It's that time of year we play our Christmas
songs and we find the perfect playlist and I
had a Really cool experience the other day driving
to work. I had I think it's world's best Christmas
playlist or something I was listening to on Spotify
and I I often hear songs I've never heard before
as I was driving and I was listening to some
of the words of a song that popped up it talked
about a father's heart how he could hardly wait
to give his children something too good to believe
and he had been counting down the days until
he could give him the gift and and it was the
night before and and then he he talks about God
is this the way you felt on Christmas Eve the
night before you gave the greatest gift to me
and it like pierced my heart. I was like, Whoa,
that puts things in perspective for me. I just,
the way that the verbiage and I had never heard
the song before I had to, I had to go do some
research and I was driving so I didn't get my
phone and my phone, my car doesn't tell me what
song it is. So I, I had just been constantly
thinking about that verbiage of God, were you,
was this the way you felt on Christmas Eve? just
thinking about the anticipated birth of his son
to the planet to give all of us the greatest
gift on earth and that really like changed me
and and anyway I did some research we found the
the lyrics to this and then more of the words
I'm like wow this is such a powerful song but
it says You planned it out before creation, Jesus
always on your mind, the holiest anticipation
for a Savior in a manger. So close, it's almost
time. Oh, the joy that's on the way, the Father's
heart could hardly wait to give his children
something too good to believe. I've been counting
down the days. I wonder if you did the same the
night before you gave the greatest gift to me.
And I just thought, who sings this? Anyway, long
story short, we found the artist. So if any of
you want to find that song, it kind of changed
my perspective on Christmas and maybe how God
felt. You know, we think about Mary and Joseph
and the shepherds and the wise men. And, you
know, I haven't really pushed pause to think
about how maybe God felt. that Christmas Eve.
Yeah, no kidding. Well, well, and even prior
to that, right? I when you came home the other
day and you brought that up to me, Deb, that
that moment kind of just reframed everything
for me right then and there. Almost. You know
what I mean? Yeah, you know, we talk about the
nativity, but. And as a matter of fact, I love
talking about the nativity. I love talking about
the events of Christmas and all of those things.
And David and I actually did two or three Christmases
together where we went through and did some real
detailed stuff around Christmas, around the nativity,
around the wise men, around the shepherds, around
Mary and Joseph and Simeon. And all of that.
And I look forward to being able to this week
in Institute do a little thing that we call,
oh, come let us adore him, where we talk about
some of those things. But you know, when you
came home from, I think you were at work or wherever
you had been, and you said, Scott, you gotta
listen to this. I'm like, holy cow, that just
kinda changed everything, everything for me,
you know, because I'm not dad. I've had those
experiences where, and I don't remember what
they were, but I can guarantee you, if you ask
Trevor, our oldest son, Trevor, what was a magic
gift that you got, you know? And whatever that
was, because he's a, pretty imaginative, right?
Even at 38 years old, I mean, he just has this
little kid feeling about him. And I can guarantee
you that there was something. And whatever that
something was, I can also guarantee you that
we were so excited to give that to him or to
any of the others. And I know what that feels
like to be the giver of a gift that somebody's
world they think is gonna change. And when we
talk about... this season, we talk about Christ
being a gift, and we talk about the giver of
the gift, and when I talk about the giver of
the gift, I'm thinking of the giver of the gift
of the atonement of Jesus Christ, who is ultimately
God, but I always think of Jesus Christ first,
and this just totally reframed it for me. You
know, in Revelations, there's a scripture, in
Revelations, I think 13, eight, or something
like that, that talks about how Christ's crucifixion
was even talked about in our pre -existence.
So it wasn't like a big surprise to Heavenly
Father. This is a gift he had been planning to
give to us. since the beginning of eternity.
Yeah. You know, it made me think about, and I've
shared this story before about Jessica talking
about leaving the pre -existence and how she
told me, Heavenly Father was sad when I left.
And I just think, how sad was he when Jesus left?
You know, I mean, not more sad. I mean, probably,
I don't know, but it just made me reflect on
that and just ponder, you know, we all had our
turn to leave the pre -existence. We were all
there. And we've all, you know, we're all coming
here and then we'll all return back. But I just
think, you know, what was it like when the Spirit,
when Jesus' Spirit left and came into that manger?
Yeah. you know, in the city of David. Right.
And that's a big deal. But, you know, and I've
always seen that as being a big deal and impactful.
You know, one of the most important things that
has ever happened in eternity, of course, was
the Savior's Jesus Christ advent into mortality.
But maybe, Deb, I don't know. I mean, I've got
this has got my wills turning in my head, you
know, first off, because You know, again, in
Revelation 13, eight, it says the lamb was slain
before the foundation of the world. And so God
knew this gift was going to be given to us. And
so, you know, when I hear us say sometimes like
he was sad that we left and he was sad that Jesus,
and I know what you mean by that, but I don't
think he was sad. I think that he was joyful
because this was the solution. This was the solution
to our returning to him. So it was a gift to
us that we We knew about right from the very
beginning. Obviously, the veil creates a little
problem for us. Right. Well, and he knew the
whole picture, too. Exactly, the beginning from
the end. But even knowing that he was going to
come down here and suffer and go through the
things that he was going to suffer, I'm sure
he felt something. Oh, 100%. I'm sure he felt
something. You know, it's interesting because,
you know, our son, Bowen, is in a joint custody,
and he's away from his son right now. His son
is across the country. Yeah. And we had a little
gathering on things. that was really painful
for him. He missed his son. It was painful for
all of us. It was painful for all of us. And
it was one of those, you know, little moments
that helps us remember that separation is temporary
and not permanent. But it's separation nonetheless.
Yes. Nonetheless. And separation can be difficult
and painful. And, you know, that's what we feel
here. is that separation when we talk about our
separation from Heavenly Father coming to earth
and and then going through all that we need to
go through and needing a Savior to come and redeem
us from the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve.
I mean what greater gift is there? Oh yeah there
isn't one and it's just like it's just like the
verbiage in this song to give his children something
too good to believe. I just thought there's no
greater gift literally for all of God's children
because that is our hope to return home. This
isn't our home. I mean, this is a temporarily,
you know, playground or, you know, learning ground
or whatever in school. And, you know, we get
to learn a lot of things here, but ultimately
we're going to live, you know, we're going to
go back and live with him. And, you know, even
when Jesus Came here and then he knew the will
of the father. I mean as an infant, you know,
so vulnerable so so meek that he was just 100
% dependent on on Mary and Joseph and I don't
know I just it it just has really changed the
way I have looked at the gift and the giver of
the gift because I always I always you know,
just thought oh, you know, we're celebrating
you know baby Jesus baby Jesus baby Jesus right
you know and the nativities that are just flooding
my home and most people's homes and this time
of year and you know I I love it I love it but
then I think but ultimately who was the giver
and and ultimately what did he give he didn't
just give us a solution right Mean we think of
it that way and ultimately that's where we have
the manifestation I think of the gift and the
many gifts that come through the main gift of
Jesus Christ his son But but you know what babe?
He was given so much more to us than than just
a solution to a problem think about this You
know think about our wounds. He gave us a healer
for every single wound that we experienced spiritual
yeah physical All of them, right? Think about
this. He gave us a Redeemer for every sin. Every
sin, and you notice I didn't say every sin that
I commit. He gave us a Redeemer for every sin.
I'm affected by sin. I'm affected by your sin.
You're affected by my sin. We're all affected
by each other's sin. You can't sin in a bubble.
And we have a Redeemer for all of that. Every
sin. Think of this. We have strength in every
weakness because of the gift. And I don't know
about the rest of the world, I think I do, but
we all have weakness and we need that strength.
And we think of the enabling that comes with
the strength. He enables us to do things that
are far bigger than we are capable of doing on
our own. Exactly. Well, and then think of this,
you know, you and I know people who have been
and are currently in some pretty dark places.
You and I have been in some pretty dark places.
Maybe many, if not most of our listeners have
been in some pretty dark places. And so because
of this gift, there's light in the darkness.
In every dark place, we can have light because
of that gift. Here's one more I have that I thought
about, you know, in every hopeless place that
we've ever been, you've been hopeless, I've felt
hopeless, we've all felt that. But because of
the gift, now we have hope in every hopeless,
potentially in every hopeless situation, right?
I love that too. And I go back to Nick's comment
about Jesus likes to get his hands dirty, which
is true. He meets us in the darkness. Yeah, thinking
about Jesus as a gift. You know, I also had an
eye -opening experience this morning, you know,
feeling sorry for myself, comparing why I'm,
you know, not having what everybody else is having
and experiencing what everybody else is experiencing.
And in my prayer and scripture study this morning,
I got that little reprimand. And I was listening
to a conference talk and listened to the humble
and meek beginnings that the Savior came, you
know, almost basically homeless. But I just thought,
oh Deb, stop it. You know, it's, we have, we
have, I have a tendency to, to, you know, pick
up my crybaby, you know, attitude and feel sorry
for myself. And I, I often, you know, when I
push pause and I, I reflect and remember you
know Jesus really is such a gift to me and and
his life and his example and his you know every
every single thing he did was by the will of
the Father and I've really tried to pick that
up and carry it not my will but thine be done
not my will but thine be done and it's like I'm
where I need to be because I'm doing thy will
I'm doing what I'm doing because I want to do
thy will I've often thought about, you know,
the humble beginnings. You just talk about humble
beginnings. You know, I think about the humble
beginnings and, yeah, homeless and, you know,
whatever, but humble beginnings. I don't want
to over exaggerate for the sake of over exaggerating,
but he was born in a manger. in a con, you know,
in a con's a little bit different than what we
think of as a manger. It was actually a place
where people would come and stay, like a hotel,
and there was no room for them in one of those
rooms. So they actually literally had to go stay
out in the barn area, the manger area, where
the animals were, right? And I think about that.
I look at Bethlehem differently. since we had
this discussion the other day. When I remember
what the Father was giving, a manger, that was
no accident. That was a message. I think that
was a message to each of us. An important message
when you push pause and really reflect on it.
Right, because humility actually defined his
entire mission. He came down, not just from heaven
to earth, but into our own experiences and into
our vulnerability and in places where we hide.
I think that that's a totally different view
than just being born in a manger, to me, right?
It wasn't an accident. No, absolutely. It's all
part of the plan. It was a message. Yeah, yeah.
And when the king of king is born in a stable,
it means he's not afraid to enter our mess. I
know, yeah. part of our lives any part of our
world you know we we I recently listened to a
story about a gentleman serving a mission in
a third world country and how these people had
there were tons of people in that lived in this
little shack and how they invited him over it
was a missionary and he they invited him over
for Thanksgiving dinner and he goes honestly
as a young missionary I wasn't looking forward
to it because they had nothing and he says and
when we arrived there were two chairs And a table
full of food and this entire family sat around
the edge and watched these two missionaries eat
this feast and Every child and adult were just
grinning ear to ear so happy to give that gift
and I think You know what? Where's my gift giving
skills? You know what you know? We can really
put a mirror in front of our face and say what
am I willing to give that kind of gift, clear
from the soul, intentional, and on purpose, you
know? I love your perspective on that. My perspective
on that is a little different. I've been a missionary.
I've been in a situation where I didn't necessarily
want or appreciate a member's kindness. You know
what I mean? Sure. If I were to sit at a table
like that with my companion across the table
from me and others watching me eat, The most
difficult part of that whole night would be for
me to receive that gift interesting I see the
sacrifice in the giving of that gift just like
I see the sacrifice in the giving of the gift
of Jesus Christ from our Heavenly Father. And
knowing that it was planned from the very beginning
from before the foundations of the world helps
me to have more hope and more faith and actually
be a little gentler on myself because Heavenly
Father knew I would need this gift from the very
beginning. Yeah, but we are willingness to receive
it. How do I receive it? That's interesting.
That would be difficult because as soon as you're
telling me, you know, the missionaries are sitting
and everybody's watching them eat, I'm getting
uncomfortable. I mean, my skin's crawling uncomfortable
because I don't want to receive that gift because
if that's the case, that means they're going
without. There's a huge sacrifice attached to
all of this. So how do I receive this gift? Yeah.
And I guess there's something to be said about
that. Maybe they before you don't know that.
Right. Well, the fact of the matter is, you know,
sometimes it's just as hard to receive that gift
as it is to give that gift. I know. Well, you
know, and I'm also wondering, well, what does
this gift to me mean right now? You know, you
know, one of the the names of Jesus is Emmanuel,
which is God with us, not above us, not distant.
but with us. And when we think of being with
us, there's many different connotations to that
thought. When I'm with somebody, that means I
can just share the same space. I could be with
a friend in my car, right? But when I'm with
you, When you come to me and you say, Scott,
we have to be more united or we have to be this
or we should do this, or I come to you with an
idea or a concept or something that will draw
us closer to Heavenly Father or anything else,
and I say, yeah, Deb, I'm with you. That's different
than just sitting by you. That's an emotional
investment, right? That's more than just an emotional
investment. That's a complete commitment to you.
Deb, I'm with you. You know, Emmanuel, God with
us, that doesn't just mean He's next to me. That
doesn't just mean He's in the same room with
me. That means if I align with Him, He will dwell
within me. What does that feel like when He's
with you, Scott? when you fill him with you.
When I fill God with me. So let me explain. When
I fill God with me, the way that I would define
that is anytime that I'm filling the presence
of the Holy Ghost or participating in any kind
of what I call instruments of grace. You know,
so for example, I felt God today now when I got
out of bed this morning It was a fine day. No
big deal Today's my birthday Thanks, we're celebrating
my 50th birthday for like the 12th time or something
like that I think but But no big deal, you know,
and I do my dailies. I got up and I read a little
bit of AA material this morning, and I did a
little writing, and I did a little scripture
study, and I've done a lot of scripture study
throughout the day. That's kind of a blessing
that I have an opportunity to do sometimes, and
I've done that today. But the way that I really
feel him, Dub, is when I get to participate in
service towards him. When I see his work at work
or when I see the manifestations or the effects
of Christ's Atonement, I had an opportunity today
to, again, offer a blessing, a priesthood blessing
to another young man who struggles with major,
major, major depression, stuff like I've never
seen before. And when he came, he was hopeless.
And when he left, he still felt a little bit.
but he was feeling a little bit better. And then
later in the day, I got this long text from him,
and I wept the entire time I sat there and read
that. God had changed his life through the Spirit.
And that's one of the things for me. Anytime
I can feel the Spirit, I know that God's at work
in my life. And we talk about it all the time,
almost to the point where it's like, you know,
I think people around me are like, Scott, you're
a broken record. You say the same thing over
and over and over again. Well, it's true. It's
because it's true. Yeah. Yeah. It is true. Yeah.
And so that's how I, you know, that's what it
looks like when I feel the spirit or when I know
that God's with me. You know, God will direct
me. I'll have a thought. I'll pick up a phone.
I know I've learned today that when I think about
somebody, I pick up the phone and call them.
Yeah. I don't know if that's God puttin' their
name in my head or not, and many times it is.
I'll call him, I'll just say, I was just thinkin'
about you. Yeah, and then, yeah, the Spirit puttin'
that in my head or what, but I'll just call him,
hey, how's it goin', oh, and more times than
not, well, probably not more times than not,
but a lot of times, that phone call needed to
be made. You know? Yeah, it's the Spirit. How
do you? For sure. I think it's more, for me,
peace. I get really distracted in the world,
and I let work get me a little riled. I let...
you know, my kid thing, you know, if there's
things going on with my kids, I stress and worry.
And even though I know I shouldn't, because that
was one thing I always judged about my mom and
my grandma. I was like, you guys worry too much.
Good grief, quit stressing. And I find myself
doing the very same thing. But I think I think
when I really feel Him is when there's peace.
And one of the number one places I feel peace
is in the temple. I love the temple. I love being
in Jesus. When I enter into His house, I feel
Him. I feel that peace, I feel that calm, I feel
that stillness. And I just be still and know
that I am God is the temple for me. I love that.
Yeah, I love that too. You know, one of the things
that you asked me, what was your question? How
do I know God's my life or how do I feel it or
what does that look like or whatever? But, you
know, one of the questions that... One of the
questions that I'd like to consider and invite
our listeners to consider is what does this gift
to me? What does this gift mean to me right now?
You know As we talked about, you know, we know
that he's with us We know that he's behind us
that he's strengthening us enabling us Compensating
us all the things that we talked about but but
what you know One of the things that I think
we sometimes get a little bit confused is that
we sometimes see the atonement of Jesus Christ
as like a spiritual debt relief. You know what
I mean by that? Like I owe this huge debt now
because of the atonement I don't owe the of Jesus
Christ. I don't owe that debt anymore, right?
But that's not what it is at all. I mean, you
know, our sins are paid for. We are redeemed.
All of that for sure. But what it really is,
is it's strength, right? It gives me strength,
it strengthens me to overcome. Enabling power
to overcome my sin, right? Compensating grace
to overcome the things that. derail me from the
past, present, future, whatever. And you know
what? Finally, I think maybe one of the greatest
things that the atonement of Jesus Christ allows
for me is transformation, change. I don't have
to stay the same. Isn't that a relief sometimes?
Oh, my goodness. I know. Yeah. Yeah, I just don't
have to remain the same. Well, his birth, Jesus's
birth declares something about us, too. we are
worth our Heavenly Father's greatest gift and
the anticipation he had on Christmas Eve to give
us the greatest gift we could ever imagine. We
are worth that price and he was willing to pay
every single one of us. I never thought of it
that way. Yeah, his willingness to give this
gift says a lot about me. I don't think we...
I've never considered that until this moment.
Seriously. Yeah. I don't think we really truly
know who we truly are. Yeah, I love that. Well,
I realized listening to that song, I hadn't been
receiving the gift as fully as I had thought.
And I'd been busy and distracted, like I said,
overwhelmed. But I think, you know, finding peace,
I decided my word for 2026 is peace. I just want
more peace because life gets too busy. And I'm
known as people. People always say, I know you're
busy. I know you're busy. And I don't want to
be known as busy. I want to be known as peaceful.
Or maybe just happy. Just peace. So I think more
than anything, this song helped me just kind
of push pause and just put on a different set
of glasses and look at things very, very differently.
Right. Well, and you know, I think it helps us
as we just kind of wrap everything up here I
think it helps us we're really focusing on receiving
him this season Receiving that gift like you
said exactly that table being uncomfortable.
Yeah, we might be uncomfortable receiving it
But it doesn't mean being perfect true. It doesn't
mean it does mean however That we turn towards
him. Yeah, right and we turn towards him with
complete Honesty or as much honesty as we can
muster and I realize that sometimes that comes
in layers and Etc and and and and we need to
turn towards him with our needs Right, I think
and I don't know if this is true, especially
for men or not, but I sure find myself having
a Deep compelling whatever within myself to cowboy
up to just buck up Scott, right? And I know that,
you know, that gift allows me to be different
from that. The other thing is receiving doesn't
mean being perfect. It means turning towards
him. Again, receiving him doesn't mean being
perfect. It means turning towards him with openness,
right? Vulnerability. You know, we think it's
so easy to think, and I've done this, you know,
we'll go take your sins to the Lord. talk to
him about them. Well, he already knows. That's
what I would think. He already knows. I don't
need to do it with openness. But he wants to
hear that you know. 100%. And he wants to know
that I know that he knows. And that I know that
he knows that I know that there's a solution
in his son, the gift. That you have faith in
the name. Yeah. And maybe more importantly, I
can't receive it without humility. And that's
a difficult one for many of us especially people
like me. That's a really difficult one You know
sometimes so, you know as long as I can remember
this That receiving him is all about my relationship
with him knowing him loving him striving to be
like him Knowing him loving him striving to be
like him. It's all about that relationship. It's
not a checkbox It's not did I or didn't I or
should I or shouldn't I or you should have or
you shouldn't have. It's about my relationship
with him. And I need to continue to develop that.
Yeah. And especially this time of year, sometimes
the most spiritual thing we can do is that Christmas
song still, still, still slow down, slow down
long enough to let him in. find that peace, find
that, I always go back to the sacrament of eating
that little piece of, that broken torn piece
of bread and ingesting, putting Jesus inside
and wearing the garment to wear on the outside.
You know, it's just, it's just, we need more
Him in our lives. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I, as
I, you know, reflect back on That song I don't
think it was an accident that that played because
I had never heard that song before and This time
of year. I just love all Christmas music. It's
the fun the silly the Joyful that I love it all
and it was just no accident that that particular
one had come up, I found the artist, it was Jordan
St. Cyr, C -Y -R. So if anybody wants to look
it up, it's called Christmas Eve. Yeah, it's
such a great, great message. Anyway, I just felt
like that was something that I would like to
share with, you know, our listeners and even
something that I can go reflect back on, because
as soon as, you know, we push stop or whatever.
I'll forget, and life gets noisy and life gets
busy, but I'm grateful for this pause and this
moment to just be able to reflect and remember
and thank, literally thank my Heavenly Father
for the most precious gift. I love that. I'm
glad you had that experience. I think our listeners
are glad you had that experience. This has really
opened my eyes a lot and has been life changing.
It's changed how I see things. I love that I
can be at this age, the 12th anniversary of my
50th birthday. For those of you who are struggling
with math at 62, but I can be at this age and
I can have an experience that opens something
new to me in my experience with Christmas. I
never considered that. I know what it's like
to be a father and how excited I am to give the
gift, to give the gift of magic and all that
stuff to my children. I never thought of Heavenly
Father having that. That most precious gift.
I know Christ didn't necessarily come. There's
a lot of discussion around exactly when was he
really born. But symbolically, we celebrate Christ
coming in the winter. And I know that many of
us have various seasons in our lives. And, you
know, physically speaking, we are in the winter
time here in the northern hemisphere. David and
his friends in the southern hemisphere are not
quite experiencing the same way that we are.
But nonetheless, we're in winter. And I know
that Christ came into one of my winters in a
really important time. And I think that I'm so
grateful that you helped me realize today that
Heavenly Father was so happy. that I received
that gift finally in that winter time. You know,
it was... You sat at that table and enjoyed the
meal. It was, yeah, exactly. Yeah, as uncomfortable
as it may have felt. So uncomfortable. But October
26, 1998, when he, when he allowed me to be broken
enough or when I was broken enough to allow him
into my life and to change everything, I was
literally reborn. not in a day, but in a process.
And that's continuing to happen to me because
of his redemption. I'm so grateful for it. I'm
grateful for this time of year and the moments
that it causes us to reflect. I hope I can just
remember this all year, not just this time of
year. And I hope I can find other messages, you
know, those little miracles. So, my invitation
is simple. Let the Father's gift be the center
of your Christmas. Let Jesus be more than a story.
Let Him be your strength, your peace, and your
light. And you know what? Don't just rush past
it. Slow down. Still, still, still. Receive Him.
Let Him meet you wherever you are this season.
And realize that He is willing to meet you wherever
you are this season. He wants to be there with
you. Yeah. Well, I know our Heavenly Father sent
His Son because He loves me and all of us personally.
He didn't give Him generically. He gave Him to
me and to you. Yeah, so true. You know, and Deb,
I testify that Jesus Christ is the gift that
changes everything. He changes your past, He
changes your present, He changes your future.
And most importantly, he helps us through our
identity determine our eternity. He is our eternity.
I'm so grateful for that. During this Christmas
season, we hope that you'll receive him. We hope
that you'll consider and accept the invitation
to allow him more freely and more completely
in your life. Thanks for being with us today.
If you like what you're hearing here, please
share it. Also, don't forget that you can reach
that he redeems us at gmail .com with any comments
or questions that you may have. May this season
be great for you and may God's love be ever present
in your life, we pray. Have a great one everybody.
Love you.