The (Seattle) Temple

I have mixed feelings about the temple.  Ok, well, not really about the temple so much as about my personal temple attendance.  When we were in Provo, Greg and I tried to go once a month, but didn't always make it.  It's hard to find someone willing to watch your kid for three hours or so, and with Provo being so busy on the weekends, making the first session you tried for wasn't always guaranteed. 

 Then we moved to Charlotte.  I was super pregnant and then nursing and the temple is two hours away and if someone tries to tell you otherwise, they are delusional.  It's two hours.  And we stopped going.  Going to the temple is now a 7 to 8 hour time commitment and getting a Beehive, or even a Laurel, to watch the kids for that long, all while hoping your nursing chest doesn't explode...well it just didn't work out.

Besides, I have a bit of a problem with leaving my children with someone else for that long.  My kids are my kids and it's my responsibility to take care of them.  I leave them, I do, with sitters for a few hours, but 7 or 8, it's just a long time.  That's several meals.  That's a lot of playtime.  That's bedtime.  And I just don't trust other people, especially not most of the young women in my ward, to do things the way I would do them.  I can handle one meal or bedtime not being done my way, but two or three meals and playtime.  Well...I acknowledge that I have control issues.  On the other hand, I am responsible for the eternal salvation of those kids, so when the babysitter messes up, it's not his/her fault, it's mine.  I have to deal with the eternal repercussions of whatever (s)he did.  Don't get me wrong: we've have some great babysitters in Charlotte, but it's just a lot of responsibility to leave my children for so long with someone else.

On the other hand, shouldn't I be showing my children by example how important the temple is?  Yes.  I remember my parents going to the temple with I was little.  But I remember it more when I was older.  When I was little, I was just getting left forever with the Petersons, who were good babysitters but still not my parents.  When I was older, I got it.

Not to mention all the Ensign and Conference stories about people working for seven years to earn the funds to pay for a single temple trip--what a first world problem a long babysitter time/large babysitting bill is.

Still I feel justified, if not just a bit guilty, for not going to the temple.  

With all that, it's been over a year since I've done an endowment session.  I did do an initiatory session while Amber watched Rex just before we moved, and even with Amber watching Rex (and she's in the top 3 of who will take our kids should we both die), I didn't want to leave him for too long.  My kind mother has tried to make up my slack by going twice a week--once for her and once for me.  But I don't think that really counts.

Anyway, since we're in Seattle and my parents are only about 20 minutes away from the temple, I went.  On Thursday I took the kids to walk around the grounds, because that's what good Mormon moms do.  I tried to be all spiritual and good-momish and explain to Rex what temples are.  We sat in a little grove of trees, looking up at the temple: "Now Rex, temples are very important places.  They are where Jesus lives..."

Rex: "Mom, what's that big rock over there?"

Me: "Just a rock."  I gave up.  We looked for more statues.

The next day, I went back and did a session just me.  It was the first time going to a session all by myself, and it was very different from the super-packed Provo temple.  There were 8 people in the session and 2 of them were temple workers just taking up space.  Anyway, it was really nice.  And I learned something (what!).  

It's no big secret that I do not like Charlotte.  But, while sitting in the Celestial Room after the session and soaking up the warmth and comfort of the room, I realized that my home does not feel like a temple.  It could.  It should.  But it doesn't.  And I realized/learned that as much as a I dislike Charlotte, that's not an excuse for not trying to make my home a little more like Heaven on Earth.  So I will.  Or at least try to.  Try to make my home a bit more of a sanctuary from the ridiculousness that is Charlotte so that at least when I'm there I can feel at home, even if Charlotte is still just my temporary place of residence. Nothing too profound, but worth the trip none the less.  At least now I have a goal and a bit of hope that my place of temporary residence might feel a bit more like home--you know, like my heavenly home.

Oh, and now for some of the pictures we took during day 1 at the temple.

Rex was actually super mad at me and didn't want to take pictures--but doesn't it look like he's being super contemplative.

I think the bronze was burning her little buns.