Belonging

I spent some time pondering this quote from a recent RS lesson that taught/reinforced some specific attributes of homes and temples that make them sacred.

Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

I belong in my home and nobody questions that. My parents welcome me when I walk in the door with a smile and open arms, offering food and laughter and sustenance. It doesn't matter what I look like when I am home; no one is judging my appearance. I can feel completely comfortable in my own skin, and those at home love me for all of the right reasons.

Similarly, I belong in the temple. My Heavenly parents welcome me with an outpouring of the the Holy Ghost as I walk inside, offering spiritual nourishment, joy, and strength. It doesn't matter who is most fashionable in the temple; no one is judging my appearance there either. We dress in pure white to represent the fact that we are all equal in God's eyes.

A few weeks ago, I was doing baptisms for the dead at the temple, and had the opportunity to speak with the temple president. I expressed my plans to be endowed soon and my heart was burning with a desire to know what else I could do to prepare for my first endowment session. Rather than providing me with some unique study plan, he simply commended my preparation and told me that I belong in the temple. As long as I am true to myself and to God, I can walk in those golden doors, feel a sense of peace, and give all of my worries away. I am so excited to enter the temple for my washing and anointing, and to receive my endowment. I have been striving for years to feel worthy and prepared. The day is coming soon. I'm not sure just when it will be, but I can't wait!

My goal is renewed to have this same temple-like spirit in my own home as I navigate through college, and eventually learn how to be a wife and mother. I can make my apartment a sacred place. I can invite the Holy Ghost into my home. I want my home to be a refuge for everyone who walks inside, always. I feel the same happy feelings inside the temple as I do inside my home and vice versa. This is because those sacred environments are a little sneak peek to my heavenly home. And there, in the kingdom with my Father, is where I ultimately belong.