Seventh Day of Christmas: A Gift

Yesterday one of my students brought me a gift. It is a handmade cross-stitched type of gingerbread house ornament.

This particular student has a lot of medical issues. I'm not sure what all is going on with her, but she has a learning disability along with no use of her left arm. She is one of the sweetest people I know. When she smiles, it lights up the room and my heart. She goes out of her way to be nice to people. And she works really hard in class despite the things that make the education world difficult for her.

People, she made this ornament for me. She has no use of her left arm.

I am in awe, and I am humbled. I feel like I can't even put it to words adequately.

One of my friends challenged me to photograph a moment today where I could see God's love. I know this was not technically today, but I saw it on my desk when I got to school today, and it made me think.

This small act of kindness and love is a sign of God's love for me because it showed me that I am cared about. Whenever I am the recipient of any act of love, kindness, or service, I know it is God's hand through someone else. In this case, I was humbled by this simple act from a student with many challenges. She loves me enough to create something with her hands when she has no use of one arm (and hand). What did I do to deserve this?

I could also ask what I did to deserve the sacrifice Christ made for me. The answer is simple: nothing. I don't "deserve" His sacrifice, but He gives it freely because He loves me.

May we carry that love in our hearts and give freely. We can carry that love in our hearts and be God's hands to someone else.

Sixth Day of Christmas: Let Him Heal Your Heart

I know it's a little cheap, but Kilee sharing her favorite song about Christ made me want to share mine too! And we're doing it on the same day! Awwwwwwww...anyway, my favorite song about the Atonement is called Let Him Heal Your Heart by John Canaan. Back in high school I got a BYU Men's Chorus CD and this song is on there. I was going through a particularly hard time and this song carried me when I needed it. I still get a little teary-eyed when I listen to it. It's hard to pinpoint my favorite part of the song because every stanza is filled with truth and the love the Savior has for each of us. I hope you enjoy it :)

Who can know the heartache that we're feeling deep inside? 

Who can know the burden you've carried all your life? 

Darkness fills the daylight and the road is much too long. 

Where is heavens answers and the strength to carry on?

When the night is lonely and your pride and fear depart, 

When the tears are falling and the questions fill your heart, 

Think of how he loves you, how he longs to bring you home.

Reach out for his guidance, he has walked your path alone. 

Let him heal your heart, remember every promise he has made. 

Reach into your soul, forsake a life of sin and he will shine that light inside again. 

Let him help you start, to live again and feel his endless love. 

Let him hold and teach you, love and reach you, let him heal your heart.

There's no simple challenge, every road is not the same. 

Every wrong decision is forgotten if you change. 

Feel his warmth surround you, see his arms are opened wide.

And know that he stands ready, when you start to change your life. 

Never doubt his goodness, don't believe that its too late.

He sees your every struggle, and he know the trials you face. 

Follow and believe him, put your trust in him again. 

And change your heart forever, let the miracles begin. 

Let him heal your heart, remember every promise he has made.

Reach into your soul, forsake a life of sin and he will shine that light inside again. 

Let him help you start, to live again and feel his endless love. 

Let him hold and teach you, love and reach you, let him heal your heart. 

Let him hold and teach you, love and reach you, let him heal your heart.

Fifth Day of Christmas: One Who Understands

Yesterday was really busy, and today is too as I'm wrapping up semester testing and trying to get all the last-minute grading turned in (from late work turned in last minute...). So, I'm posting this now (late!), and Day 6 will come later today via Ben.

One of my favorite scriptures is John 15:13.

"Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

I love it because it tells me I am one of Christ's friends. He laid down His life for me, and for that I will be forever grateful. At this time, we celebrate His birth. What's so significant about His birth, though? His life. The life He lived, and the life He gives us is the reason to celebrate! His gospel is reason to celebrate! Because of His birth, we have been able to receive the rewards of His atoning sacrifice. Because of His life here on earth, we are able to turn to Him in times of need, whatever that need may be. 

He is always there. He loves us more than we can even imagine.

I want to share my favorite song about the Atonement. Watch this video:

I feel like I can just say, "'Nuff said" and be done. Because that song and video are amazing! 

But I'll just say that I know He lives, and He loves us. This year has been full of hard trials for me, and I've grown closer to Christ than I ever have before. I have much to learn, but I'm getting there. I wish every day that I could just shout from the rooftops and have everyone become baptized into His church! I know that He knows and loves me personally. And He knows and loves you too. He knows what you are experiencing, and He is just waiting to wrap you up in His love. He understands everything about your life. Turn to Him in times of need, and turn to give Him thanks during times of joy. Never forget Him because He will surely never forget you. Even when you feel lost and alone, He is there. You just have to look beyond the pain and see that He has never left you. Sometimes it's hard, but when I have found Him, I have found that He has been there all along. 

The Fourth Day of Christmas: His Love Fills Us

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I listened to a story on the way to work this morning. It was a story I’ve heard many times before, but it was good to hear again at this time of year.

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman who was interned in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany after it was found that she and her family were helping an underground effort to conceal Jews from being arrested and sent to their deaths. Throughout her experience, she struggled to be as kind and forgiving as her sister Betsie, whose testimony of Jesus Christ and His saving power was inspiring, but her sister’s influence helped her to find forgiveness for herself.

Betsie ten Boom ended up dying before the end of the war and, in an effort to carry on her sister’s faith in the liberating power of forgiveness, Corrie began speaking publicly around the world about the peace and forgiveness she had found in Christ. The rest of the story I’ll quote from the general conference talk I heard the story from:

After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness. On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie’s own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her message of Christ’s forgiveness and love.
 “‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’
 “His hand was thrust out to shake mine,” Corrie recalled. “And I, who had preached so often … the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
 “Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. … Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.
 “I tried to smile, [and] I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.
 “As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
 “And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”

So if you ever find it difficult to feel love for another person, or even for yourself, remember that Christ can give you that love. When you struggle to forgive another person, or even yourself, remember that Christ can give you His forgiveness. It is His light that fills this world and penetrates the darkness, and it is through His light and life that we can all be healed. 

Third Day of Christmas: Caroling and Love

I went caroling at a retirement center with a few families from our ward tonight. Ben didn't come with me because he got off work late. He really missed out!

I've always loved caroling at retirement centers. I've done it a few times, and each time has felt magical. The people we sing to appreciate it so much, and I've always felt a strong spirit of love while there.

This experience was no different. From the moment I walked in the door and saw the excited faces anticipating our caroling, my heart melted. I actually almost cried, that is how strongly I felt. A lot ran through my mind in that instant: I felt a very strong love for every single person in that room as a son or daughter of God. I felt that I was in the right place, spreading the word of the gospel and bringing merriness into their lives. I felt peace, complete peace. I felt joy, and my heart felt ready to burst.

I also felt the spirit of my grandma. She was always up for a good time, especially if it involved music and/or dancing. I think she joined her daughter and granddaughters for a brief moment during the musical praises we sang. She always loved to hear us sing.

Upon the end of the night, all of what I felt boiled down to one word: love.

Tonight, I felt like I understood a piece of what Jesus Christ feels for each of us. He loves us. He ransomed Himself for us. I felt a piece of that love for each of the men and women with me tonight, both retirement center folks and the friends and family I went with.

Tonight, singing brought us together. We bonded over our love for Jesus Christ and the joy of what He has brought to life.

Tonight, I am writing because this is what His birth signifies: love. And joy.

And I can't think of any better way to share that with people than through music. Music is powerful. It has always spoken to me in ways that no others can. Music has healed and soothed my soul when I've needed it most and found no other balm. Good music is of God. We can use music to learn, to teach, to soothe, and rejoice. Tonight, we taught, possibly soothed, and definitely rejoiced through music.

Caroling is a Christmas tradition. I never fully understood why until tonight.

D&C 136:28
"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving."

Merry Christmas!

Second Day of Christmas: Our Dependence on Christ

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Today in Elder's quorum, we talked about our dependence on Christ. It made me think of Ammon's boasting of the strength of the Lord in Alma 26:12:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I've gotten a lot of chances to think about the experience we've had since moving to Arkansas. I wrote a little bit about my feelings on my other blog, but today there were some extra things I hadn't thought about.

For those of you who didn't know, I was unemployed for the first six months of this year. I applied for scores of jobs in the area and interviewed for a good number, but I always fell short. It seems that almost every time I asked for feedback, they told me they thought I was a great candidate and they wanted to hire me, but someone just barely beat me to it, and I never knew the reason.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that there is a very good reason--God wanted me to learn something. If it was right for me to have a job, I wouldn't have had a problem, but He wanted me to learn that we are wholly dependent on Him for everything. I have the skills necessary to have a successful career, but I know now that that's not what's important in this life. It's important to realize that our relationship with Christ, and our acknowledgment that without Him we are nothing, are the things that will help us be the most successful with that which is most important in this life.

In the story of the Brother of Jared, God says that the winds that sent them to the promised land came forth from His mouth. There were a lot of times when that wind caused huge storms that buried their vessels in the water and they had to pray to make it back to the surface so they could breathe. And I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable ride for them, but they were always moving toward the promised land. For me, I'm actually on a pretty good path right now toward self-employment, but that wouldn't have happened without going through what we've had to. The winds have blown and we've felt buried at times, but I can see now that we're still being blown in the right direction.

When we realize our dependence on Christ, it's easier to see why certain things happen to us. It also helps us to humble ourselves so that we can start making progress in the right direction. The enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes that possible.

On the First Day of Christmas

"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..."

...A message about Christ that makes me happ-ee!

Starting today, we will be bringing you a Christmas thought/message/scripture to gear us all up about the true meaning of Christmas. I realize it's been a while since we blogged...maybe we will start being more consistent. Maybe not. Only time will tell. But for the next 12 days, we will surely be consistent!

Day 1: The Word

Yesterday, as I was driving around town with mi mamasita, she asked, "Kilee, I just realized something yesterday. Have you ever thought about the word Christmas?" Yes, many times, but as soon as she said this, I realized I had never thought about it in the way she was about to describe, and it instantly clicked.

Christ. Mas.

More Christ.

We all need a little more Christ in our lives. Christ represents so many things, but the biggest things for me are salvation, hope, and peace. Let's come together this Christmas season and bring more Christ into the lives of those that need Him.

Except, let's not stop at the end of the Christmas season. We could always use more Christ.

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