Textual Poaching: An Identity Remix

"Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
'Suffer the children to come to me.'
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee."

"Heavenly Mother, are you really there?
And can you hear this wondering girl's prayer?
I feel like you're always far away
And I want to know if you're in my heart to stay.
Heavenly Mother, I want to know now
If I was made in your image long ago.
Suffer your daughters to come and see
Mother, I'm praying that I'll one day meet thee."

I wanted to do something that had to do with my identity as a female, but I wasn't sure how to start. I began by looking up poems by females and reading some of those, but they already said what I wanted to, and I couldn't find a lot of creative space to remix those poems. This semester I have been focusing on my Heavenly Mother a lot more; I have been following multiple Instagram accounts that focus on Heavenly Mother and are constantly reminding their followers (me) that we are children of Heavenly parents, which means we have both a Father and a Mother.
"A Child's Prayer" is one of my favorite songs, and for me, it really exemplifies how I feel about Heavenly Father. I chose this song because it represents me and my identity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and then I remixed it to fit my identity as a woman and a daughter of a Heavenly Mother. I wanted to start with the same line because I felt like it was appropriate, and I tried to keep within the same number of syllables with every line so that it would still be able to fit along with the rhythm and meter of the song.
I wanted this remix to express how I feel as a female in the church who often hears how we are made in the image of God, but I am not exactly. I was made in the image of my Heavenly Mother. "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" testifies of the importance of gender and the role that both women and men play in a marriage. I believe this is true of our Heavenly Parents.
My remix shows how I want to come to know my Heavenly Mother, just as the original expresses a child's desire to know their Heavenly Father. I mentioned how I want to keep her in my heart, and part of this is because I have always had a better relationship with my mom, and I wonder what my relationship with my Heavenly Mother is like. I kept the same word "suffer" in my remix because I thought it was appropriate. Suffer the women to see thee, to meet thee, to learn essential truths that we don't necessarily shun, but that we may sometimes not bring to light.
I'm very passionate about my relationship with my Heavenly Mother, especially as the church leaders have become more and more encouraging of the women of the church. The men of the church have Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as literal examples, and while women can also use these examples, there is something uniquely personal and touching about having a female example that we can mimic ourselves after.
I think it's important to take things that we feel already represent us and make it our own. I would love to do this same assignment with my future students because I feel like it allowed me to appreciate the original more, as well as appreciating my own identity and realizing that we can have both.