art by james christensen
i love this picture. always have. i cut it out from an ensign. and i wanted it to be the center of a "vision board" on courage. but i didn't want to glue it on. so i kind of just tucked it. i took it to church for a lesson and when i got home it was gone. it must have fluttered away in the wind while i was walking home.
and i was sad. because, you see the print is about $5,000. i checked at a gallery years ago. fully expecting to come home with one. i didn't. so i hung on to that little 3X4 magazine clipping.
last week, a sweet woman at a party i was invited to gave each attendee a real widow's mite. i had always wanted one.
sometimes we have a vision for a long time. and just when it seems to flutter away in the wind and we stand empty-handed--the real thing is placed in our palm.
i've been reading and studying this morning in preparation for my easter sunday yw lesson. i have also been trying to plan some christ-centered family activities for tomorrow. i sent out an email call for ideas to some friends and within minutes rachel sent me a link. i loved this author's thoughts on palms. palms were a symbol of luxuries and necessities. what can we offer as our palm--a sacrifice a the feet on the savior this easter. ultimately, we have our own palms. the service of our hands.
i've always loved the above depiction of the widow--because she is young. the widow is often portrayed as old. but this widow i can relate to. unexpected burdens. but she is strong and serene and sincere and she stretches out her palm. her offering. her tiny mite.
for family night we talked about the story of the widow's mite. we watched this new video. i showed my family the picture and the mite. davis took it to school the next day for show'n'tell. and we watched "the john tanner story" (an amazing story of an early saint who gave his fortune to the church--and actually saved the temple from bankrupcy). on my doorstep that day a guy came selling church videos to finance some radio equipment for his lds podcasts. before i even knew what he was selling i told him, "i don't want to waste your time--i'll tell you right now i'm not buying anything." i felt stingy. and close-hearted. and i felt that "gift" pull. and then he pulled out some church produced d&c videos. and i handed over a little cash. and it was the perfect video for family night. funny, how often i "give" a gift and it really is a gift for me.
these last couple weeks have been really hard for me to give gifts. i feel like i entered a "phase two." phase one was easy and fun. phase two is really stretching me and saying, "let me teach you about true gifts. real gifts. ebooks are fun. . .but these gifts will stretch you." and i can only think of one true gift this week.
because i felt a literal rooting out of my heart (and it felt painful) as i thought about the gift i needed to give. i felt that same pain after listening to president uchtdorf's talk, "the merciful obtain mercy." frankly, i couldn't listen to the rest of conference on sunday. i have never felt pricked at conference before. and i may have been a little grumpy about it. so i prayed to raise my score--so i could pass president uchtdorf's test. you see, i scored about 20%. so, a few days later i had my chance. i had felt hurt and offended and embrassed by a situation. and my gut feeling was to avoid and ignore and pout and withdraw. and it took a lot of prayer and a beautiful stroke of inspiration to turn that around. and it literally did. it seems i would have closed a door to a friend and an opportunity to grow and learn.
those are my widow's mites. small, often misshapened offerings--lying warm in my outstretched palm.
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