Week 7: Matthew 17

Something that was said this week in my New Testament class really hit me. We were reading in Matthew 17:5 which is one of the few times we hear the voice of Heavenly Father and my teacher asked us what one word is used every time the Father speaks. We all threw out guesses but I was still surprised by the answer. The word was beloved. Our professor then went on to point out how comforting it must have been for the Savior to hear. He was living on earth and was a real person with real temptations and whenever his father introduced him he was told again and again that he was loved. Our professor then told us quite frankly that we needed to express our love more too. This is not something that I am very good at and actually causes some angst but when he said it I knew it was something that I needed to work on. The past week has been filled with opportunities to express my feelings to those around me and as I have done so I know it has made a difference in my life as well as theirs. As you go about the next week or so, try to express your love to those around you a little bit more and see what difference it makes.

Week 6: Luke 10

This week in class we were going through Luke 10 and discussing the parable of the good Samaritan. As is often the case with parables, we decided to put ourselves in the story. The only question was, which role should we put ourselves into? We often hope we are the Samaritan, feel we are the man injured on the wayside, fear we are the Priest, Levite, or even one of the thieves but how often do we envision ourselves as the donkey that the Samaritan helps the injured man onto? It was interesting to think of the Samaritan as Christ and realize that sometimes He puts other people's burdens on our shoulders without much warning and asks us to bear some of their weight. We have the option to be stubborn and try to resist or we can continue on tackling the mountain before us as gracefully as possible. We may stumble occasionally but the Savior is still walking alongside that donkey and ensuring that nothing goes wrong on the journey.

Week 5: Matthew 9

This week in class we read and discussed more of Christ's miracles. When discussing the story of Jairus found in Matthew 9 I was struck by one of the lessons Christ was teaching me. It does no good to try to rush the Savior and get him to comply to our time table. Jairus tried to hurry Christ along and was devastated when Christ was too slow and his daughter died. However, Jairus did not curse God he remained faithful and when he really needed Christ, He came and raised the girl from the dead. Many things in this life are out of our control but as long as we rely on Christ, remain faithful to him, and trust in His timing, I know he will be there for us.