Thursday, December 27, 2012

Wise Men Still Seek Him

It seems like this is this Christmas season's theme. 
I went to my friend Rachel's girly Christmas party and opened this gift. 
 Then it got stolen from me.
Then I opened another gift of lotions which got stolen so I could thankfully steal back my Wise Men gift!

On the first Sunday of the month, our Home Teacher came and offered a little Christmas message from the president of our church and from the scriptures. Here's an excerpt from this month's Ensign:

In our day the spirit of giving gifts plays a large role in commemorating the Christmas season. I wonder if we might profit by asking ourselves, What gifts would the Lord have me give to Him or to others at this precious season of the year?
May I suggest that our Heavenly Father would want each of us to render to Him and to His Son the gift of obedience. I also feel that He would ask us to give of ourselves and not be selfish or greedy or quarrelsome, as His precious Son suggests in the Book of Mormon:
“Verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who … stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
“Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away” (3 Nephi 11:29–30).

Then he had Dylan and Isaac look and find 5 things in this picture that are examples of serving others. 
They show how the kids are giving gifts to Jesus. 

I said it was appropriate since our Christmas card was from our Three Wise Men too.
A couple of days before the party, I saw a nativity on a friend's Facebook timeline as their header. I loved it and asked where she got it. It was from the Mormon.org's Facebook page, she informed me. So I looked and found this one of just the wise men and used it as my timeline cover.
Recently, I saw this video as posted on another blog. I've seen it before, but it's appropriate and explains a tiny bit more the phrase that Wise Men Still Seek Him.

Today, a friend, Lori Emery, posted this about the star that the Wise Men followed. 
"The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well."--Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Isn't that amazing?! I think so. We're all so important. 

We read in the scriptures that Jesus was about 2yrs old or more when the Wise Men found him. It was good reading Jesus stories each night by candle light. 
It's good to have little ways to keep the real meaning of Christmas on the tops of our minds this season and I'm SO blessed that so many little ways fell into my lap that helped me and my kids focus on the three wise men of old. I have a testimony that my Heavenly Father wants us all to learn, to gain wisdom, to give gifts by serving others, and that He is always sending us significant messages to help us get back to Him. He has a plan, and if we pay attention, we can learn and be wise too. 
Verse 12 is the sweet one I chose to highlight one night because I think of my baby Tyler and how I give him his swaddling [favorite] blanket all the time. It doesn't have to do with wise men except that even Jesus started out as a tiny baby who depended on his mommy for everything. Oh, that reminds me of another little gem from this month. Last Sunday, my favorite song in our church service's program was "Mary Did You Know" performed as a duet with my friend Emily Pavone and her dad. (Here's a link to a video w/ Ceelo singing it.) Tyler, sitting on my lap, was sitting staring. So was everybody else, no wiggles while they sang. I need to raise my babies to be righteous strong wise men too. 

1 comment:

Aunt Kat said...

Wow, what a good theme for the season! And if I understood your Facebook post correctly, I need you to teach me how to make those decor plaques!