behold.

i was reading this morning and i was reminded...

The prophet, Lehi had a dream, in his dream he said that "after I traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.  And it came to pass that after I had prayed unto the Lord I BEHELD a large and spacious field.  And it came to pass that I BEHELD a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." (1 Ne. 8:8-11)

When Lehi's son Nephi, prayed to know the interpretation of his fathers dream, an angel of the Lord came to him.  Over and over this scene is repeated, (1 Nephi 11 and 12)

"And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look!  And I looked and BEHELD..."
"And the angel said unto me again: Look and behold the condescension of God.  And I looked and BEHELD." 

"And it came to pass that the angel said unto me:  Look, and behold thy seed."

"And the angel said unto me:  BEHOLD thy seed."

This reminded me of one of my favorite scripture passages.  When Christ visits America and blesses the children there...

"... and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.  And when he had done this he wept again;  And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: BEHOLD your little ones."  (3 Ne. 17:21-23)

I love this article, BEHOLD Your Little Ones!  It's a beautiful reminder!

Sometimes, like Lehi, my life seems dark.

When I pray, my life doesn't change... my VISION changes.

I feel the the Lord helps me to BEHOLD my little ones.
To see the good in the midst of daily life.

BEHOLD-

a. To perceive by the visual faculty; see.

b. To perceive through use of the mental faculty; comprehend.

I love that definition-- to SEE (physically) and to COMPREHEND (mentally).

today, i want to BEHOLD my children.

to see them the way God sees them.

i know He will help me to comprehend all that they are and all that they can be.
he will help me to behold their needs.
to behold ways I can love them better and teach them more. 
in the midst of darkness, prayer and the Holy Spirit can give us vision and capacity to BEHOLD our little ones.

i LOVE this.  i NEED this.

 today, may i BEHOLD.