At first when Mom told me the cast of characters for our Christmas Nativity, I was kind of surprised to find out that Layton would be a lamb. On the Jarvis side of our family, there are nine grandchildren, 7 of which are girls. In the Nativity, almost every character, except Mary, is male. So it just seemed logical to me that Layton would play one of the actual persons in the Nativity, like a shepherd or wise man or even the baby Jesus, since he was one of the two boys in the family. But after watching him in the scene, I think Mom might have been on to something. This little lamb of God is so very much like that other Lamb of God for whom we were celebrating. Like our Savior, right now he is perfect in every way. Innocent, without guile, completely trusting, gives freely of his love, and is so very pure. As I watched him, my heart filled love for him, for Dallin, for Mandy, for Nathan, and especially for my Savior. Filled to the point that my heart felt physically full as though it was ready to burst. As I look at this picture of Layton, I can feel those same feelings again. I think that Heavenly Father gives us those moments of perfect love, to help us through those times that are not so perfect. Like this past weekend. We were away from home, Layton had a cold, a fever, was teething, woke up 5 and 6 times each night, and was just miserable. And since he was miserable, it meant that much of the time, things were pretty miserable for me too. On the third night of almost no sleep, while bouncing him in my arms and walking around the house trying to sooth him back to sleep, my back was killing me from holding him, tears of frustration and exhaustion were falling down my cheeks, and I felt almost ready to give up. Then as I looked at his little face lying on my chest, I felt those perfect feelings of love once again and was reminded of the sacred nature of this little child.
In similitude of our Savior who was the literal son of our Heavenly Father, he is a spirit child of our Father in Heaven. Right now he is perfect, without blemish, without sin. But I know that as he grows, he will be thrown to the wolves of the world who will try to tear him down. I just hope that we can teach him, as well as Dallin and Mandy, how to protect himself from the wolves and to grow to become a great shepherd like his older brother Jesus Christ. Layton is so much like the Savior now, I just have to hope and pray that he will continue to be as much like Him as possible throughout his entire life.
At first when Mom told me the cast of characters for our Christmas Nativity, I was kind of surprised to find out that Layton would be a lamb. On the Jarvis side of our family, there are nine grandchildren, 7 of which are girls. In the Nativity, almost every character, except Mary, is male. So it just seemed logical to me that Layton would play one of the actual persons in the Nativity, like a shepherd or wise man or even the baby Jesus, since he was one of the two boys in the family. But after watching him in the scene, I think Mom might have been on to something. This little lamb of God is so very much like that other Lamb of God for whom we were celebrating. Like our Savior, right now he is perfect in every way. Innocent, without guile, completely trusting, gives freely of his love, and is so very pure. As I watched him, my heart filled love for him, for Dallin, for Mandy, for Nathan, and especially for my Savior. Filled to the point that my heart felt physically full as though it was ready to burst. As I look at this picture of Layton, I can feel those same feelings again. I think that Heavenly Father gives us those moments of perfect love, to help us through those times that are not so perfect. Like this past weekend. We were away from home, Layton had a cold, a fever, was teething, woke up 5 and 6 times each night, and was just miserable. And since he was miserable, it meant that much of the time, things were pretty miserable for me too. On the third night of almost no sleep, while bouncing him in my arms and walking around the house trying to sooth him back to sleep, my back was killing me from holding him, tears of frustration and exhaustion were falling down my cheeks, and I felt almost ready to give up. Then as I looked at his little face lying on my chest, I felt those perfect feelings of love once again and was reminded of the sacred nature of this little child. 
In similitude of our Savior who was the literal son of our Heavenly Father, he is a spirit child of our Father in Heaven. Right now he is perfect, without blemish, without sin. But I know that as he grows, he will be thrown to the wolves of the world who will try to tear him down. I just hope that we can teach him, as well as Dallin and Mandy, how to protect himself from the wolves and to grow to become a great shepherd like his older brother Jesus Christ. Layton is so much like the Savior now, I just have to hope and pray that he will continue to be as much like Him as possible throughout his entire life.
When I read your blog to Mama Doris she was so moved. She said "Christ said that we must become as a little child." She also praised your talent for expressing your feelings in written word. I totally agree with her.
ReplyDeleteI love my Jarvis'
WOW.. what a Great post! I hope we can both teach and protect our kids... we have such a huge task placed before us. Thank Heavens for our Tag Team FHE nights! We sure LOVE you guys and feel so Blessed to have you and all your goodness in our lives! That little lamb is Eatable! I have missed kissing on him!
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