Goodness takes Effort
Today was the first time Mark and I have been able to attend the newly renovated Houston LDS Temple since Hurricane Harvey infiltrated the building. Which fact is a Big Deal to me.
Before Mark and I got married, we set out some goals for the marriage, and one of them was to attend a LDS temple once a month, assuming it is within a 2 hour drive. It is a holy house that usually brings me peace and purpose, so having the Houston temple out-of-commission for 8 months during a time when both Mark and I are stressed about school/work/general-human-ness stuff was Not Helping.
We tried visiting other temples.
The San Antonio temple is pretty close (3 hours), but it is a much smaller temple that became overwhelmed with the visits of all the LDS people in the Houston area, so we only went once.
I had a plan to visit the next-closest temple, in Dallas, when Mark and I went up for a Penguins hockey game, but I became so sick the day we were supposed to drive to Dallas that we never made it out of Houston.
Then I had a plan to attend the temple when my youngest brother got married, but the day we had scheduled for temple service, I had a fever, so that didn't pan out either. [I will note that I went into a temple in order to see Jaron and Liz get married, but I wasn't really serving a purpose for their wedding, so I didn't count it as "temple attendance."]
The Houston temple re-opened the last week of April, but I had 0 free days the first two weeks of May. Then Mark and I needed to renew our temple recommend [think of it like a visa to go into the Lord's house. it needs to be renewed every 1-2 years.] which requires an interview with a bishop [i.e. Mormon pastor] AND a stake president [who is sort-of like the bishop's boss].
So, Today was Finally The Day.
No, I didn't get any enlightenment (or at least, not yet), but I feel better about my efforts to keep a connection with God. I feel like I got to the Safe Zone. I feel like I put a bit more oil in my lamp.
In the last 9 months, getting us to the temple has been like trying to go up the Down escalator. I sincerely hope that we get to be on the Up escalator now, but if not, you better bet that I'm going to be running up that darn Down escalator again.
So keep looking up.
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| I forgot to take a pic, so I've drawn us in, bottom right corner |
We tried visiting other temples.
The San Antonio temple is pretty close (3 hours), but it is a much smaller temple that became overwhelmed with the visits of all the LDS people in the Houston area, so we only went once.
I had a plan to visit the next-closest temple, in Dallas, when Mark and I went up for a Penguins hockey game, but I became so sick the day we were supposed to drive to Dallas that we never made it out of Houston.
Then I had a plan to attend the temple when my youngest brother got married, but the day we had scheduled for temple service, I had a fever, so that didn't pan out either. [I will note that I went into a temple in order to see Jaron and Liz get married, but I wasn't really serving a purpose for their wedding, so I didn't count it as "temple attendance."]
The Houston temple re-opened the last week of April, but I had 0 free days the first two weeks of May. Then Mark and I needed to renew our temple recommend [think of it like a visa to go into the Lord's house. it needs to be renewed every 1-2 years.] which requires an interview with a bishop [i.e. Mormon pastor] AND a stake president [who is sort-of like the bishop's boss].
So, Today was Finally The Day.
No, I didn't get any enlightenment (or at least, not yet), but I feel better about my efforts to keep a connection with God. I feel like I got to the Safe Zone. I feel like I put a bit more oil in my lamp.
In the last 9 months, getting us to the temple has been like trying to go up the Down escalator. I sincerely hope that we get to be on the Up escalator now, but if not, you better bet that I'm going to be running up that darn Down escalator again.
So keep looking up.
I attended the Idaho Falls temple today. Great minds seek peace in like manner.
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