Faith

You once believed there was a God.

Since that time, a lot has changed in your family, work, friends, and interests. Now when you go to church, it may feel like just going through the motions. Or maybe, you no longer attend church. Are you a bad person, no. Distracted, yes. Ask yourself, are you truly happy right now? Do you feel something is missing, or empty? There has to be more to life than day-to-day repetition. God is inspiring you to look to Him for answers.

Do you have hope there is a loving Father in Heaven? This is faith; the first step on finding your testimony. Maybe you did not accidentally evolve from dust. Your intelligence could be more than flesh and blood. A small belief in your divine heritage is all it takes. With that spark of faith, ask your loving Father what you are missing. As you continue to pray, take time to reflect on your day and look for His hand in your life. Be still and speak plain heartfelt self-truth. He already helped you more than you realize.

When you pray to God, be grateful for the good you have. Then sincerely ask forgiveness for what weighs on your conscience. Talk about what you have learned and how you will do better. After pouring out your heart, ask for the help you require. Every righteous request, by the will of God, will be granted. When exactly, only God knows.

Before finishing your prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, spend a few moments listening quietly. If you forget what your request was, the pursuit was not worth your time. If you feel a warm feeling in your heart, the petition was heard and keep going down that path. Sometimes answers come quickly through prayer or a random interaction. If you felt nothing, be patient and keep moving forward with what feels right and watch how things unfold over time.

Awesome! You have gone back to basics with your simple belief in God through prayer. A solid foundation of goodness. When ready, add in other Gospel topics. Read your scriptures about Jesus Christ's Atonement, the greatest gift ever given. Obey God's commandments - guidelines for a more fullfilled life. Know yourself, you are a child of God, never forget it! Help others through service and become more like God. And when things get tough, find healing through Jesus Christ.

Keep building your relationship with your Father in Heaven every day through prayer. Be grateful and forgiving. Ask for forgiveness. Speak plainly. Then listen. As you prayerfully reflect and become aware of His Hand in your life, your joy and peace will increase. That is the feeling of pure redeeming love from your Father through Christ's Atonement. New opportunities will arise, bringing a higher sense of purpose. You are no longer just going through the motions of life. Embrace it. Share it.

You have found your lost testimony. This is your true self... to be happy again.

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

The principle part of faith is patience.

Faith is a belief that God will watch over you. To truly believe means no fear.

After working in the city for several years, I decided it was time to move to the mountains. I always wanted a log cabin in the woods. Found one with acreage, beautifully tucked away on a hill. My first house. I had to figure out a few things, like driving on dirt roads in the winter. All-season tires do not work, at all. In the summer, there are bugs everywhere.

One day I was chatting with a neighbor asking about the previous owners. He said a few things, then dropped 'They were into witchcraft and seances.' The movie Poltergeist came to mind.

My beautiful secluded oasis now looked like a haunted cabin... in the woods. Great. The first course of action that day was to give my house a blessing. Dedicating my house to God and Christ. Then put up some Christ pictures. And finally, remove a hornet's nest in my attic. More bugs. After a few months, I had cabin life figured out.

Then the storms came. Lightning cracked surprisingly close with gale-force winds whistling against the eaves. I had a metal roof so things held. But the power went out. Yep, I am in total darkness on the top floor. Alone in the "seance house of witches... in the woods". But I had faith and never felt an evil presence at the cabin. "It is what it is," I said. I smiled, felt my way to the cold basement fuse box, and popped back the breaker. No worries.

Eventually, I got married and we had a child in that cabin. Always felt warm and inviting. No matter where I move to, I always bless our home. Faith in God and Christ means no fear. I told my wife this story after we moved out.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

All of us fall at one time or another. Our Father in Heaven knows what we need even before we do.

When I was young, I remember watching Olga Korbut in the Olympics. I was amazed at how she could flip high in the air and land on her feet. Blew my mind. Years later, I was waiting for my older sister to finish her gymnastics practice after High School. They talked me into trying a forward roll and headstand. That was all it took and I was on the team. They were not picky. Turns out I did okay. In my first year, we even made it to the state finals. The number one thing that all gymnasts try to do after a trick is "Stick the landing!" Even one extra step after landing could knock you and your team from scoring well.

What inspired me to try to stick each landing? It was not easy to do and took tons of practice. Was it the Olympic greats? Nope. Was it my coach yelling that at me after every trick? Nope. Many years back, while my family was over visiting their friends, my sister and I decided to sneak away and check out their basement. The steep stairs were bare pine used for unfinished basements. There was not much to see, just a washer and dryer on a dimly lit gray cement floor. As I looked back up the stairs, I saw my baby brother speedily walking towards the open basement door.

Before I could yell "Stop!", he had already launched himself off the first step and was hurtling straight for the basement floor below. As I watched him fall in mid-air, his whole body instantly straightened with arms tight by his side, legs together, and his chin tucked back.

He gracefully did a full layout front flip and stuck his landing softly without even bending his knees. Feet together, with no extra step. Front flips are a blind move and harder to stick than back flips. Let alone from a toddler that just learned how to walk. My sister and I ran over and hugged him, thinking he was the luckiest kid in the world. Years later, it was obvious that God carried my baby brother and landed him safely. That divine memory is what inspired me to try and "stick the landing".

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene, I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,” You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.”

When faced with uncertain or unexpected hardships, God's hands are there to help. He knows our limits. It takes time for us to walk through the refiner's fire. Always longer than expected, but worth every step.

While on my mission in Hong Kong, I was not the best at taking care of myself. We walked around most of the day dehydrated. I was a skinny lad when I started at 19, and a stick when I got back. I was sick in bed for a solid month with swollen glands after returning home. Went to the hospital for tubes down my throat, x-rays, and shots. No specific remedy, just needed time to recuperate.

While in bed that first month, I had time to reflect. The different types of food in Hong Kong took some getting used to. Some great, and some hard to swallow. Still not as bad as the leftover meals I made in college. Macaroni noodles and ketchup anyone? My calorie intake as a missionary must have been lower than my daily treks. Either way, I didn't die. But at one time, I thought I might. I made a list of my health issues: Ulcer - at night painful. All joints crack. Red eyes. Tendon fragility. My heart skips a beat - takes my breath away. Skin irritation - whole body rash. Wisdom teeth. Low Blood sugar. Mono symptoms. I did not want to complain and have to go home. So I kept quiet.

I told Heavenly Father, "If I die, I die. A heart attack while serving God, what better way to go?" God gave me a brain to take care of myself. I was not using it yet. I decided to push through and not worry about it. I took a pause when I felt my heart skipping a beat. Post-mission, the doctor said it was just duodenum spasms induced by my poor diet. At least I showed God I was committed.

A month or two after I told God "If I die, I die", He hit me with a trial bigger than a fake heart attack. Anxiety. Had my first panic attack the evening of 11/6/1983, two months after I experienced an unexpected slice of hell. I told a few people about my panic attack, but no one understood it. I asked a medical doctor about anxiety. He only wanted to mask the symptoms with drugs. No thanks. So I kept it to myself for a few years while I understood myself better. Finally, I said, "If I die, I die. Enough is enough." I faced my anxiety head-on with God's help and self-meditation, and overcame it completely.

Never did die, not even close. Facing my fears with faith in God and Christ only made me stronger.

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Adversity is the refiner's fire that bends iron but tempers steel.

Here is why I built this website. The Sabbath. A day of rest. A day off work. Time to attend church and time with family. What else can you make of it?

For me, the Sabbath was a welcomed day of worship and rest. Spend time at church to learn and teach the Gospel of Christ. Take the sacrament to remember Christ's Atonement. Ask for forgiveness and recommit to our baptismal promises. After church, come home and eat with the family. Then unwind by taking a nap, watching a family show, or spending time on the computer.

There are definitely more service-oriented tasks I could do after church, but my mindset leaned towards eating, family, and rest. Until I discovered a meditative style of prayer. I spent more time on each prayer and so deepened my relationship with God. Now on Sunday, I tried to only DO and THINK what would be respectful to Him. I would only consume Gospel literature, shows, or websites. That would mean breaking many old phone, TV, and computer habits. The first two Sundays, felt very boring. I could no longer join all my family activities as I was not going to force them into my strict Sunday regimen. They understood it as a "Dad experiment".

By the fourth Sunday, I started to think maybe I was doing it all wrong. After we got home from church, I blankly sat at my desk and asked God, "What would You have me do?" My first impression was about my recent Christ print donations to local missionaries and church members. Somehow putting that online so anyone can get my free Christ pictures for their home. That would mean a new custom website and a lot of work. Not wanting to take that website project on, I was mentally dragging my feet trying to think of other things to do. Eventually, I mused, let's see what SEO keywords I would even target. The only keyword phrase that worked was "Jesus Christ Art". All the rest seemed wrong to me.

Still dragging my feet, but curious about what domains might work with that keyword phrase. I searched various christ, print, artwork, etc. domain combinations for almost an hour. Nothing good was available. Maybe use His entire name in the domain - was that sacrilege? I searched "jesuschrist" options.

Here is where it gets good. The ONLY domain not purchased was, you guessed it... jesuschrist.art! The exact keyword phrase I was originally targeting. I said out loud, 'Okay, I will build you a website.' It could not be any clearer.

Never has a website come together so fast for me. It only took a couple of days to get JesusChrist.art up from start to finish. It is a simple static site for anyone to download and share my two free Christ pictures I drew over 40 years ago. No strings attached. I also included my testimony of why I drew each one. The website is left open to the world with no location exclusions - and in God's hands. So if it found you, it was not me.

A month later, I felt inspired to add a safe space to expand my testimony of God and Jesus Christ, for those interested. I call it my "Inspiration Library". It only me took a 3 weeks to build and write, and I don't like to write. These two simple websites are small fish in the massive internet ocean. If they help one person to start praying to God and remember Jesus Christ... it was worth it.

I look forward to Sunday and what else I can do for Him.

Edit: Soon after, I was inspired to create six new images of Jesus Christ. They took several months to complete with over 100 iterations for each image. Like the websites, not something I was planning to do. It is amazing what you can do when you keep the Sabbath day holy.

I think I am done now. We'll see.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame an attentiveness to your life.

Even a small belief in God will bring mighty changes for good. When I sat down as a teen to draw Christ, I had no idea how it would shape my life.

Finding our faith in Jesus Christ is a personal journey. A growing spiritual connection that will reshape how we look at life. It takes just one humble moment to feel the warmth, empathy, and peace that is offered to us. A discovery we may want to share.

My journey started when I was 17 years old in northern Vermont. I was almost done with High School and had a part-time job saving for college. There were not a lot of people in my neck of the woods so I had a lot of time to myself. Between hiking, dirt biking, and using a slingshot, I also did some drawing. It was a time of personal reflection, Who am I going to be?

Mainly I had a desire to discover who I am. I drove our family an hour to church every Sunday. My Dad was not always on board, but my Mom was a convert. So I had a belief in God. I found myself deciding to make this religion thing more real in my life. To kick the tires, and connect more with my Heavenly Father. By praying with real intent, reading about Christ's life and teachings, and trying to be a better person.

I wanted to draw what I was reading about in Christ's life. I only listened to classical hymns and started each drawing session with a prayer. Words do not convey the emotions I felt when drawing that picture. My parents were a bit concerned as I was focused in my room for several days. When I finished drawing the "Crown of Thorns", it felt like a weight had been lifted. It felt good but needed a scripture - John 15:13.

A week later, my parents were visiting with a long-time family friend. They showed him my sketch. He said something I had never heard before about any of my sketches. He said he was moved by it and would love a copy. He was a university professor and knew someone there who could make offset prints. It took a few weeks, but he got his copy and a few extra for me.

The Christ sketch helped me get a small scholarship to college in the fall. I took a couple of drawing classes but switched to Graphic Design. I only ever did one more sketch of Christ after that year. I came home that summer to work at a ski resort and decided to prepare to go on a mission to share the Gospel. When I went back to college, I brought a bunch of Christ pictures. In the evenings, my roommates and I would go door to door selling these prints to raise money for my mission.

I also brought a bunch of Christ prints on my mission to Hong Kong. They were used as teaching tools and gifts. Eventually, the mission president asked me to create open houses and street displays for all the missionaries in Hong Kong. That one picture of Christ had already started shaping my path.

Right after my mission, I felt inspired to redraw Christ. I decided not to look at any references, just draw from my heart. So I drew one last sketch… the "Lord Looketh" based on Samuel 16:7. Over the years, I had certainly grown to follow Christ and accept His great gift. As I developed a personal relationship, I understood He knows me.

I went back to college, and after a few months I decided eating table scraps wasn't enough. I went to a missionary store in the local mall and asked if they wanted to sell my sketches of Christ. She said okay and put a few out to the test. She ordered more. And more. Enough for me to eat real food and pay down my college debt as this sketch ended up in many church and college stores over the next sevaral years. A blessing I was not expecting when I did this drawing.

After a while, I decided not to sell them anymore. I found work - I was a graphic designer. Drawing and my Christ pictures were a thing of the past. After a decade of life, I found my way back to Vermont for a time to teach martial arts and gymnastics. The same friend who helped me initially print my picture of Christ asked me why I never got married. I had no real answer. He said I should try a church online dating site. He asked again a few months later… and I finally signed up.

I had some replies, but one stood out. She asked me why I had drawn the same picture of Christ that she did. I had included the picture of Christ in my dating profile. Many years back her college roommate over in Hawaii had my picture of Christ hanging up. She wanted to draw it. She figured some old man sketched it years ago. Long story short we have been married for over twenty years now. That simple sketch was still shaping my path.

I have not sold my Christ pictures for decades now, but continued to give them out to interested people I met. Usually when people asked how I met my wife. Recently, I have been printing a lot for my local church to hand them out to their friends and neighbors. Missionaries have been using them as teaching tools and gifts. To hang up in their homes as a daily reminder of our Savior Jesus Christ. I then felt inspired to create a simple non-commercial missionary website so anyone can freely download copies of my Jesus Christ art to print and share, no strings attached. Several thousand have already done so. Again, it is shaping my path over 40 years later.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful.