Touched.

I had a bad day today. No real big reason, just a bunch of little ones. I was feeling overwhelmed, tired, and down. Such a mood is not very conducive with having the "Christmas spirit". I was out this morning trying to figure out what to buy the parents' for Christmas when I came upon this book called "Reflections of Christ". This may be a fairly famous book, but I hadn't heard of it or seen it until today. Its a collection of photos taken by a photographer named Mark Mabry. The photos depict the life of Christ. I thought the pictures were pretty so I decided that I was going to get a book for each set of our parents (and I am currently hoping that none of them look at this blogpost until after Christmas). I really didn't think much about it other than, "Oh that will make a good gift." So tonight, after putting Mason to bed and sending Nic off to some residency meeting, I found myself alone with a million things to do. Instead of checking said million things off my list I thought I'd look through this book, just to make sure it will indeed be a good present. Before the photographs are shown the photographer talks about how he came to start this project. His story is very inspirational and I encourage anyone to read about it on their website (www.reflectionsofchrist.org). Then I looked at each picture with the corresponding scripture. I was mesmorized with all the details. The looks on the people's faces, tears on their cheeks. It was an touching experience for me. After the photographs, Mark Mabry has a little blib on each shoot and talks about the experiences that enabled him to take such stunning pictures. By the time I was finished looking at the book I found that I had an entirely different attitude than I had previously today. Now I know this isn't something I usually post on my blog. These are my private thoughts and I tend to keep them to myself. Maybe more often than I should. But I just have to express my gratitude for my Savior and what he has done and continues to do for me. Although Christmas seems to be a time when everyone gets these warm fuzzies, I want my friends and family to know that this is something I have believed my entire life. Jesus Christ is our Savior and he loves us. He knows us each intimately and loves us just the same. I have always found comfort in knowing that he fully understands any crisis I face, and to say more, he cares about it. He lives and this is something I know to the depths of my soul. So although this may seem out of character for my blog to post something so personal, I just wanted to share it. I hope that everyone reading this will find a way to have similar feelings and not just because its Christmas, but because its true.

I checked on YouTube and found that there is in fact a video with the pictures from Reflections of Christ. In fact, I may be the only person on the planet who hasn't seen it until today. But here it is. (It was a little finicky for me. You may have to start it and then drag it back to the beginning so it loads ahead of you. You probably could have figured that out though.)