I read this story this morning that made me cry. It was a good cry. It's called "Epiphany in The Elm Tree" and is taken from the book 'Walking on Water' by Michael Wilcox. The story is about him.
"The first real testimony I had of Jesus came when I was a little boy about seven years old. I was sitting in a sacrament meeting with my mother who had a beautiful singing voice. The sacrament hymn that day was 'More Holiness Give Me.' Normally I wasn't too interested in sacrament meeting. I was wanting to get back home, to The Wonderful World of Disney and the Ponderosa ranch on bonanza, so I fidgeted through sacrament meeting. But for some reason as I listened to my mother sing "More Holiness Give Me," the words of the hymn began to fill an empty place in my heart that was reserved only for sacred and special things Nothing had ever touched that spot in my heart before, but those words went in and touched that spot. When she came to the line, "more longing for home," I was filled with an intense homesickness for a place - but more for a Being, for two Beings. Then I heard the last line, "More, Savior like thee," and I knew somehow that the secret to my returning to that place and to those beings that I longed for was to be "More, Savior, like thee." In my little-boy heart, I wanted to be like him. I went home that afternoon to the elm tree that grew in our front yard. I climbed up into it and sat there in the leaves and I quietly sang that song over and over again to myself. I so dearly wanted to go home. I wanted to be like Jesus so that I could go home.
When I read this story I think of the innocence of little children and how they really are more like the Savior than any of us. This little boy had an opportunity to feel the Spirit because he was in the right place at the right time and it profoundly affected his life forever. It reminds me of the great responsibility we have to help our children feel of the Savior's love for them. I needed this story today because it was one of those trying days where minor irritations become major inconveniences. It started out with our printer. We spent $54 on ink yesterday and now the darn things won't print. I tried all my tricks and after about an hour I gave up.
We had taken our car to Erik's this morning because he was going to put on new back brakes. He couldn't find the wheel lock so James went to Discount Tire to see if they had it. No they didn't. I drove to Chandler Lexus and they a set of wheel locks but they didn't have the one for my car so I ended up driving to Scottsdale to pick one up. Another minor irritation, my CD player won't work. After making the trip to Scottsdale and picking up the wheel lock which we have to have before going to Texas in case we have a flat tire, my day got better.
James and I finished "The Hunter's Moon" today and I was right, Holly went home on American Idol.
