The Atonement of Jesus Christ

So it is a bit of an ongoing joke in my family how often I've been asked to speak on the Atonement in Sacrament Meeting. 3 out of the last 5 years. I'm convinced it was because I didn't get it quite right the first 2 times. lol. SOO this time I tried extra hard to say exactly what I was supposed to say. (Also because I had to speak right before the Bishop - no pressure.) I'll let you know if I have to speak on it again next year. ;) Thought I'd share because I am so grateful for the atonement in my life and for the Savior's willing sacrifice for us all. Enjoy!


I am happy to have had a chance to think about the Atonement of Jesus Christ the past couple of weeks. I’d like to start off by sharing a tender, personal glimpse of the Savior’s loving sacrifice for us through a dream that Orson F. Whitney, who served in the quorum of the twelve apostles, had when he was a young missionary. It was a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever:


“One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. … Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed … : ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’ “As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else. “Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or scolding, asked them if they could not watch with Him one hour. “Returning to His place, He prayed again and then went back and found them again sleeping. Again He awoke them, admonished them, and returned and prayed as before. Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance—face, form, and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien … the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child. “All at once the circumstance seemed to change. … Instead of before, it was after the Crucifixion, and the Savior, with those three Apostles, now stood together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him. “I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real that I felt the very warmth of His bosom against which I rested. Then He said: ‘No, my son; these have finished their work, and they may go with me; but you must stay and finish yours.’ Still I clung to Him. Gazing up into His face—for He was taller than I—I besought Him most earnestly: ‘Well, promise me that I will come to You at the last.’ He smiled sweetly and tenderly and replied: ‘That will depend entirely upon yourself.’


I love the descriptions he gave of the Savior from this dream: Gentle, tender, kind, meek and lowly as a little child, sweet.


Through his sinless life, his genetic nature as the only begotten of the Father and his willingness to drink the bitter cup of justice, The Savior was able to atone unconditionally for Adam and Eve’s transgression and for Physical death allowing for us all to be resurrected. These unconditional parts of the atonement are free gifts of grace requiring no further action on our parts. He also atoned conditionally for our personal sins. This requires our repentance as the condition of applying mercy. Like the Savior said in Elder Whitney’s dream “That will depend entirely upon ourselves.” If we do not repent we must suffer even as the Lord did to satisfy the demands of justice.


When I was in younger I remember viewing repentance as something that had a definite start and finish but as I have matured, I have realized that it is an ongoing process that truly never ends and that it can be a daily blessing that allows us to become closer to our Heavenly Father, more like him, and strengthen us as a result if we take advantage of it.


I think in the repentance process it is important to remember just how much our Heavenly Father loves us, is on our side, and wants to forgive us. There is a line in my patriarchal blessing that I feel is ok to share because it applies to us all and teaches us about the nature of God. It says “Always remember that the commandments of God are gentle. As you remember this you will have the necessary faith to place your burdens at His feet. This means that our Heavenly Father is just that, the very best kind of father. A gentle father who knows that we will sometimes make mistakes, who waits and longs to forgive, comfort, strengthen and bless his children. I know that our Bishop and his counselors have this same kind of love for the members of our ward.


In the April 1990 Ensign article titled Beauty for Ashes – Bruce C. Hafen discusses two other ways that the Lord’s atonement or grace blesses us beyond compensating for our sins. The first of these is that that the Atonement can sweeten the bitter. Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of this life. In Moses chapter 6:55 we read that we taste the bitter that we might learn to prize the good. Some examples of bitterness we might experience in life are: Accidents caused by carelessness, forgotten promises, discouragement about the circumstances of our personal lives, self-doubts, ignorance, stresses and troubles, broken hearts, spiritual fatigue, illnesses and the undeserved pain of adversity. We must also lay these burdens at the feet of our Savior. The blessed news of the Gospel is that the Atonement can not only purify all uncleanness but sweeten all the bitterness we taste. It compensates after all we can do for the ignorance or neglect, the sorrows and adversity we experience in this life. I know that is true and I’d like to share an example of this from my own life.


Sorry to those of you who have heard parts of this story before. Before I tell it I have to preface that, looking back, I know that in the grand scheme of things this was a relatively small challenge but it sure didn’t feel very small when I when I was going through it and I feel like the principles I learned from going through it can apply to all of the challenges that we might receive in this life.


When I was a new first time Mom, my first child at 4 months contracted a common childhood virus in the chickenpox family that causes an itchy rash with raised bumps. The pediatrician said it usually ran its course in a year or less and that the bumps usually spread a little and that they often caused scarring similar to the chicken pox when they went away. Well, we soon discovered that our case was not a very typical case. Within a few months the bumps had spread to cover both arms and parts of his trunk and back. The pediatrician made a phone call and got us in quickly to see the best dermatologist at Duke. The Dermatologist was surprised at the number of and the size of the bumps (they were quite frightening to behold) and asked permission to remove one to study it and to take pictures to send to his colleagues across the country to see if they had discovered any new treatments or if they had had any success treating severe cases. He also said that typically, cases like this were only seen on people who had severe immune deficiencies and they tested our son for every immune deficiency imaginable. Nothing showed up. We prayed continually, we pleaded, we fasted, we researched and tried online cures none of which seemed to work. We kept him in long sleeves during the summer to try to prevent him from scratching and spreading it or passing it to another child. I watched as the rash continued to spread and climb up to his neck and chin despite my very best efforts and mourned that it would spread to his cute face. I spent sleepless nights next to him holding his hands to keep him from itching and spreading the rash. On one particular exhausting sleepless night near my ropes end I prayed a short emotional prayer. Why. Why, Heavenly Father? Why won’t this go away? Why does he have to suffer? He is so young and he has so much. I’ll be listening. As I sat in the dark and listened, It was not long before a thought that was not my own clearly came to my mind. I heard. “He knew before he came to earth that he would have to suffer and Jesus Christ descended below it all.” What perspective. It was enough. I was humbled. I knew that Jesus Christ truly did suffer for it all and that he understood. Even though I knew this trial was not going to be taken from us yet, I received strength to continue on and hope that all would be well eventually. I knew that we were not alone. A few weeks later, the dermatologist called and said he had heard from a colleague that had had some success with what was basically an overdose of Calcium. The overdose of Calcium would change the PH of the body allowing the body to recognize that the virus was there and begin fighting it. It began to work. Some of the bumps began to turn an angry red color and then the goo that was on the inside of each bump began to come out. (sorry) The dermatologist told me that My job was to bath him each day, remove the old Band-Aids and clean the pus from the red bumps that were ready and try to remove the core from these bumps, then cover with cream and Band-Aids, then check for new red bumps and keep them covered with Band-Aids. Each new morning we would repeat the process. It was a process that took at least twenty minutes each morning while my husband worked. I needed help. This was a child that I had to throw my leg over to keep him still for a simple diaper change. “I need you Heavenly Father. I can’t do it by myself. Please, help him to be able to lie still, Help him to understand that I am trying to help him." He did help me. I know it. My active son would lie still EVERY TIME and watch the ceiling. Sometimes as long as 30 minutes while I cleaned and wiped and creamed and bandaged. I sometimes wondered what he might see that I could not see. Within 5 weeks of beginning the new medicine, every bump was gone. He was 14 months when the last one disappeared. While the trial was not taken from us right away, he upheld us in the trail, he strengthened me, gave me perspective and hope and he blessed us with what we needed to get through it when I asked for help. I know that He longs to do this for each of us in the trials that we face.


A second way that the Atonement blesses our lives beyond compensating for our sins is in our quest for divine perfection. While much of this perfection process involves healing from sin and bitterness, the processes involves an additional dimension through which we may acquire a Christ like nature and become even as the Father and Son are. We read in D&C 93:12, that in His own development on Earth, the Savior received the Father’s grace not of the fullness at first, but that he received grace for grace until he received a fullness. This grace was not to compensate for any sins (because he had none) but to empower his personal growth. Though he was the son of God, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and being made perfect became the author of eternal salvation. Just as the Sinless Christ was made perfect through interaction with his Father’s grace, So HIS Atoning grace can move us beyond a remission of sins to the perfection of a divine nature. This Gospel has good news not only for serious transgressions but for all of us who long to be better than we are. I know that I long to be better.


Through the Holy Ghost, the atonement makes possible certain spiritual endowments that actually purify our natures and allow us to be more like our Heavenly Father. Then we will exhibit divine character not because it is the way we think we should act, but because it is the way we are.


One of these spiritual endowments is the Gift of Charity. Charity is not developed by our own power, even though our faithfulness is a qualification to receive it. In Moroni 7:40 we learn that Charity is bestowed upon the true followers of Christ.


It is important that we are patient with ourselves and others as we are all on our own individual paths towards perfection and becoming more Christ-like and more likely than not, we are all doing the very best that we can.


Another Endowment of the Savior’s grace is the gift of HOPE which blesses us with the state of mind necessary to deal with the gap between where we are and where we seek to be. As the remission of our sins makes us lowly of heart and meek enough to receive the Holy Ghost, the comforter fills us with hope, peace and perspective and we will be able to see the light at the end of the Tunnel given by the Savior himself who is the light and life of the world.


I am so grateful for the marvelous gift of the atonement in my life, I know that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten of the Father and our Elder Brother. I know that His atonement is real and I have felt the peace that it brings in my life. I know that life is hard but when we are doing our best as men and as women, Mothers and Fathers in the roles that we are given, that his Atonement will also make up the difference for the things that we are trying to accomplish in our homes and in our lives.


It is my prayer that I and we can all use this gift to the fullest that we may be purified, that the bitterness in our lives can be sweetened, that we might be strengthened as we bear our burdens and that our hearts and minds may be filled with the hope, peace and perspective that it brings and that we may we go forth with more love and charity for ourselves and others in our lives as a result. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Enjoying the snow!

NC got about 3 inches of snow this week and the kids were thrilled. Click here for a video of the fun. :)

How is your life?

I had an old friend ask me today "How is your life?" During the second my brain searched for the most correct answer, I thought how difficult it would be to answer that question correctly in the amount of time I had to answer it and to give an accurate picture of how my life is. I said "Fantastic!!" with gusto and then said "just kidding, I don't know." and laughed. "I don't know" was quite an honest answer seeing as sometimes life is just too busy to stop and take my own temperature accurately. As my brain scrolled through different answers I wondered how normal it is to have such varying answers be correct within the course of just one day. One hour. It is normal I decided. I am sticking with normal. Please tell me this is normal people. If you want the overall answer, which seems to be the best, Life is Good. I even own one of the t-shirts. :) If we sit and count our blessings, it would feel so ungrateful to say anything else. I am blessed. I am loved. I have what I need. I know why I am here. I am healthy. I love my family. Life is good.


Sometimes the correct answer is life is difficult. Far too difficult. Terribly Difficult. Difficult enough to make you want to sit and weep for awhile as you think about all of the trials large and small that fall on your shoulders. As you wonder how you are going to keep everyone and everything together. How you are going to turn your awesome but very much children, children into awesome independent adults who feel good about themselves, know why they are here, and that they are loved and blessed. Sometimes wondering, sometimes knowing at the end of each day that you could have done a little better somehow. And then realizing at the end of it all, they will still have their agency. I think it helps to know that life is not supposed to be easy, that we are not supposed to feel qualified for all of this. Who is qualified but the Creator of us all truly? We need Him. Sometimes it helps to think that HE thinks I am qualified or He would not have given me these things. I had a very wise woman tell me once that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all of that as well. If I am doing my best, Heavenly Father will help make up the difference. I am not doing this alone. We are never alone as much as sometimes we would like to feel that we are. I know that is true.


Sometimes the correct answer is Life is full of Joy. So full of joy that you wish you had a pause button and could stay in the same time period for awhile. That you could keep your children the same age for a while longer. They do grow up too fast. So full of Joy that you feel the warmth of the sun inside your chest and it makes you so grateful. So very grateful to be here experiencing all of this. Learning all of this.


So, I am sticking with life is Good. :) If we can keep the big picture perspective, the why of our lives, I think we will make it. We were sent here to succeed after all. I'm going to try to make HIM proud.


I hope that answers the question. ;)

Homemaker

home.mak.er n. One who manages a household, especially as one's main daily activity.


We are friends with a wonderful talented lady named Alia El-Bermani who is an artist that we met when Parker was in her daughter's Kindergarten class. She approached me a couple of years later when I was getting quite large with Liam in my belly with the idea of painting a mother standing in front of a house going up that would be titled "homemaker." I thought it was a beautiful idea and said yes of course!


Side Note: Wouldn't it be interesting to see how our homes looked in the spiritual sense of how we are doing and what we are accomplishing? Maybe that is too scary, lol. Or maybe they would look like castles and we just don't know it because we are too hard on ourselves. The picture of the finished painting is below. (Parker was actually in the pictures she took too but she decided that she wanted to show more of the house in the background. We would have loved it if he was in it too of course but we understand her decision.) I think I look tired in this picture but that is pretty real thing for homemakers isn't it? ;). I really like that it feels real and not just a pretty painting with everyone grinning.


Here is something to strive for: "No other success can compensate for failure in the home. The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family, is of greater value to God and future humanity than other riches. In such a home God can work miracles, and will work miracles. Pure hearts in a pure home are always whispering distance to heaven." ~David O. McKay

The condensed Book of Mormon in 15 verses

We thought this blog article was a really interesting read. Enjoy! G&H

Just enough to go Ice Sleddin'

North Carolina got a dusting this week. More of an icing really, but it made for some good sledding! There is the perfect little sledding hill near the house (unless you make it all the way to the creek ;) Side Note - Remember when we went sledding at Meredith Heather Crenshaw Mckeon and we made it across the street/parking lot?!) Liam on the way home said "I had fun" and then proceeded to tell everyone (one at a time of course) that he loved them. Icing on the cake. Icing on the Icing. ;D Check it out here:https://vimeo.com/58279406 For some reason it isn't letting me post the actual link so you'll have to copy and paste...

Warp Speed

Ah, y'all. Life is warp speed right now. I don't even know where the last 4 months went. One of these first days I am going to look through all of my pictures and post some good stuff that happened but tonight i am too tired. I hope everyone is have a great New Year so far. We are moving and shaking literally. Packing, painting, patching, trips to storage, pressure washing, carpet cleaning, carpet stretching, more painting, cleaning until my fingers crack open. Kind of exciting, kind of exhausting. House going on the market in the next week hopefully. We'll be staying in the area. We love it here. Putting a down payment on a piece of land soon and if all goes well, we'll be in an apartment soon while something is getting built. The kids are handling it pretty well now that they understand they get to take their stuff with them. :) If I never move again after all of this that would be lovely. Moving is for the birds but It has been good to purge and get organized. :)

Some pretty cool sales-kids :)

We decided that making a music video to sell fundraiser books for school was much more exciting than going door to door. The song that Greg made up for this video is now one of Liam's favorite songs. I think everyone had a great time making it!

GoPlaySave 2012 from Winters Wonderland on Vimeo.

All about third grade Parker project

Pictures are worth a thousand words as you can see below. This project is all about Parker. We love this guy!

Awards Update

I am catching up on posting the awards the children have received recently and some of the Father's Day projects they made. We're proud of you kiddos! At least they made Greg and I the same age even if we are 50. :)

Moving Memories with Jeff and Greg

Hi everyone! I thought I'd let you know about a new online class taught by Greg and his buddy Jeff at Jessicasprague.com. The class covers how to shoot better home videos and how to shoot to edit. Check it out! :D

First Day of School

It has been a great start to the new school year at the Winters' household. Both Meadow and Parker really like their teachers and they have been really wonderful so far! Meadow had a little bout of homesickness on Day two of Kindergarten so I sent her to school wearing my necklace on day three. It made a big difference for her because she felt like I was near. :) She really loves going to the same school as her big brother. After I picked her up from her first day of school, I asked her what her favorite part of school was and she said "The Cafeteria." That's my girl! :)

The Fake Beatles

We went to see a Beatles coverband recently at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill. The Band's name was "Abbey Road Live." The show was held in the afternoon and was geared toward kids and families so it was pretty awesome and a great time for all of us. The kids loved dancing around and got to go onstage to sing and play the tamborine. Meadow got to wear one of the fake beatles' sparkly hat. Parker was astounded by the pee trough in the Men's restroom. It was pretty asounding wasn't it Park?!

Laney's Baptism

Sweet cousin Laney got baptised yesterday. She was as pretty as a picture and it was a beautiful day. We are so proud of her!!

Spring Soccer Memories

Spring soccer go off to a chilly start but the season ended gorgeously.

Meadow enjoyed the season and and turned into quite the defender this year. She liked trying to "run as fast as a cheetah" and is looking forward to playing again in the fall. :)

Parker decided soccer wasn't his cup of hot chocolate and that he didn't want to play any more after this season. We are proud of him for sticking out the season and for doing his best!! :) Parker had the most amazing Coach this year. Coach Scott was so great with all of the kids and challenged them at their levels. He really cared about each child and was such a positive motivator. Our hearts were touched when he wrote Parker a letter at the end of the season. I have included the letter below. Parker's team was amazing and ended up winning the entire tournament. What a way to go out. We are excited to try out some new things and discover some new talents for Parker. :)

Letter from Coach Scott (Note: we missed the last 2 games of the tournament but attended the celebration party where Parker was the first to identify several films in a game we were playing. The last practice of the season it was parents v/s kids and I had the most fun playing! This will help some of the letter make sense.):


Parker, Thank you so much for playing on my soccer team. This was my last year coaching and I am so glad that you were on team. You are a great kid. You always brightened my day if I had a hard day at work. I have something special for you. Our team won the tournament. I have gold medals to give to all of our kids. Ask your mom and dad to let me know how best to get you your gold medal. I can mail it, bring it by your house or leave it in my mailbox for you. Congratulations!


I would like to tell you a little story. Ryan has an older sister. I coached her soccer team when she was a little girl. I could hardly ever get her to to into a game. I tried and tried but she never enjoyed it. She would sit on the sidelines and sing when she was supposed to be playing. I could never figure out why she would not want to play. One day my wife asked her why she always sang instead of focusing on the game. It was because she loved to sing. That was 3 years ago. This weekend we watched her sing with a girls choir and she was very good. I was very proud of her. She also acts in plays. She still plays soccer sometimes for fun but she really loves singing the most. You might think that my favorite thing in life is soccer. But really I love movies. I love being able to escape the real world and enjoy watching a good movie. It was very fun yesterday watching you be the first to identify the movies. No one was even close to you in guessing the Phantom Menace. We had a great talk about how you and your dad enjoy Star Wars together. I cannot get Ryan to enjoy these movies as much as I do, but we are all made differently. So it was fun seeing you enjoy it so much.


Parker, I really enjoyed coaching you. Do you know that you are one of the only kids on the team who never messed up a throw in all year. You learned to throw the ball far while keeping both of your feet on the ground. Once you learned it, you never forgot. You played great yesterday. Your throw ins were good and you took the ball from the other team when we needed you to.


You have terrific parents. Do you know that the pictures we were watching at my house were taken by your father? I know lots of people who take pictures. You dad takes the best ones. He has a really great talent. Just like your mom has in soccer. Thank your parents for me.


Have a great summer. Listen to your parents. Keep doing your very best at everything that you do. Sincerely, Coach Scott

Time to clean the church

Three kids in a tree

Sharing Buddies

Below is a picture of Liam feeding raisins to his buddy Jordan Shoentrup. Liam loves to share his food. This picture was taken right before Liam bent down and examined Suzanne Shoentrup's (Jordan's Mom's)shiny red toenail polish. Liam said "pop-pop!" (lollipop) and before I could stop him bent down to lick/taste the "lollipop." We laughed so hard, that quiet, shaking in your chair kind of laugh because you are at church. Suzanne said "Well that's never happened to me before." ;)

Western NC part IV, a visit to Uncle Emmit

We went to visit Greg's great Uncle Emmit up near Bakersville, NC. He is the brother of Greg's Grandpa on his dad's side. He is good guy with a big heart and he always has a project going on. He took us down to the basement and showed us the giant train set he was building for his grandsons. It was neat to see the progress he was making and it made me laugh because all of his kitchen knives were down there covered with glue, foam, paint etc. Such a grandpa thing to do. After we left the basement, we went in the house briefly and Parker had an allergic reaction to something. He turned beet red and his right ear swelled up to at least three times its normal size. It could have been from the basement, the three house cats or the bag of pecans sitting in the corner. We washed him off in the bathroom gave him benadryl and then drove to walmart and bought a new outfit for all of the kids and changed their clothes just incase. Whew! After that we went to visit Emmit's daughter, greg's cousin Charlotte (who was not home at the time) and her husband Roger and their two boys, John Thomas and Levi. The kids had a ball. Liam was in tractor heaven! Emmit made the fun swing and the cool archway pictured below.

Emmit's train project in progress below. We should have gotten a picture of the kitchen knives. ;)