What I Learned This Easter

I want to share a music video with you. I've watched it multiple times in the last few days to the point that, in my quieter moments, I can hear it playing in the back of my mind. The first time I watched it (ok, the first several times I watched it) I found tears rolling down my cheeks. Its message was just so amazingly beautiful. It was such an incredible testimony of Christ's atonement and resurrection. I was blown away.

As I've pondered this video and discussed it with Renaissance Man, I've come to realize just why it moved me so very profoundly. I want to share what I have learned this Easter with you. It's going to take me a bit of explanation to get to the point, so please be patient while I get there.

Christ's earthy mission was two-fold: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). Christ's triumph over the grave completed the first part of that mission. We too will be resurrected, reunited with our physical bodies, and live forever. The atonement of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross accomplished the second part of His mission. The atonement is what allows us to enjoy eternal life, which is exaltation and eternal progression.

I've understood intellectually and felt in my heart for years that Christ's atonement, His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, were personal. He paid the price for MY sins, he accepted the weight of MY griefs and heartaches. I know that He is there for ME. He would have been willing to make that sacrifice even if I had been the only one in the world. His atonement was for ME. I know that I can repent and I know that I can hand my burdens to Him and that He will carry them for me.

My understanding of Christ's resurrection has been a bit different.

As a child, no matter how often you are taught about the true meaning of Easter, I think it's very difficult to grasp the significance of Christ's sacrifice. At least, that's the way it was for me. Even after I no longer believed in fuzzy bunnies delivering eggs, Easter was still about the goodies in the basket.

My first real experience with death was devastating. My dad died when I was just fourteen. It wasn't until after he was gone that I began to understand the beautiful promise contained in the resurrection of Christ. Because He died, my dad will live again. As I've gotten older, more of my loved ones, including grandparents, friends, mentors, an uncle, and even a precious still born daughter, have passed through the veil. It's very strange to think that there will come a day in my life when there are as many of my loved ones waiting for me on the other side as there are with me in mortality. Each Easter I have thought of these loved ones and rejoiced that one day they would be resurrected and that we would be reunited. I have been comforted by this testimony time and time again. But, something shifted for me this year. I've realized something on a deeply personal level that somehow I've missed in previous years.

Perhaps it's because it's because I'm getting old enough to be gaining a sense of my own mortality. (At my current age, my dad only had five more years to live.) Or, maybe it's because I'm old enough to recognize that my body doesn't work in exactly the same way it did when I was younger. But, when I heard the lyrics of this song, I wept. I wept because for the first time in my life I understood that not only is Christ's atonement personal, so is His resurrection. Because of Christ's triumph over the grave I will live again. I will rise from the grave, not just the loved ones who have gone before me. I will have a glorious perfected body and I will be reunited with the loved ones that I will leave behind when it's my turn to pass through the veil.

This Easter I learned that I Will Rise.




This video comes from Alex Boye, if you aren't familiar with his music, you should be.

I'll be back to update our pictures soon. :D

Good Things:

--I know that my Redeemer Lives!

--Music that touches my spirit.

--Blogging again, finally.

Let me 'splain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

RM will finally be finishing his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering this semester (or there will be heck to pay ;) ). We have applied for a grant that would fund his PhD and give us a stipend to live on while he researches. He wants a PhD because he'd like to teach Mechanical Engineering at a university. We are supposed to find out if the grant has come through some time in December. We have been going under the premise that if we get funded we'll do the PhD and if we don't get funded, we'll get a job. However, life being what it's like with five kiddos instead of four, we are considering getting a job even if the funding comes through. We can see many benefits to both options.

Since financially we have reached the point where we either need the grant or a job ASAP, RM put out several resumes at an engineering job fair at the U of U a couple of weeks ago. He has had at least a half dozen companies express interest and ask for interviews. So far we've had promising interviews from companies in Idaho Falls and Flagstaff/Phoenix. We have other interviews lined up with companies in Clearfield, Lehi, Washington, Michigan, and Albuquerque.

So, if funding comes through and we accept the grant or if we land a job on the Wasatch Front, we're staying put for at least a little while. Otherwise, we may be relocating as soon as the new year.

Needless to say, I'm feeling a little stressed.

As I chatted online with a friend tonight he shared with me a really great insight. I asked him if I could quote him on my blog. His response?

Only if I get a cut of the royalties...How about this: every person who reads and comments on my quote has to send me a job referral. And you have to say that the quote came from "my wisest and truest friend, Christian H Gibbs. (The H stands for Humble)

So, without further ado, here is his amazing insight:

I have a theory that at some point in our lives, the Lord pulls a 'Brother of Jared' moment on us. Tells us we have to make a drastic change in our lives, and when we ask him about details like 'how are we supposed to light the boats', instead of giving us the answer he says "What do YOU want to do?"

I think he's just about hit the nail on the head. I don't think it's a matter of a right and wrong choice for our family so much as a good, better, best choice. And, for some reason, those don't seem to be easy choices to make.

My friend gave me a bit of parting advice:

The brother of Jared formed a plan, then went to the Mountain of the Lord and humbly asked if his plan was acceptable. In other words, GO TO THE TEMPLE. GO DIRECTLY TO THE TEMPLE. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200.

I think we'll be taking this very sound advice...just as soon as we have decided on a plan. :P

PS...Christian is looking for a job in software development if anyone out there can hook him up. :D

PPS...Just found this compilation video on Youtube. Too funny not to share (even though I've shared parts of it before.)

Happy Valentine's Day (A Bit Early)

This just felt appropriate to share now rather than on Sunday. :)

I Believe in Miracles

Almost two weeks ago I had a friend of mine over at my house. She had been here for around and hour when she looked at me with fear and tears in her eyes and confided in me that her husband was being screened for cancer that day. Furthermore, while searching for a cause for some numbness he's had in his extremities, they thought they had seen a brain tumor. She just couldn't bear to keep the news to herself any longer, she had to share with someone.

Wow.

What do you say at a time like that? We discussed Priesthood blessings. I reassured her that we would be praying for them and that I would keep the confidence she had shared with me. She promised she would keep me updated as they found out more information.

After she left, I felt tied in knots. I had promised that I wouldn't tell anyone. (She didn't care if more people knew, but he didn't want to say anything until there was something to say.) Yet, I desperately felt that they needed more people praying for them. I struggled with what to do. Then I had the thought to call my mother-in-law.

My mother-in-law is truly a saint. She is one of the most generous, kind, and loving women I know. She will go out of her way to help people and she genuinely strives to be like our Savior. I told her about my friend's situation. I asked if I should keep the confidence or if I should tell our bishop so that someone else could be praying for them. She gave me the most simple and beautiful of third options.

She reminded me that in the temple that there are hundreds of patrons in dozens of sessions praying for those whose names are on the temple prayer rolls. By placing my friend and her husband on the temple prayer roll, there would be thousands of prayers offered for them over the course of the two weeks they remain on the list. By placing their names on the prayer roll, not only could I keep my promise not to tell anyone in the ward what was going on, but I could also radically increase the number of prayers on their behalf. The answer was so clear and so RIGHT.

I called every temple from Bountiful to Mount Timpanogos (Salt Lake was closed for cleaning) and put their names on the prayer roll. Then I waited and prayed.

Three days after she confided in me, my friend called me to say that the cancer screening had turned out negative. Hallelujah! One major bridge crossed. A brain tumor is still very scary stuff, but at least we knew there was no cancer in the location we had feared. Now just to wait for the results of the other test.

More prayers and waiting.

My friend called me late this afternoon. The screening for the brain tumor came back clear. Either they thought they saw a tumor and they were mistaken or the tumor has disappeared. There is no brain tumor!!!

The moment I got off the phone with my friend, I called my mother-in-law to tell her the good news.

I'm not sure what would have happened if my mother-in-law had not so sagely advised me to put their names in the temple. I do feel that her inspired counsel played a huge, positive part in the miracle that has happened for my friend and her husband.

They still don't have a cause for the symptoms my friend's husband is experiencing, which is frustrating. But, for now, there is definitely cause to rejoice. There was a strong possibility of two very serious, very scary diagnoses, and by a miracle neither of them came to pass.

I am so humbled and grateful for my Heavenly Father's love for me and my friends and for the influence of such a righteous woman in my life. I am grateful for miracles.

Pondering on the fragility of life...

I received word this morning that a friend who used to live in our ward passed away yesterday. (You can read about the circumstances here.) My heart is breaking for her family.

My heart is also breaking for the people of Haiti. Whenever wide scale disasters like this happen, my head and heart just reel thinking about how many people are just "gone".

I'm grateful for my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I'm grateful that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, knows each one of us personally, and is there for us in our needs. I'm grateful for my Savior and for the hope that comes with the promise of the resurrection. And, I pray for the comfort of the Holy Ghost for those in need of His comfort at this time.

Favorite Photo Friday...a bit late...again.

One of my favorite photos of Princess Bug ever. My mom took her shopping for her baptism day dress and they picked out this stunning number. By lucky coincidence, Princess Bug was actually baptized ON her 8th birthday. It was a very special day. Oct. '07.