Looking for Jesus

A few weeks ago I was sitting in sacrament meeting in our ward here in Memphis. It was Aleece, Lainey, Lennon, Steph's mom Heidi, and I. Steph and Harris were at home because he had just been born the week before. The sacrament started while Lainey was sitting on my lap. She started up a conversation with me while I was trying to reflect on the Savior. I asked her to make sure she was being reverent and I told her to try to see Jesus in her mind. This quieted her down and I closed my eyes, continuing to think of the Savior myself.

I didn't think anything of what I had told Lainey to do, but a few minutes later she put her hands on my cheeks and quietly said "I'm looking for Jesus, but I can't see him anywhere." It was so sweet the way that she said it to me. I said to her that sometimes Jesus is close to us, but we can't see him. Just because we can't see him doesn't mean he is not there.

What Lainey said to me go me thinking about a talk I heard given by a leader of the church not too long ago. I don't know who gave the talk, but in it they said something along the lines of the parents being responsible for making sure that their children would be able to recognize Jesus when He comes again. I couldn't get that thought out of my mind for quite some times after what happened with Lainey in sacrament meeting.

Let me be clear - Lainey and the rest of our children know what Jesus looks like based on the paintings they have seen of him. As I thought more about this I realized a very simple, but overlooked fact - we did not have a picture of Christ hanging in our home. We have a picture of the First Presidency, of Joseph Smith, and of the Nauvoo Temple - but there was no picture of the Savior on our walls. We used to have one, but it was somewhere in the mess of all our moving.

This all happened right before Easter and I thought that getting a picture of the Savior to hang in our home for the family for Easter honestly be the best gift we could give them. So I ordered one online and went and bought a nice frame for it. On Easter morning after the kids had destroyed their Easter baskets I went into our room and brought out this picture. I told the story of why I was doing this to the kids and Steph (she wasn't in on this gift) and explained to them that I wanted the picture of Jesus to hang in our living room with us because He is part of our family. The kids liked this idea and a few days later I was able to hang up the picture.

When I was a teenager living at home with my parents I wanted to hang posters up on my walls of my favorite musicians. Mom didn't have a problem with me doing this, but she said I had to have a picture of the Savior in my room first. She and Dad hung up a small framed picture of the Savior with a quote by it - "What would Jesus have me do?". I've never really thought much about the fact that the picture was in my room. I did write a song many years ago based on that quote, but I didn't realize until recently that my parents had a different motive to having a picture of Christ in my room. It was to help me recognize the Savior myself, not only when He will return to this earth to rule and reign, but also to recognize His influence in my life. When I look at a picture of Jesus I always have very strong and specific feelings that are associated with him. I recognize those same feelings when I am serving others, bearing my testimony, attending the temple, and loving my family. A picture of the Savior is not simply meant for physical recognition - it is also for spiritual recognition.

Now we have a painting of the Savior hanging in our home, right where we can all see him clearly and frequently throughout the day. I know that by doing this small thing that my children will be blessed in the future. They will be able to see the Savior in our home, as part of our eternal family. They will be able to recognize the physical characteristics of Him, but more importantly, they will recognize the spiritual characteristics that accompany Him and they will be able to recognize those in their everyday lives so that they can be led back to His presence as faithful servants.

If you don't have a picture of the Savior hanging in your home go out and get one. Place the picture somewhere prominent in your home where all can blessed by it. I promise that blessings will come from including the Savior more in your life.