Birth of Christ

I decided to start out this blog with pictures of the Birth of Christ. Normally I will probably only post one picture per post but I found two great pictures that I couldn't decide between the two. The first is a picture of Mary holding baby Jesus on her shoulder. It's called "Be It Unto Me" by Liz Lemon Swindle. I originally found the other picture and was just going to go with that one until I found this one and I knew I had to include it. Why you may ask? Because this is one of my mom's all time favorite paintings. I'm not really sure why it's one of her favorite pictures, it would probably be a good thing to ask her. I remember when I was younger one Christmas my dad was searching everywhere to find it in print because it was her favorite picture. (If I remember right, the picture went out of print so it was difficult to find. But don't quote me on that.) I found a few scriptures from Luke 1 that I thought would fit well with this picture. "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou has found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." -Luke 1:30-31. "For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." -Luke 1:37-38. Mary must have been an incredible woman to find such favor with God at such a young age. She must have had immense strength to be able to believe the angel and say that she is a servant of the Lord and will do whatever is needed. To me, the picture shows in her eyes that she may have been a little fearful, but she knew that her journey ahead of her was not impossible and that she could do it. She was about to become the mother of the Son of God and to be able to say that and know that is incredible to me. Mary was a strong woman and mother. I hope that someday I can be half the mother she is.
I chose this picture by Ted Henninger because it not only shows the joy in the faces of Joseph and Mary, but baby Jesus looks so happy and peaceful. I have 8 nieces and nephews so I know how cute and adorable little kids are. I love when newborns smile and laugh. This picture depicts just that. The scriptures I chose to go along with this picture are as follows. "And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." -Luke 2:6-7. I chose this scripture for some obvious and not so obvious reasons. Obviously, this scripture relates by the depiction of Jesus being laid in the manger, swaddled in clothes. I also chose this scripture for a less obvious reason. In my New Testament class, when we went over this scripture, Bro. Griffin asked us if we were going with the "inn" crowd or part of the "stable" few. Of course it was funny because there's a pun there but it really stuck with me. Am I part of the "inn" crowd or the "stable" few? I like to believe that I'm part of the "stable" few and I hope my Father in Heaven sees that and comes to that same conclusion. It seems that each semester there's something that Bro. Griffin says that sticks with me for life and I believe this will be it. I hope that I can continue to walk along the path of righteousness to be part of the "stable" few. This is probably a little out of order but it just came to my mind that you may be asking, what does it mean to be part of the "stable" few? I think essentially it's something that each person defines themselves. I believe to be part of the "stable" few you need to have a testimony of Christ. This gospel is based the Atonement, which was done by Him. Christ atoned for my sins and your sins. He knows how I feel at this very moment. I have a testimony of Christ, that He lives and that He is the Savior of the world. I think you also need to be moving forward. None of us are perfect, but we can become perfected in Christ. We all make mistakes and have up and down weeks, but as long as we are moving forward, we are part of the "stable" few. I am so grateful for this opportunity to come to know Christ better by learning about His life through the scriptures and through these pictures. I was inspired by Kiley Cash to do this blog because she had done a blog for her Book of Mormon class. I'm grateful to her for that because I feel this is a great way that I may know Christ better. I'm grateful for all that He did for me, does for me, and will do for me. He is my Savior and I say these things in His name, Jesus Christ, Amen.