Gratitude

I've been thinking a lot about what I wanted to express gratitude for this Thanksgiving. I feel that this year has filled with so many blessings, more than I could ever list. So I decided to write this post about one topic that I feel has been the catalyst for all of our blessings.

Jake and I are both LDS or Mormon. Growing up we both new that when we found someone who we wanted to marry, that we would chose to get married in one of our church's temples. We knew that we wanted our marriage to last longer than just "till death do us part." We didn't want the life we would build together, the trials we would share, the success, the joy, our relationships with our children, to end when our mortal lives did.

The prophet and apostles of our faith came out with a proclamation to families everywhere in 1995. One of the first paragraphs reads, "In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

All of the ordinances done in LDS temples are performed using the priesthood of God. It is this priesthood authority that Jesus referred to when he taught, " Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." (Mathew 16:19) Since priesthood power is eternal ordinances sealed with the priesthood are also eternal, which makes them so important to us.

So why am I so grateful for this? I'm grateful that our marriage will last forever which makes it all more special for us. I'm grateful that because we were married there that Rhett will always be ours. I'm grateful for the peace I feel when we go to the temple. I'm grateful for their stunning beauty. I'm grateful the God has given us a way to know, understand and be closer to Him. I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation and that it teaches us who we are, where we came from, why we are here and where we are going.

So this Thanksgiving instead of making my usual list, I'm just expressing my gratitude for these buildings and the blessings which have stemmed from it.