I don’t think anything makes me feel closer to God than staring into the eyes of my babies. I’ve written about it before HERE. I don’t remember this specifically with Ivy, though I’m sure it happened. But with Sage I’ve stared into her eyes and it’s the most outstanding, humbling feeling.
What did I do to deserve this gift?
As I hold Sage and she begins to drift off into sleep, while comfortably in my arms, I wonder what I did to deserve so much trust. She is so comfortable in my arms, so content, so peaceful, so trusting. Why does she trust me? What did I do to earn that trust?
Nothing.
Or maybe everything.
I don’t know how Sage, Ivy, and I interacted before coming here. Before coming to earth were we best friends, running around, shooting hoops, reading books, taking walks? Maybe I did earn that trust.
What did I do to earn the trust of God, to send His daughters to me?
As I stare into Sage’s eyes, I see the eyes of God.
She is His daughter. She is of His lineage. She is a princess, not of me, but of Him. And as I stare into her eyes, I think that’s the overwhelming, outstanding, humbling feeling I get, that I described above. It’s looking into the eyes of God.
Ivy is the first grandchild on both sides. Ivy has 13 aunts and uncles. She has two sets of grandparents who, while around her, make no qualms about her being the princess of the universe and most important thing to ever come to earth. As I watch her with family, I’m blown away by the amount of love. She is loved so much. Beth and I love her so much. See The Greatest Moment of My Life Every Day for further evidence.
I wonder how much this love positively impacts Ivy’s future. How much does it impact the person she will become?
As I watch her, something occurred to me recently. I was surrounded by this same love growing up. I wasn’t the first grandchild on either side, but I was surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and grandparents that loved and adored me. Love was poured out upon me without measure as a baby. Not only was I loved by those I could see, but I was made to know that God and so many I couldn’t see also loved and cared about me.
While watching Ivy, it occurred to me how lucky and blessed I was to be surrounded by all that love.
How much was I positively impacted by the love I was surrounded by? How much did it shape who I am today?
Not all children are given this great gift.
It was a humbling thought. It’s humbling to consider all that I’ve been given. If I ever get prideful about any good qualities I may have, I can quickly look at all the attention, direction, and love I’ve been given in my life and realize there is nothing to be prideful of. I have been afforded much.
This used to be a daunting scripture. Now it is a great responsibility, and a great blessing.
As I’ve gotten older, I have become more aware of how blessed I was to be raised with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. That is why I write this blog. That is why I try to talk to friends, family, coworkers, etc. about the Book of Mormon. That’s why I share my testimony of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful for The Family A Proclamation to the World for what is teaches authoritatively and without reservation about the importance of the family unit. My family unit has blessed my life in so many ways. I wish every child could be loved like I was, like I still am, like Ivy is.
God expects me to share the love I’ve been given. Not in a prideful way, but with a humble recognition of how lucky I truly am.
The two great commandments are to love and to love. When you receive love, you must give love. That’s what God asks from us.
Sometimes I look at my dog and think, “he wouldn’t last 5 minutes out in the real world.” If he had to go out and hunt/scavenge for food and water, on his own, no chance. Being cute getting someone to give him food and water would be his only chance at survival. If that option is removed, he’s a goner.
Look at this picture. It looks like he just ate a plate of strawberries and his afternoon plans are to lounge and get belly rubs.
Exhibit A
Granted, he is an 8-pound poodle/terrier mix. He wasn’t bred to survive in the wild. He was bred to be cute and to get people to give him stuff. I’m just saying, removing that option = goner.
I can already hear the “big” dog owners. “My dog would survive in the wild. Yours is closer to a cat, mine still has some wolf instincts.” OK. Your golden retriever is not surviving a week in the wild without its cute factor, just the same as my poodle/terrier.
Exhibit B
My dog lives the most cushy life imaginable. He sleeps all the time. He wakes up and eats. He sleeps some more. He goes on walks. Then he sleeps. He plays. He goes on bike rides. At 9:30pm he stares me dead in the eyes and I know he’s saying, “You know good and well it’s time for bed.”
It wasn’t until just recently that a very obvious and humbling fact slapped me right across the face. I wouldn’t survive a week out in the wild.
I was looking at my (adorable) little dog curled up on the bed, petting his soft hair, admiring how good he is, being jealous of how easy his life is, when I had that thought. “You poor pathetic creature. What would you do without me?”
Who was I talking to?
*Slap to the face.
What would I do out in the wild?
Here I was in my air-conditioned condo, with a giant Hydrapeak water bottle filled to the brim with ice cold water that I filled from my refrigerator. That morning I’d poured Berry Colossal Crunch into a bowl, pulled a cold jug of milk from the refrigerator, and had cereal, like a proper grown man should do. That morning I’d taken a piping hot shower. I let the water run long enough so that it was plenty warm. Cold shower? No chance! Running water came from a tap where I put a toothbrush I’d squeezed mint toothpaste onto to brush my teeth. I then sat in a comfortable chair and worked at a computer.
Who was I to judge my dog? I was living the same life my dog was!
Put me out in the wild without food and water and tell me to figure it out. Remove the option of me going to someone’s door and saying, “please feed me,” and I had no chance.
I don’t think we take the time often enough to
Stop and realize how blessed we are.
Realize how pathetic we are.
What would I do out in the wild without a can opener? Let alone having to hunt and find food?
I’ve recently read a couple books about the old west. A story I just read was about an 11-year-old boy who ran off with some Shoshone Indians (Native Americans). He lived two years with them. Eating buffalo meat. Hunting rabbits. Fishing for trout. I was amazed at the life this boy lived just 170 years ago.
Can you imagine if your ancestors could look at you now? What a pathetic sight you would be. Your great-great-great-great grandpa would marvel at your fancy light up information device and cans of food but would ask you, do you know how to hunt? Do you know how to guide yourself by the stars? Do you know how to survive without your pre-packaged meals and Uber eats? (Reminder- that great grandfather would be so perplexed by Uber eats).
Can you imagine your great-great-great-great grandmother asking where you keep the chickens? How do you grind the wheat for your bread? (Do you grind wheat for bread??? I DON’T KNOW!) Can you even cook without that radiation device that nuclearizes your food into something *edible?
While modern advances are amazing, truly amazing; we have become so pathetic.
That’s all.
Just thought I would remind all of us of that.
Next time you look at your house cat, little dog, big dog, or even your fish and scoff and say “you dumb and spoiled animal,” I hope you pause for a second and soak in the irony.
No Coincidences 