In recognition of International Woman’s Day 2021, we would like to share with you someone who has faced challenges over the past year, which we are sure many of you can relate to.
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Emma Mulgrew is a 31-year-old woman who has been married to Jordan for 10 years. She has 2 children, Lola-Rose and Maxwell and has her own business, Lola-Rose Beauty Boutique, which she has built up herself over the past 8 years. She employs one person. Her business has been massively affected, she said "I’ve had a very challenging year. Throughout the last year I’ve only worked for a total of 17 weeks due to two lockdowns, which has been difficult as I’m used to being constantly on the go. Running my own business gives me a sense of pride and achievement. I feel as if part of my life is on hold as something that I have worked so hard at over the last 8 years is at a standstill. I worry about the long-term effects of COVID and the sustainability of my business and the impact it may have on my employee".
Emma is the Ward Relief Society President in the Bangor 2nd Ward of the Belfast Northern Ireland Stake and has tended her calling in the absence of weekly Sabbath meetings.
As part of her busy day she home schools, She says “I’m lucky as my daughter is generally very good and motivated to do the work, although it can also be challenging. Google and YouTube have been a great help! Some days go better than others, some days all the work is completed and other days we don’t achieve very much. When the weather is good, I try to let the kids get out and enjoy it (lockdown adventures) as I find this is beneficial for their wellbeing.”
On the positive side, I have enjoyed the time that I have had at home with the kids, being able to do lots of fun things with them and improve the spirituality in our home. It’s been enjoyable to not be always going at 100mph and to take time to reflect on what is important in life.”
Emma’s family have been a great help to her throughout the last challenging 12 months. She related the following:
“There was one evening I just burst out crying, I went upstairs discreetly so my family did not know where I was and knelt in prayer. I told Heavenly Father all my burdens, I felt the spirit so strongly. I felt someone’s arms around me hugging me and telling me that he is with me and all will be ok, I felt like a ton of bricks was lifted from my shoulders. The arms I felt around me was Lola-Rose who just held me and said nothing. Then Maxwell came up the stairs and started to wipe my eyes and tell me that everything is ok. This was a beautiful experience that I shared with my children. I don’t know if they realised the impact that they had on me that night.
A scripture came to me after this experience, it was in Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
I believe we should always look for the good in every bad situation that may arise in our lives and in this case, I have just done that.
Jesus loves us and he knows all our struggles, he is always with us and waiting for us to pray and ask for our burdens to be lifted. There are many different trials we may be going through but if we put our faith and trust in him, he will bless us, help us, guide us and show us the way. He is close to us when we pray, he surrounds us with love, he is there and always listening. You may feel at times that your days are dark but with the Lords help you should try to find the sunshine in your days and count your many blessings.
We as women and sisters need to love one another, watch out for each other and serve one another even more so during these times.