My Most Prized Possessions

In my home I have a small, fireproof safe that my brother Marc gave my family for Christmas several years ago. In it we keep all of our important documents, like our marriage license, a letter my dad wrote me before he died, and a host of other important possessions. There's nothing in there that cost us a lot of money, just birth certificates and such like that that we don't want to lose. They are important for life and they're important to me.

I also have a few other possessions that are really dear to my heart. One is a small, red Swiss Army knife my brother Eric gave me when we went to Europe together. I love my brother, and the fact that he would buy me a Swiss Army knife, in Switzerland no less, and have my name engraved on it, touches me deeply. I've misplaced it several times, which caused no small anxiety in my soul. Luckily, I've found it each time and now I carry it with me everywhere I go.

I also have an old key ring that my dad used to carry around that's made out of a buffalo head nickel. My dad was always one of my best friends and it means a lot to me that he owned this key ring and carried it around in his own pocket. It resides in my small "stuff" drawer in my dresser.

Another of my most prized possessions is a 12-string guitar my mom and dad bought me while I was going to school at BYU. It has a gorgeous cherry neck and a beautiful tone that makes me happy when I play it. I toted it back and forth from home to school every year, except once when the airline wouldn't let me take it on the plane. I missed it terribly that year. It's in my computer/music room and I love to go down there and play it.

There are a few other things I'd try to save in an emergency, such as my bike, a 50-cent piece that was given to me by a student I once had, and a couple of poems and drawings my kids have made for me over the years. They all hold a small, sentimental place in my heart because the people who either once owned them or gave them to me mean a lot to me. Again, there's nothing that cost me a lot of money, but these things hold certain importance to me because of who gave them to me or how I got them.

I'm sure everyone has things like this. Granted, they are only things, but they still mean a lot to us and we'd actually risk life and limb for some of them. Some, like our important documents, we keep in a lock box for safe keeping. Others are kept in safe deposit boxes and we trust the banks to keep them safe for us. Others we keep in a different safe place.

All of these things, though, compared to the actual people I got them from, mean absolutely nothing. In the event of a fire or other emergency in my home, I'd run back through the blaze to save my wife, my son and my daughter and think nary once about the other stuff. I wouldn't think twice about it. Sure, it would hurt a little bit if I lost the stuff, but if I lost those people it would be the most devastating thing in my life. I'd gladly sacrifice my own life for these people, but I'd let the possessions burn. I'm sure it's that way with most people.

Our Heavenly Father loved (and loves) His Son more than anything. The scriptures call Jesus His "Only Begotten Son" and His "Beloved Son". Think about how much you love your own son (or daughter) and then multiply that by a God's love. He was the chosen Savior, prophesied of for centuries. He was the Creator of the world who worked side by side with His Father in the effort to bring to pass "the immortality and eternal life of man." The world was made by Him and for Him. So, you can imagine how Heavenly Father felt when it came time for the Atonement and the Crucifixion.

I'm sure there was a lot of pain associated with those two critical events, not only here on earth, but in the heavens. It could not have been an easy thing for Heavenly Father to watch, though He knew, of course, the eventual outcome and its eternal ramifications. I don't pretend to know what He felt, but parents, even Eternal Ones, I'm sure, never like to see their children suffer. But suffer He did, more than any human being had ever or will ever suffer again. So much so, in fact, that the scriptures say He "trembled because of pain," and bled at every pore and would that He "might not drink the bitter cup and shrink."

And yet, despite all of that excruciating pain and seeing His Beloved Son suffer so unbelievably, Heavenly Father chose to run back into that burning house and save you and me, leaving His Only Begotten Son inside to suffer and die. As precious and unblemished and beloved as that Son was, He saved you and me instead.

I consider myself akin to a dust bunny under the bed of life. Compared to the Redeemer of the world, I am an insignificant speck, a very unprofitable servant. The thought that he would save me, a proud and sometimes arrogant, foolish, lazy man, makes me shake my head and weep.

But I also realize why He made that choice. It's because we're family. He is my Father. For better or for worse, He loves me. And so does Jesus. Me. Me! Even me.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, though Him, might be saved." - John 3:16, 17