Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

Warning...this is really long. Sorry, but I had to share.

Saturday evening R needed to attend a training meeting in the temple after the 5:15 session. We found out about it about a month ago and decided that we would make this our monthly trip, attend the session, and then R would do his training meeting. When I realized that B would be gone that day and that we would have to hire a babysitter, I no longer wanted to go. We have been so spoiled to have B baby sit for us this last couple of years. We pay him, but only half of what we pay a normal babysitter. So, being faced with having to pay the full cost of babysitting, and for a longer time than normal, and paying for a meal since we were going to be gone the better part of a day, and with rising gas prices, it just didn’t seem to be in our budget. After discussing it, R said I should do what ever I wanted so I decided not to go and that R going would be “good enough” for this month. The first hint that your spouse doesn’t like your decision, even though he says “do what ever you want”, is when you have to keep re-discussing it. And the first clue that you haven’t made the right decision is when you have to keep re-thinking it. So, when Monday of this last week rolled around and we were still talking about whether or not I was going on Saturday, even though I had already said I wasn’t going, I finally realized that maybe I should be going. I decided to re-evaluate our finances for the month and then found the money for me to go so I decided to go.

Deciding to go and wanting to go are not the same thing. I spent the rest of the week dreading that I was going and wishing that I could just stay home. I can’t remember another time when I have been so frustrated with the idea of attending the temple. There was so much going on (I’ll explain more of that in the next post) and I really needed my Saturday afternoon to get some things done. Come Saturday morning I was still thinking about everything that I could get done if I didn’t have to go to the temple, when C came down with a migraine. Usually she gets these in the afternoon or evening and they wipe her out for the rest of the day. I was relieved that I might now have the perfect excuse to stay home, but sad that Rone was going to have to go by himself, and be the odd man out as we had planned kind of a double date with another couple in our branch who were going. For some reason, uncharacteristic of me, I didn’t start to worry. Instead, I gave C her medicine, she lay down for a nap, and I went about my activities as if I was still going, deciding that I would just wait and see what happened. (And you know I am not a wait and see kind of person…I must always have a plan.) After a two hour nap, C was all better and I gave her some more medicine just in case. My trip to the temple was back on.

At 2:00 we left for the temple. I was still wishing that I could stay home but more at peace with the fact that I was going. I had no idea of the many little blessings that were coming that would end up making this trip to the temple one of the best ones I have ever had.

As I approached the temple doors on the busy streets of Manhattan, a man, walking up from the side, opened the temple door and entered in front of me. Without thinking, I blurted out his name. I don’t now how I even recognized him with only a split second view of his profile and then the back of him. It had been over 15 years since I had last seen him. As he turned around, I started to tell him who I was and he said “I know.” Running into him was exhilarating. It was a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen since shortly after getting married. Thanks to facebook, I knew he was living in the city but I never thought we would run into each other. I don’t know what it is, but having a friend from your past appear in your life again is such a wonderful experience. We were able to catch up a little bit after the session and exchange information so that he can come up for dinner and a concert this summer.

The next little blessing occurred as I sat in the Celestial Room after the session. I knew that I was going to have to wait a while for R, and since Sunday was fast Sunday and we had already eaten our last meal, I decided to begin my fast in the temple. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to begin a fast. That opportunity blessed me with a feeling of peace and carried over to help me have one of the best fast experiences I have had in a long time.

After the session, while our husbands were doing the training, the group of wives that were waiting got to meet with the Matron and one of her assistants. They led an impromptu discussion and we talked about the blessings of temple attendance and the things that we do that help us learn and gain the most from our temple experiences. Wonderful and uplifting thoughts were shared and I came away spiritually fed.

The friends that we traveled to the temple with, brought their recently returned missionary son along. On the way home he wanted to know how and when we knew that we were going to marry our spouse and that it was the person that we should marry. So, the 4 of us each took a turn sharing our story. That too was such a wonderful experience. It was fun to think back and remember how I fell in love with R and hear R tell his side of the story. It also brought such feelings of gratitude and love for our Heavenly Father as I was able to again recognize his hand in that whole process.

So many little blessings, seeing an old friend, starting my fast in the Celestial Room, sharing thoughts and experiences with wonderful sisters, and remembering and sharing the story of R and I's courtship and marriage, combined to create a huge blessing in my life. As we arrived home from the temple on Saturday I felt such happiness, peace, love from my Heavenly Father, gratitude for the blessings in my life and the blessing He gave me that day, and strengthened to deal with my little set of trials and challenges…physically and emotionally. Going to the temple on Saturday was the most difficult for me that it has been in a really long time, but it was the most wonderful evening I have had in a really long time. It is true that “Sacrifice brings for the blessings of Heaven.”