I stand all amazed...

Picture by Adam Abram

I saw this picture a couple of days ago and just fell in love with it . It touches me to my inner most parts . It's amazing how the artist captures Christ's agony, how truly painful it was. Usually we see pictures of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and he is praying very calmly... no pain, no anguish, just serene and peaceful. But Christ himself says that the "...suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

"Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men." (D&C 19:18-19)

President Joseph Fielding Smith stated:

“One of the greatest sins, both in magnitude and extent … is the sin of ingratitude. When we violate a commandment, no matter how small and insignificant we may think it to be, we show our ingratitude to our Redeemer. It is impossible for us to comprehend the extent of his suffering when he carried the burden of the sins of the whole world, a punishment so severe that we are informed that blood came from the pores of his body, and this was before he was taken to the cross. The punishment of physical pain coming from the nails driven in his hands and feet, was not the greatest of his suffering, excruciating as that surely was. The greater suffering was the spiritual and mental anguish coming from the load of our transgressions which he carried. If we understood the extent of that suffering and his suffering on the cross, surely none of us would willfully be guilty of sin. We would not give way to the temptations, the gratification of unholy appetites and desires and Satan could find no place in our hearts. As it is, whenever we sin, we show our ingratitude and disregard of the suffering of the Son of God by and through which we shall rise from the dead and live forever. If we really understood and could feel even to a small degree, the love and gracious willingness on the part of Jesus Christ to suffer for our sins we would be willing to repent of all our transgressions and serve him." (The Restoration of All Things (1945), 199)

I think we all need to be more grateful for Christ's atonement. I think that we all can change things in our lives, to show our gratitude for His suffering. We need to be more willing to do as He would do. To act as He would act. To think as He would think. This picture reminds me of the love that Christ has for me. And compels me to change the things in my life that I need to, to be more like Him.

I love Him so much and am so very grateful for His love for me. I know that Christ suffered in the garden and on the cross because He loves us. He just wants the best for us.

I hope and pray that all of us will try to remember Him more in our lives.

another blog...

Due to the highly stressful life I lead, the necessity for consuming more knowledge, my “pursuit of happiness”, and many other time consuming “things”… I don’t post very often. But I digress. Maybe you would like to check out the other blog that I frequently post at, smithhomeian.blogspot.com. Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoy the other one.

By the way, this is on my side bar... just case you were wondering. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Here is a quote I just love about the true meaning of love.

"True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us...
"When Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment to “love one another; as I have loved you,” He gave to them the grand key to happiness in this life and glory in the next.
"Love is the greatest of all the commandments—all others hang upon it. It is our focus as followers of the living Christ. It is the one trait that, if developed, will most improve our lives."

- Joseph B. Wirthlin

May you have a wonderful day and realize what true love really is. I hope and pray that you may feel God's love for you.

3 GREAT movies

Okay, so in the past week we have watched (and re-watched) three really great movies. They are all made by the same people - Alex (director) and Stephen (producer) Kendrick, who are brothers. They are...

All of these movies have such great messages and are very inspiring. They just make you want to be a better person. I would highly recommend any of them!

A SUPER Saturday!!!!

Last Saturday we had a great family (the Pecks) come over for most of the day. They have 8 kids (one of whom is on a mission and another who is leaving very soon) and most of them are around one of our ages. We talked, played games, had dinner, laughed, and some went sledding. It was such a fun-filled day.

My mom helped Sis. Peck start a blog for her missionary sons. As they were setting it up they told me to go get a picture of Loren (he's the one going on a mission very soon) to put on there. So I went out there and, very obviously (I thought), took a picture of him. Well when he came to look at the blog, he saw the picture of himself and was really shocked because he didn't know I had taken it. I thought it was so funny. Anyway... here is that picture...

After dinner, it came time to milk our goats and so we all went down and milked together. Most of the Pecks got a turn to milk, and some even twice. It was quite an event.

All in all, we had 17 people in our home, 8 of which were under the age of 14 and we didn't have one single fight or argument. Amazing or what?!!?

So to wrap up, I had a wonderful day and hope that we have many more gatherings with them. And I hope that Loren has a wonderful, successful, safe mission.