stark contrast

so now that you know what a horrible person i am (a.k.a spending my life playing the team game and that the reason i didn't post for so long is because my post count was at 69 and i had to make that last as long as possible) i'm going to try and be a spiritual blogger.

this weekend devin and i went to the temple for a sealing for some kids in our ward who are being sealed together with their 2 year old son. beautiful and amazing ordinance espesh when they brought in the screaming 2 year old. no sarcasm intended. he stopped screaming right as they said amen.

anyway afterwards we wanted to go see our dear friend mele as an angel in the reflections of christ exhibit at the temple. as we were walking in we were told by the sister missionary that as we walked through we would know in our hearts who we should share the message of Christ with as she handed us two referral cards. by the end of the exhibit i knew who i needed to put on that card...

as for the exhibit, i can't explain it and still give it the credit it deserves. it was very profound and well done.

i heard from mele that mark mabry spent a huge amount of time reading the scriptures and other church material preparing for the project and i am grateful for his preparation.

i think we all appreciate Christ for different reasons and that our life's experiences reflect the reasons we are grateful for our savior Jesus Christ. For me, those reasons I am most grateful for Him are the atonement and the resurrection. Therefore as I was walking through the exhibit, the pictures that i loved and that struck me were different from the ones devin pointed out. I have always identified with the story of the adulteress in John 8:3-11, where the savior admonishes her to go and sin no more.

my favorite greg olson print is called forgiven.
there is a similar one in reflections of Christ that really stood out to me. In this picture the adulteress has her hand outstretched to the savior as if she is pleading for help and to be saved. it just reminded me of how grateful i am for the atonement in my life and how i needed it just like we all do to be worthy of the temple and to be worthy of the blessings we receive there like being sealed together as families forever.

which leads to my other favorite picture in the refections of Christ exhibit, the resurrected. i haven't ever seen another picture of the resurrected savior that i have found as powerful. to me it beckons a person, the person looking at the picture, to follow Him while reminding them that he atoned for our sins and died so that we might live. i am eternally indebeted to him all that i have and am. i know that he lives and that because he lives i will live again with daniel and my mom. i know that he has provided the way and i am grateful that i belong to a church that has leaders like Gordon B. Hinckley along with the other fourteen apostles that lead that way through their example
my testimony of the savior was strengthened by the pictures of Christ but more so by the spirit that accompanied them and the witness that was born to me that the most important thing i need to do in my life is build a solid relationship with my savior.

call me selfish but by the end of the exhibit I knew exactly who needed to go on that referral card.

me