Welcome back to Season 3 of the Divine Worth Podcast! In this episode, Karen shares a personal update on her summer of writing and growth, then dives into a powerful lesson on self worth through the story of Eve. If you’ve ever struggled with self-editing, rumination, or shame after making a mistake, this episode is for you. Karen unpacks Eve’s story from Moses chapter 5, showing how the very first woman on earth — with no mortal mother to guide her — modeled a journey of failure, grief, and redemption that speaks directly to self worth for LDS women today. From the fall in the Garden of Eden to the heartbreak of losing her son Abel, Eve’s life reminds us that mistakes are not the end of our story — they’re part of God’s plan for growth. Karen also introduces the practice of free writing as a tool for processing difficult emotions, and issues a challenge: what if you aimed to fail more, not less, in pursuit of doing what’s right? This episode is a gentle, faith-filled invitation for LDS women to release shame, embrace imperfection, and rebuild self worth through the Savior’s grace. In this episode: * Karen’s summer update: writing, homeschooling, and starting a Substack * Free writing as a tool for processing grief, anxiety, and depression * Eve’s story and what it teaches us about self worth * How Eve’s loss of her son Abel speaks to grief and rumination * The “40 fails a month” mindset shift * A simple 3-step process for moving past mistakes: acknowledge, get curious, remember it’s not the end Paid subscribers on substack, your journaling prompts for this episode are waiting for you at the bottom of the page — a companion to help you sit with Eve’s story and reflect on your own journey toward self worth. Full Transcript Welcome Back to Season 3 Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast. I am so, so happy to be able to be here with you today and be able to start Season 3 of the Divine Worth Podcast. We’ve had a little bit of a break, and in that time I’ve been focusing more on writing and stepping outside my comfort zone in that way. I started a Substack to hold myself accountable to this new goal I have of improving my writing. On there I share more about Divine Worth and seeing what God sees in you. I’ve been writing these “Letters to the One” — letters that are about helping you to feel seen, to feel heard, to recognize that God loves you. There are also letters of things that I want my kids to know. I’ve been writing these letters to the one, and also just doing writing exercises and sharing the things that I am writing so that I can learn and grow and get better — because the only way I’m going to get better at my writing is by actually taking that action and writing. That’s what I’ve been doing over the summer, in addition to spending more time with my kids and enjoying that they’ve been home. They’re back at school now, except for my eldest, who I’m homeschooling, and that has been a fun experience so far as well. So that’s a little update on what’s going on with me. But I am excited for this season of the Divine Worth Podcast. Free Writing as a Release One of the things I’ve been doing with my Substack is a free write. What that is, is I just take time — I grab my writing notebook and I write whatever comes to my mind without really censoring what it is that’s coming out. This can be a really beneficial exercise to do when you’re feeling depressed or anxious, or if you’re feeling grief — to just be able to write out the emotions you’re feeling. The interesting thing about doing that is it is a huge release, because that part of ourselves that is feeling these unresolved emotions begins to feel seen and heard. We’re no longer hiding or trying to hide those emotions or act like we don’t have them — we’re actually acknowledging and experiencing them so that we can process them and ultimately move forward in the ways we want to move forward. So that’s something I’ve been doing with my Substack — writing out whatever comes to my mind, whatever I’m feeling, and then processing those emotions through my writing. Sometimes it can be hard to do that, because inside there’s this desire to want to edit myself, to edit the things I’m saying. Yet the most powerful writing happens as we just let it all out. If you’re someone who finds yourself editing yourself throughout your day — keeping you from trying something new because you’re afraid to fail, or maybe you have trouble beginning a conversation with someone else because you’ve got all these ways you’re editing yourself before you even open your mouth — or maybe you’re someone who replays things over and over again in your mind. That’s something I have really struggled with in the past — just ruminating, even after a conversation or a mistake I made, replaying it over and over again. I’ve come a long way as I’ve learned some of these tools, such as this free writing. Or maybe you feel stuck in shame anytime you make a mistake, and you struggle to really let go of those mistakes. Eve’s story is something I feel is really helpful in relation to all of this, for those of us who do tend to edit ourselves. So let’s learn a little bit more about Eve. Eve: The First Woman Eve was the first woman on Earth. That is something that can seem so unfathomable to me, because sometimes in our lives we feel alone. Sometimes, as a mom myself, I can feel at such a loss for what to do for my kids and for those I love — not even just my kids, but for anyone we’re called to serve, we can feel at a loss and not really know how to move forward. So I can only imagine what Eve must have experienced and been feeling, being someone who really was the first one, paving the way for all the other women who would come after her. She did not have a mortal mother to help her know how to nurse her babies, or to know when to push them to step outside their comfort zones and when to rein them in, and to guide them in the different things they did. She was someone who we know made mistakes, and yet we also know there was wisdom within her mistakes. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. They were told not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When Satan came tempting Eve, she desired to be able to know good from evil, and so she partook of the fruit. Then she goes and gets Adam to partake of the fruit. What happens is they’re kicked out of the Garden of Eden because of this transgression they chose. But they still believe in God, they still follow Him, and they make sacrifices to Him, and they know that He is there and that He will guide them. What Moses Chapter 5 Teaches Us So I want to go into Moses chapter 5, because there’s something very interesting said within these verses. They’ve been cast out, and it says: after many days an angel of the Lord appears unto Adam, saying, “Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?” And Adam said unto him, “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” So they are still putting their faith and trust in the Lord, and they understand that they made a decision that caused them to be kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and they are accepting of the Lord’s decision in that. Then the angel says unto them: “This thing is the similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.” So here they’re talking about — you have been asked to do these sacrifices because they are reminding you what the Savior does for you. And yes, you made this choice, yes, you have fallen because of this choice, but there is a way for you to overcome. “And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.” And in verse 10: “And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.” And verse 11: “And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” This beautiful understanding comes over them — that this was actually part of the plan. That we would come here, that we would make mistakes, and that we would have a Savior to help us overcome those mistakes, to learn from them, to know and understand good and evil, and to understand the joy that comes from repentance, and to move forward — multiplying, replenishing the earth, teaching others, bringing them unto this great knowledge as well. Seeing God’s Love Through Eve Eve’s story teaches us something beautiful — that mistakes are part of this process here on earth, and we have a Savior to help us overcome each one of those mistakes. We can see God’s love through Eve, because of this experience where she made a decision, and because of that decision she fell — and allowed us to be able to come to this earth. I imagine that as the first woman, as the first mother on this earth, there were many times Eve felt like she was not doing a very good job — where she was making a mistake, where she did not know how to overcome those weaknesses. And yet she was given the Savior to help her overcome, time and time again. Eve’s Grief: Cain and Abel Another example from Eve that I don’t think we actually think of from her perspectiv
