His Image

We had a wonderful Sunday School lesson today. Not necessarily because of the presentation of the material (not that it was bad), but because of the spirit invoked by the material. We are studying in Alma 5 in the Book of Mormon. This has always been one of my favorite chapters of scripture. As a missionary in Spain, I had a note card taped to my vanity mirror with the words of Alma 5:14, “…Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received His image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this might change in your hearts?” There were days on my mission that I remember being able to “see” His image in my countenance staring back at me in that mirror, but there were also days that I did not. I think as time has passed, and as life has become “busy,” I have not done a lot of looking in the mirror. There have been days that I have definitely seen His image, but I fear that there have been many more that I have not. How often do we look upon our countenance and see our busy day, or pending deadlines, or worldly desires? It is only when we submit ourselves with a broken heart and a contrite spirit before the Lord, that we will be able to look in that mirror and see His countenance.

Speaking of seeing His image in your countenance, we were able to have a friend take some family pictures for us. She did an AMAZING job. It is the first time we have been able to do family portraits with a little flexibility of what we want. The pictures turned out great. I look at some of the pictures of the kids, and despite their expected “misbehaviors,” I am able to see His countenance. We are truly blessed with 3 great kids. They love each other, and they love us. They absorb everything we teach them and we try to teach them the gospel. It makes me proud to hear C tell me about what his lesson in primary was about or what we read about in the scriptures. I love to hear K tell me about her lesson in nursery and even tell us a little about what she understands the scriptures to say. E is just so close to our Heavenly Father that I can’t take my eyes off of him. We are truly blessed by our children.

Here are a few of the pics: