say motherhood has definitely been a big part of that. And being a wife. I don’t necessarily love making dinner every day, you know, but I love working on our family relationship.

And it’s far from perfect. I don’t want people to think like, Oh, we just [00:21:00] have this perfect family. We definitely don’t. But I love those moments you get when everyone’s just happy and laughing and spending time together. And I love watching my kids now that they’re older go into the kitchen and make themselves something like they know how to do things because they’ve learned it over time.

And it’s the same spiritually. I love when I ask them a question during come follow me or whatever. And they have an actual answer. It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like but that’s okay. But, I’m grateful that they just listen. But really, just like the relationships in the home. That’s what brings fulfillment.

 And I’ve learned how to do that because of the gospel, because of the spirit and how I’ve tried to do my best in doing those things so that we can have happiness in our home.

Karen Papin: That reminds me of something that we were [00:22:00] talking about a little bit earlier in allowing yourself to internally embrace the atonement.

Speaker 2: It came to my mind because sometimes we have a hard time handing over whatever it is that we’re going through, because we think we can just do it ourselves. I’m just going to do ourselves what we want in really we want that control. We want to have control over how it’s going to play out.

And so we put all this pressure on ourselves and that’s harder for us to be able to let Christ into our life because we want that control. We have a way that we want it to turn out. And yet when we do turn it over to the Lord, as difficult as that is, we find a much greater sense of fulfillment and we find so much more joy and happiness.

And it often does not turn out the way that we expected or wanted, but we learn from it. And those [00:23:00] lessons that we are gaining are just so much better than if we had done it our way in the first place.

Celeste Porter: Specifically, I do have a story about that with my oldest. I mean, I always feel bad for the oldest because we’re just learning.

I do things wrong. But with her, I remember trying to make her just like me. But we are really opposite. And that’s great. Like, we don’t have to be the same. But when she was young, I remember just trying to like, Push her to do things. And then she wasn’t happy, and the spirit finally told me if I keep pushing and doing things like this, our relationship will never be good.

And So I had to let go of that control because I was very controlling with the first older kids. Cause they did what they, what you told them when they were little and so, as I let her become who she was, she is an amazing person. She’s so smart and so fun, but like, [00:24:00] we are totally different.

And if I had pushed her to do more things the way I do things, we wouldn’t be friends. I know we wouldn’t, and I’m grateful for the relationship that we have. And for the spirit teaching me that lesson, that is something I’ve taken to heart and use many times in motherhood for sure.

Karen Papin: That’s such a good example. So thank you for sharing that.

What encouragement would you give to someone who is struggling to feel God’s love in their life or who feels distant from them?

Celeste Porter: When you feel distant I feel like you have to do the things that will help you draw near to him. And I know sometimes, like, even with me, especially when I was in that really dark time, right after we had moved, I wasn’t feeling the spirit, really.

I was trying my best to get up and study and do my journal and all of that. [00:25:00] And I wasn’t I wasn’t feeling it and I can even go back and read in my journals about that. And I just kept going and kept doing those things. And I went to the temple that day and that was my day that it changed a lot and I really had a good experience, but everybody has a different story. I was at a meeting that we were discussing.

General conference talks last week. And somebody asked a very similar question, just like how do I follow the savior? When I’m not quite like ready to give like a hundred percent in or whatever. And, or I don’t know how to give it a hundred percent or something to that effect. And my mom was there and she said, Just keep doing those things because my dad passed away a few years ago and I remember this conversation and she was just like, I feel like I’m faking everything.

I’m faking being [00:26:00] happy. I’m faking like I go to church and I go home and cry like obviously lose your spouse. It’s a really hard, difficult time. And she’s like, She just didn’t feel anything. She was just numb for a really long time. And I remember telling her the same thing. I said, just keep going, mom.

 Just keep doing what you know will bring you close and the Lord will, you’ll fill it. But it does, it sometimes does take time. And I think part of that is we have to learn like the savior. I mean, he was in the garden. And he was alone, like all of us, I think, have to go through times when we might feel alone to be able to grow.

And I’m not saying that’s necessarily every time we’re not feeling it or whatever, but I think that’s part of it.

Speaker 2: Sometimes it’s hard to like continue. Even when you’re not really feeling it. But I think that really is good advice. You just continue ’cause the Lord, he loves us. He loves us, and he’s patient with [00:27:00] us. And you’re right. We all go through periods where we do feel that distance and we do feel alone.

It doesn’t mean he’s not there. It’s a healing process for us or a learning experience for us or both. And the Lord is patient with us. And when we’re ready, it, as long as we are continuing to do the things that, that we know, or at least we knew in the past were the things that we needed to do as we continue to do those small and simple things that bring us closer to the Lord.

They will start to work again.

Celeste Porter: I agree. It’s definitely not easy to go and do that, but I really feel like if we can just keep taking those baby steps and working toward him, it will change and we’ll be able to fill again.

Karen Papin: So I would like to hear more [00:28:00] about how you started your Etsy shop and, and also how you’ve seen God showing, Hey, you can do this in that whole journey, because I know that having your own business is not an easy task. So yeah, tell us how it got started and how he’s shown up for you.

Celeste Porter: Okay. So for, I don’t know, for years, I’ve been the type of mom that like makes little posters.

To inspire my kids, you know, put it in the bathroom or put, put it somewhere where they’re going to see and they have nothing else to do other than read it and so I had some posters up and I had my sister in law come into town last fall and she was like, who, where did you get these?

And I was like, oh, I made them. And she’s like, oh, well you should sell these on Etsy. And I was like, I kind of thought a little bit about maybe doing something like that. Cause I do feel like when all my kids were really little, like you feel buried and you get these [00:29:00] ideas of things to do.

And sometimes you don’t feel like you have enough energy or whatever to do it. And so I thought this might help other moms, you know? And so I thought about it and I finally was like, you know what, I’m just going to do it. So I just decided to put a few things on. I do a six month little poster set that goes with president Nelson’s talk.

And so there’s a little blurb for every week for six months and you change it out like once a month or whatever. And so I just hang those in the bathroom of my bathroom and then the kids bathrooms. And so that was the first thing that I did. And then Like you’re saying, I really felt prompted to do more and more ideas came. I don’t know that I consider myself like super creative.

But I have had a lot of help. And so then I had a prompting to do a come follow me set that it’s just like a weekly flyer that people can put up in their homes. And that was the second thing. And I just have had ideas come as I’ve had time to, to create whatever comes [00:30:00] in. and I’ve had the thought like, Heavenly Father, this is taking more time than I wanted because I am busy, you know, I do have a lot of things going on. I was like, is this really the number one thing? Like, do you really want me to do this? Because I do have a calling that’s really demanding to in my ward and I don’t want to choose work over my calling if I don’t need to or whatever.

And it doesn’t always work out that way. But every time I pray about that, I’ll get a message from a customer or just somebody will say something and I’ll be like, okay, I guess that’s my answer. I’ll keep plugging along. And then also just, I started my Instagram. And I definitely was not the type to be like, well, I’m going to get on here and just like, start going and just.

 But I started it because it helps with like Etsy and stuff and I was praying like heavenly father, how can I make this like a little light? Like for someone, there’s so [00:31:00] many different Instagram pages and I feel like this tiny little fish in a huge sea, right. I have tried and tried to keep my Instagram like a positive, like Christ light where I can go and just see good.

And it’s really hard to find or to keep my feed that way. Like you watch one reel that’s like a funny, silly cat video or whatever, and then all of a sudden you have tons. And so I had the thought that, well, if I have my page and other people have their pages, then we can all follow what we want and it will help people keep their feed how they want it to be.

And it will keep the time waster stuff that’s not as important out if that’s what people are seeking for. And so I thought, okay, well, I will do my Instagram. And then I was praying and just asking what could I focus on for Instagram. And, I have a post for every day, pretty much, I’m not there yet.

I still have some things I need to work on to be able to do [00:32:00] that, but it’s all about just nurturing our families and our homes, because that is what will change the world. I can go and vote, right. And do those things. But that doesn’t change my life really. And it doesn’t change the people around me.

So if I can build the people in my homes, our family, they will go out and build others and communities. And it’s just like the proclamation to the family says, like we will all be stronger if our families are strong. And so that, that is my goal just to try and follow the spirit and do what I feel prompted to do.

But I really feel prompted right now to just help young moms who they’re kind of, they just need help, you know, little helps here and there and, just help them so that they can strengthen their families and strengthen their kids while they have the chance while they’re at [00:33:00] home.

Karen Papin: There were a couple of things that stood out to me. And one is you talked about being like this tiny light in this big sea of, you know, Instagram. And the thought that came into my mind was like, we need those, we need those, like each little tiny light, because the more of them we have, the bigger that light will be.

And then also that fact that you are helping moms, it’s like that light is, it’s like when, when you take a candle and you have two candles and you light one candle and it’s You know, each person has a candle and you just keep lighting it with the same candle. And so that’s what’s happening is sometimes we feel like, Oh, I’m not making that big of a difference.

And then we do get a comment saying, Oh, that helps me so much. And so that’s our light lighting someone else’s candle, which in turn, especially with moms, [00:34:00] it then lights the entire family’s candle.

Celeste Porter: So we dropped my son off down in Utah. I live in Idaho, at the Provo MTC. And there was a woman that I’d been talking to through Etsy. And she was like, you’re coming to Utah. You should stop and see what I’ve done with. And I was like. Okay. Like we’ll make a little stop. It was like right off of the freeway and everything.

It kind of worked out perfect. And I went in there and she bought a digital download of a Christmas advent that I have. And she had at least a hundred gifts that she had put together from this advent for all of her kids and her grandkids and her neighbors and everything. And I was like, wow, like she just took that and just multiplied it.

And we’ll send that out to so many people. And so it’s like, you’re saying like just one little thing just multiplies. And that was one example where I got to see a little bit of what she did and she was super creative and it was really, it was really fun to go see what she had done. So, so yeah, it’s just the [00:35:00] same, like same kind of thing.

So awesome.

Karen Papin: I like what you’re doing because I have exactly what you were saying when your kids were younger, you were like, you didn’t have the time to necessarily make what you’re making now. And so my kids are, my oldest is 11 and my youngest is 3.

I have these ideas and things I want to do and yet I don’t necessarily have the time to go and create it. Not always. I mean, I will create some of my own things. And so when I saw your flip book for the temple preparation,

I was like, that is awesome. That is exactly what I want for my 11-year-old.

And, and so I, I got it and I love it. And, and I am, you know, I share it with her and we talk about it, and actually the whole family talks about it, , you know, because why [00:36:00] not? Like you can start it’s line online, right?

Celeste Porter: You can read it more than once.

Karen Papin: Yeah. And so , I love what you’re doing because it is providing something that one, I didn’t think to create a whole flip chart, 52 week flip chart for temple Prep.

And it’s talks about the priesthood too, and the importance of ordinances and things like that. So yeah, I didn’t think of it. And yet it’s something that I really do want and I don’t need to take out, take the time to go and recreate something else. I can get it from you

and it can impact my family.

Celeste Porter: And yeah, that’s the goal. Like I just, I have read a lot since, you know, starting to read and, and I’m so thankful for people for putting out books and different things. I love to read the scriptures, but I also like to read books on topics and in the gospel I’m so thankful that they’ve done that because I have learned so much.

That’s how I started to [00:37:00] understand grace was through reading books about grace. And so I really wanted like kids to learn, obviously, like not be nervous to go to the temple. So like have that and not be nervous to go to their interview. Cause I remember being so nervous to go to all my bishop interviews and all of that, cause I wasn’t quite sure how it would go.

But I also think it’s so important to understand ordinances. And covenants and how the priesthood can work in their lives as teenagers and how they have that power because they are members of the gospel and they have covenants that they keep. And so I think, yeah, why, why not share it? You know, like it took me a while to figure out how to put together, but I, think it’s really important.

And the spirit definitely helped a lot. We’ll say that

Karen Papin: the Lord said he will help us accomplish what he asks us to.

Celeste Porter: Yes, for sure. And I’ve seen that so

Karen Papin: I’ve got two More questions. Well, actually, I guess three, but these are the ones that I kind of usually ask people. So, the first one is what [00:38:00] is one small and simple thing that those listening can do to apply what we’ve been talking about today.

Celeste Porter: One small and simple thing. Is I feel like just, just do it.

Like we can always put things off. Right. And I put things off for years and I’ve always had the thoughts to do this or that, but just do it. And if it’s like a minute, that’s great. If it’s just pulling your scriptures out and sitting them on your lap that day, that’s perfect. Like the Lord doesn’t expect us , to dive in and just enjoy reading the scriptures for hours.

If we just take A little bit of time for him, pray in our car. If that’s when we find like we can, we have time to do it. That will make all the difference and those little tiny changes will increase our desire for more. I totally believe that’s true.

Karen Papin: What is your favorite scripture about divine worth?

Celeste Porter: I love [00:39:00] a lot of scriptures, but I feel like we’re, we’ve talked about perfectionism and that’s been like one of the hardest things for me to overcome. And feel Worth is Ether 1227, where it talks about, we’re given weaknesses that we can become stronger and humble and all of that.

And well, I guess weaknesses, so we become humble and then through his grace, we can become strong and changed and they can become our greatest strengths. And so I think just knowing that he knows that we’re not going to be perfect. He gave us these weaknesses, right? That scripture tells us that, but he provides a way for us to overcome.

Just helps me know he loves me even when I am not perfect.

Karen Papin: How can people find you?

Celeste Porter: So I have my Etsy shop is, ponder goodness. It’s at Etsy. com, I guess, or [00:40:00] on Instagram, you can just type in ponder. goodness and I should pop up.

Karen Papin: I’ll put a link to your shop in the show notes so people can check it out.

Celeste Porter: And if people do have things that they like have wanted to make like moms or whatever, like I’m happy to try and create, I don’t know that I can create exactly what they want, but if they do have things that they want to do, I’d be happy to try and make something for them too.

Celeste: Awesome. Well, that’s nice of you.

All right. Well, thank you, Celeste. This has been awesome. I’ve really enjoyed talking to you today.

Celeste Porter: It’s been really fun. Thank you for having me

Karen: If you have found this podcast to be a light, please share it with others and leave a review, which helps others to be able to find the podcast as well. To learn more about your divine worth and potential, you can check out my divine worth scripture study journal with over 52 scriptures relating to your divine worth and potential.

You can find that on Amazon by searching divine worth journal by Karen Papin. Or through the link here: Amazon

You are of worth. You have a purpose. The Lord loves you and he believes in you and only you can make the impact on this world that you are meant to make. Join me next time as we talk more about divine worth and potential.