Buffet Table of Sacrifice

Oh man. Oh man.

I love my New Testament class.

The instructor is fantastic and has superb mental images that he shares with us about how things work to help get points across. I think a large reason he is so good at it is because he loves art so much. He shares with us a new portrait or picture daily. It's so cool. Many of the pictures are exquisite, and all are very effective in portraying the lesson.

This isn't the picture that he shared, but I thought it would be an effective one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this picture looks like a Thanksgiving feast. It looks like lots of really yummy food, and the fact that you can't see the entire table makes it look like there is more, right? One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is that it seems to be a huge buffet. So much good food for the taking - and as much as you want. Yum.

Back to my class:

He asked us what would be our "Isaac" - our one thing we are unwilling to give up? It could be a person, an item, a memory, etc. One person said that it would be his body - that if Christ said "I want your body back and you'll be Spirit for the rest of forever", he would have a really hard time doing that.

Then he said, we all have a Buffet Table of Sacrifice: We put our whole lives on the table. Everything. And we offer it to Christ. All except one thing. One small thing that we don't want to give up. For Abraham it was Isaac. For the boy in my class it was his body. For someone else it could be a family member.

Whatever it is, there is one thing - only one - that we don't put on the table. Instead, we hide it behind our backs. 

Then we invite Christ to come.

We say, "Look at what I will do for you. Look at what I will give you. This is how you know I will follow you." He smiles, peruses the table for a minute, then says, "Wow. You have given me marvelous things. Thank you. ...Now, what are you hiding behind your back?" "What? Oh. Nothing. There is nothing back here. Look at the table. Pick anything you want." "I want what is behind you." "What? No. You can have anything you want. Everything you want that is on the table. Ignore what's behind me."

Are we truly willing to give up everything for Christ? Everything we have - no matter how hard?

What is missing from your Buffet Table of Sacrifice? What do we need to give to the Lord to be true disciples?

The widow gave her mite. Her last and only mite. She gave everything. Can I do that? Will I do that?

Forgiveness

The other day during my New Testament class, the instructor told us that he had something he wanted to share with us, something he had been thinking about sharing with us for a couple of weeks but hadn't had the time to share yet. It was very interesting. Very thought provoking. So I thought I would share just as food for thought.

The Question: "Do you have a hard time forgiving others?"

Expanded: Maybe not others, just one or two people that hurt you? Maybe it was a really long time ago. Maybe it was serious, maybe it wasn't. Perhaps it was something very serious: your father or mother abandoned you (the instructor said this is one he hears about a lot), you were abused as a child, etc. These are very serious problems. These are very real happenings.

Mark 11:22 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mark 11:25 - And when you stand praying [in faith], forgive, if you have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mark 11:26 - But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

The instructor said that Faith = Forgiveness. One thing that gets in the way of faith is our inability to forgive.

1 Sam 25 - (History) King David did many services for Nabal, sent men to be nice to him and help him shear his sheep, etc. Then when David was in trouble, he sent men to Nabal to ask him for food. Nabal says (v 10), "Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse?", refusing to help David. As David is the king, he gets extremely angry and goes to kill Nabal. Some servants tell Nabal's wife, Abigail, that David is coming for revenge and justice.

Here is her story:

v. 18: Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed...
v. 23: And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
v. 24: And fell at his feet, and said, 'Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be'
v. 28: 'I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid'

This is a type of the Savior. Abigail (Christ) took upon herself the sins of her husband (you & I, Christ's children), and when David (judgment) came to make its demands, Abigail (Christ) took responsibility for those sins and submitted herself to the will of David (judgment) so her husband (you & I) wouldn't have to.

When we repent of our sins, we give them to Christ. He takes upon His shoulders, all the mistakes of the world. When we transfer our sins to the Savior, He becomes guilty and the one who answers to Justice so we don't have to. Christ becomes the 'guilty' one.

Now, imagine: You are upset with a person. This person comes to you, falls upon their face, bows to the ground, and says 'Please forgive me.' Now. Imagine this person is the Savior. This is what He does. He takes upon Himself the sins of the people around us, then comes to us and asks us to forgive Him.

Can you imagine? The Savior falling at your feet and saying, "Please forgive me."

What would you say to Him?

"Oh my goodness! Of course! You're the Savior. Get up. Get up. Of course I forgive you."

... ... ...

Something to think about.

Maybe we can't forgive a person. They abused us. Abandoned us. Betrayed us.

But the Savior has taken their sins upon Himself - just as He has taken ours. So it's not about them anymore. It's about Christ.

Can we forgive Christ?

Getting to Know You (And by 'You' I mean 'Me')

Aww. Wasn't I just precious?

How special.

So I was going through my email and found this questionnaire. Remember in grade school

when people would forward you dumb questionnaires and you'd have to do them and forward them

to twenty other people? Yup. I found one. And since I am sick of homework, I'm going

to take a break and fill out this lovely questionnaire.

Lucky you guys.

1. What time is it?  Ok. Lamest question ever to begin a questionnaire with. But. It is 10:49 am. At least, it is in Orem, UT.

2. What's your full name?  Nashelle Pearson. No. I don't have a middle name. Deal with it.

3. What are you most afraid of?  The dark. Being alone in the dark, monsters in the dark, etc.

4. What was the last movie you saw in a theatre?  Toy Story 3! Love love love.

5. Place of birth?  Good ol' Provo, UT.

6. Favorite food?  Chocolate. Seriously. But just plain chocolate. Not corrupted chocolate withicky caramel or peanut butter or nuts or gross stuff in it. Plain, sweet, regular, normal Chocolate.

7. What's your natural hair color?  Brunette.

8. Ever been to Alaska?  No

9. Ever been toilet papering?  Just once. My mom took me.

10. Been in a car accident?  No... Oh... Yup. Let's not talk about it. Thanks.

11. Croutons or bacon bits?  Croutons on a salad. Bacon bits on a baked potato.

12. Favorite day of the week?  I have always liked Sundays.

13. Favorite restaurant?  La Cabana or Los Hermanos for Mexican. Zanthony's for sea food. Macaroni Grill for Italian. Roy's for Pizza.

14. Favorite flower?  I don't have one. They just have to smell good.

15. Favorite sport to watch?  I watched a couple pretty intense Ultimate Frisbee games this year...

16. Favorite drink?  Milk. Mmmm.

17. Favorite ice cream?  Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! or Chocolate Devotion from Cold Stone. Heaven in a cup. Oh man.

18. Disney or Warner Brothers?  Disney, baby. Disney.

19. Silver or Gold?  Silver. Always.

20. Ever been on a ship?  A big one? A real one? On the ocean? A cruise ship? ...None of the above.

21. What color is your bedroom carpet?  Blue. (why does it matter? I don't know.)

22. How many times did you fail your drivers test?  NONE. I got 98%.

23. What do you do when you are bored?  Homework. But only in extreme cases.

24. Bedtime?  Why should I tell you? You're not coming to bed with me. Creeper.

25. Favorite TV show?  Well, there are lots I enjoy watching. But the only one I keep up with is Dancing with the Stars.

26. Last person you went to dinner with?  Daniel Jackson. Good times.

27. What are your favorite colors?  You mean I get more than one?! Awesome! Green. Blue. Yellow. Orange. Pink. Lilac. Red. That is the correct order, too. Well, most of the time.

28. How many tattoos do you have?  I love that this is a real question. Not 'do you have a tattoo' but 'how many'. Sad day. ...Oh. I don't have any, by the way.

29. How many pets do you have?  Well, none at school with me, but at home I have seven. I can even name them all! Triss, Mattie, Taylor, Larissa, Parker, Marinn, and Megan.

30. Which came first? The chicken or the egg?  If you're serious, you should ask God.

31. What do you want to do before you die?  Lots of things (not necesarily in this order): Finish my education, go to the temple, dance at Disneyland, dance in New York City, successfully complete a Disney Movie Marathon with my sister, get married in the temple, travel out of the country, have kids, go on a road trip to somewhere out-of-state, go through a temple in every state that I visit, know that I lived life being the best person I could be and that I was happy and loved life and my family, etc etc etc.

32. Have you ever been to Hawaii?  No. Thanks for rubbing it in. I appreciate it.

33. Have you ever been to countries outside the U.S.? ...no.

34. What was your favorite job?  Sunburst Day Care. Three summers. Love.

35. What time is it?  11:12 am.

Yay for wasting my life!

On to homework.

Signing Out.

Me. 

First Snow



The tree in my grandparent's backyard.
I love this tree, I used to climb on it all the time growing up.
Good memories.





A closer look at the same tree.
Those apples look simply marvelous, don't they?