Little Boy :)
>> Friday, September 18, 2009
Matthew isn’t “cute” yet. He still looks like an angry, rumpled old man. But, he is beautiful. He is a miracle. The word miracle comes from a Latin word that means “to marvel at.” Fitting. I think that the exquisiteness of one, tiny baby is sometimes lost to us amid the seemingly numberless little ones all equally exquisite. But, they are numbered unto God, and He knows them, and when you contemplate the intentionality of each of those flawless fingers and toes, the uniqueness of the miracle of that child strikes you. God does have a plan for us and I believe that every cell we come into this life with is part of it. When I saw Nick Vujicic (see previous post) at the Tabernacle, he made a point of saying that he knew his condition (being born with no limbs) was not a mistake, nor was it an accident. And, evidently, his physical body has allowed him to fulfill a work he certainly could not have otherwise. More importantly, it seems that his condition has placed him in exactly the set of circumstances necessary for him to come to the relationship he now has with God. It makes me wonder about God’s plan for little, perfectly formed Matthew. What does God have in store for him, such that he saw to it that he was born so incredibly whole? I realize being born this way is rather the rule; but I’m confident that it’s nonetheless intentional.
Perhaps you can’t tell from the picture, but he’s got red hair. My mom and I we’re thrilled! Red hair runs on both sides of my brother’s family (meaning his and his wife’s), but since my brother and I both have dark hair, we weren’t expecting for Kimberly (Matthew’s older sister), much less for Matthew, to have red hair. Of course we wouldn’t have cared whether his hair was black, blue, or purple; we would have been just as excited for him to come!
It has been so wonderful watching Kimberly become her own little person. Every new expression or habit I catch, I wonder “Who are you, little girl?” It’s true that she has wonderful parents, but she does such marvelous things that are all her own. One of the purest expressions of pure love I have ever known is when my little Kimmy walks quietly up to me and puts her small, sweet arms around me for no reason. I wonder what on Earth could provoke her to do that; but she isn’t provoked. It was her idea, because she loves me, and she knows that that’s what we do to show love. I can’t wait for little Matthew to be able to show us the things in his heart.
I have reflected a lot on the purity of children as I’ve developed my photography. I began learning photography by mostly doing candids and portraits of small children, as they tend to be the most willing subjects. However, the more portraits of adults I did, the more I saw the care, the pretense, the uncertainty, the insecurities that we carry in our countenances. With children, it’s not so. Children’s faces are open; their expressions so accurately reflect their thoughts and desires. And they’re alarmingly perceptive. You cannot deceive a child. We’ve learned sophisticated ways of telling our stories, but what a child’s inexperienced intellect may not be able to sort out, their hearts will still feel.
And so I plead, on behalf of my Kimmy and my Matthew, that we be careful with the little children. Do not say or do things believing they can’t understand you. They don’t feel things less because they are inexperienced; they feel them more acutely because they are pure. They don’t need to understand what you’re saying or doing to know what you mean and what you’re about. The Savior tells us that to find our lives, we must first lose them. I think this is especially true when we lose ourselves—our pretense and all that jazzJ—to little children.
Read more...Inspiration
>> Thursday, September 10, 2009
Today I learned the story of a most incredible individual. His name is Nick Vujicic and he was born, inexplicably, with no arms or legs. I was so fascinated with his story, and I had time to kill, so I started reading his site and watching his videos. I was soon hooked; not by Nick, but by the Spirit, which I felt as I listened to Nick speak.
What is incredible, to me, about Nick is not simply what he is able to accomplish though seriously handicapped. What I find incredible is that he understands his purpose in this life—something that most whole people are unable to do. He understands the value of a soul and that it is not diminished by being outwardly broken. In fact, in Nick’s case, it appears that the outward deficiencies we’re designed to allow God to manifest the inward miracles he has performed on this man’s soul. Nick see’s the bigger picture. He sees that his “handicap” is God’s means for lifting and inspiring thousands of others, and he rejoices in it. A student at a Chinese university that Nick addressed asked him how, despite the way God had created him, he could continue to have faith in Him. Nick responds by telling him that he knows God will one day restore his body and that if God could use his condition to lift countless others, then it is worth it. When the young man asked how Nick could believe in a God that wouldn’t give him a miracle, I felt deeply in my heart that God has produced a most incredible miracle in Nick. I feel that my life would be better spent focusing more on seeing the miracles that God has already wrought than seeking short-sightedly after the ones I believe he ought to perform. Nick understands God’s mercy and love and because of that, he sees the miracle that his condition is.
Nick asks a crowd in India what good it is to be whole on the outside when one is broken on the inside. I have thought a lot about this lately. Nick acknowledges that pain and loneliness are real and they are big; but, he says, they are not bigger than God. I would say the same is true of sin. I think that if we understood the potential of one soul, we would see God’s perfection of it as nothing less than the greatest miracle comprehensible. Not because of the difficulty of the task (though it required and infinite atonement), but because of the gloriousness of the outcome. Perhaps I now understand, in small part, why God was willing to sacrifice his Only Begotten Son.
“Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise” (Alma 37:6)
IT'S COMING
>> Monday, August 17, 2009
The great Dani returns to Provo soon. Then, all H-E-double hockey sticks breaks loose. Yeah.
This is Awesome
>> Thursday, January 15, 2009
I love this new site the Church has built. The Church's innovative uses of media is an example of how we ought to take the best things the world has to offer and reject the evil. The site, "A Brand New Year," is very clearly geared towards the Church's tech-savvy teen crowd with mp3's, widgets, videos, interactive scripture mastery, and the like. Our generation has grown up in an age of information and this site is a little reminder, to me at least, that the Lord has plans for us all. I can't wait for digital pass-along cards.
Red Neck New Years
>> Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Here they are peeps. Pics from Red Neck New Years. Chad, of course, looks great but I look, well, ya know. We really had fun-- especially Chad, who spent a good part of the 1st raising heck on a four wheeler. Note the Truck Nutz and Dog the Bounty Hunter book. Those were among the first rate white elephants dispersed that night. Enjoy:)
Cookies and Missionary Work
>> Sunday, January 4, 2009
Heck yes! I think I've found my favorite cookie. I once tried the Pepperidge Farm ginger snaps and really lik
ed them. Well, I got a hankering for some and decided to try my hand at a homemade version that I found on allrecipes. The only thing I did differently was swap the margarine for butter and add a little more ginger and cinnamon. Also, I didn't have an egg so I used some cornstarch and soy milk. The result: AWESOME. These were some tasty little suckers. I can't wait for Chad to get back so I can make him eat some.
Red-Neck New Years was a success! Hopefully, I should have some pics to post for that soon. I won the two biggest pots at bingo and ate an omelette made in a ziplock bag. More importantly, I got to hear funny stories about Chad.
While I was on the plane coming home, I had a really neat experience. So, I had brought two Books of Mormon (not my pic but I did "fix it up" a bit:) home with me to give out over the break. Well, on my way home I sat next to this amazing girl. She had moved to the U.S. from Nigeria with her siblings when she was in high school (her parents stayed behind). She went to a boarding school in New York, then became an en
gineer and has started working out in Salt Lake City. She was just so down to earth and intellectual, yet very firm in her moral standards. I thought, "Wow, not only would this girl be an awesome gal pal, but I think she'd really gain a lot from learning about the Church." I was stoked and was totally going to give her a Book of Mormon. I was sort of afraid though and kept putting off bringing up the Church (she knew I was a member, but I hadn't really talked to her about religion). I just kept thinking how cool she was and I didn't want to weird her out ( I know, dumb). Well, finally, at the end of the flight, she gives ME a pass along card from her church. How cool is that? I was so awestruck that I wussed out and didn't give her a BOM. However, I do have her phone number and I totally want to hang with her. I will try not to let the next opportunity to talk about my beliefs with her pass me up. Now I know that she would be cool with it. I love meeting people like that.
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