It is our family tradition to take our children to the temple as their very first outing. We took Evaleigh when she was 4 days old and on Sunday we took Avett when he was just over 48 hours old on the way home from the hospital. We tell them how grateful we are that they came to our family and bare our testimonies to them that our family can be together forever.
When we got to the temple Evaleigh took off running in the grass and giggling for her daddy to chase her. I stood there with Avett in my arms and watched them go all over the temple grounds. She would stop and point at the temple and smile. When she came back she brought me a purple flower that she picked. I couldn't imagine my life getting any better than that moment and my heart was exploding with grattitude for the life my Heavenly Father has blessed me with.
When I originally thought about taking Avett for his first trip to the temple I didn't think about having Evaleigh there. But as we were preparing to be discharged from the hospital my heart ached at the thought of her not being with us. So my mom packed her up and brought her to the temple so we could all be together. That is just how I feel about the eternities. It simply wouldn't be heaven if my husband and my children weren't all there. I've always loved this quote by Elder Holland,
“I don’t know how to speak of heaven in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal beauty that we speak of heaven…I wouldn’t know how to speak of heaven without my wife, or my children. It would not be heaven for me. Now, you can say that’s wishful thinking, you can say, ‘ Well that’s just because you love each other and you’ve gotten cozy here on earth and you like each other’s company.’ It’s a lot more than that. It's eternal."
As I sit here with my 5 day old baby in my arms I feel a warm spirit around us. The past few days I have felt so close to Heaven with this special little spirit who has joined our family for forever. I am so grateful for the gift my Heavenly Father gave to me as a woman to be able to bare and bring forth children with my husband in to this world. It is my greatest joy.
4 comments:
Such a beautiful tradition!! Congratulations again!
What a sweet, sweet, tradition! And I love that quote too. Speaks to my heart. Congratulations, mama!
I love that tradition! :) Such a good idea. I hope I remember it when I have babies.
I also think I should mention, you look gorgeous! What a beautiful momma. :)
Wow! That's so inspiring. Thanks for sharing Rachel. You're an inspiration to me.
spooner songs