Friday, we picked up dad from work and drove to BYU to see the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was amazing! I love so many of his paintings, but probably my favorite is the one entitled "Peter's Denial." I love Peter. I've come to understand more of his role and I've come to love him. Peter was full of fiath. He never faltered. From the day he forsook his nets and boats, his feet never turned away. Even in his moment of denial, he was as near to his Lord as he could be. How hard that must have been for him to deny Christ, yet how it needed to be done in order for prophesy to be fulfilled. Almost immediately after Christ elevated him to the highest position in his church and endowed him with the complete keys of that kingdom. I have similar feelings about Pilot and how he longed to release Christ, but again, prophesy needed to be fulfilled.
It was great to be at the exhibit and to see a painting and talk with the kids about it and to have them actually know what was happening in the painting from our study in the New Testament. In January, Garrett felt that as a family we should read the New Testament and right now we are reading The Acts. My testimony has been greatly strengthened as we've read about Christ's life and the miracles He performed and I know the kids' testimonies have increased, too.
When we saw the painting of the old man with the infirmities at the pool of Bethesda, Colt remembered the story and re-told it to us as we looked at it. He remembered that Christ had healed the man on a Sunday and that the disbelievers thought Christ was in the wrong to heal on the sabbath and then the girls remembered that others didn't believe that the man had ever been lame and so they sought out the man's parents to ask if he really was lame and his parent's confirmed that he was...still I don't think they believed. The girls loved the painting of Jarius' Daughter...with Christ in the background, coming through the door, so meek and so humble...even Jarius' mother who was sitting by her, crying, didn't know the miracle that was about to ensue. Christ was painted so beautifully in that picture, so gentle and so still...coming in quietly during the hour of need...just like He does in our lives. I also love the painting of Christ as a young 12 year-old boy teaching in the temple. I stopped and looked hard at this picture and thought of Him more as a young child and a young man, I generally think of Him as an adult. I looked at this young portrayal of Jesus, thinking of my own McKenna, a 12 year-old girl...it hit me harder than usual that at the tender age of 12, He was already about his Father's work. He knew his role and fulfilled it perfectly. There is no better example. What a great day for our family.
