Yesterday I had the blessed opportunity to hear from Pres Jensen, the temple president of the Logan Temple and Elder Fallabella of the Seventy. In this meeting the Lord touched my heart and reminded me that in my journey of trying to be like Him I might consider working on a few things. Pres Jensen asked us to take a moment and take an inventory of our home. He asked "is your home dedicated, do you have pictures of Christ on your walls, do you have pictures of the temple in your home, what items do you have on your hot cocoa table, are they items that when people enter they would recognize you are a member of the church, what media is playing in the background, does it invite the spirit, is there contention in your home, are there indentations on the floor in your bedroom where you and your loved ones kneel to counsel with the Lord?" Doing these things will invite the spirit into your home and make it a holy place, a place where you can learn the things of eternity and progress and grow.
I admit when he asked about the pictures on the wall I might have enjoyed a small triumphant smile for just a moment, my husband and I were blessed to receive many pictures of Christ and the temple for our wedding so I knew we at least had that covered. But when Pres Jensen asked about the indentations in my bedroom and contention I wondered if I could be quite as confident in answering to the Lord for those. I would like to hope that there are indentations on the floor where my husband and I try to kneel each night for prayer, but I'm sure I could put more effort in truly speaking to Heavenly Father and not simply assume I am leaving messages on a heavenly voicemail that will eventually be heard. And I'm sure that I could do better about having more charity in my heart for the crumbs on the floor and melted cheese in the microwave.
I've been praying for some time about how to better support my spouse and how to offer encouragement that can really make a difference. I received some answers to those questions, even if at first I didn't recognize it. Elder Fallabella shared about building a temple in Guatemala and how the saints sacrificed to help fund the temple, raising $17,000 more dollars than they needed as well as other special moments in sharing the gospel. Just as he was preparing to wrap up or so I thought, he began talking about obedience to commandments blesses us with the ability to learn more about our Heavenly Father and that one large commandment is to have the pure love of Christ. As he described the characteristics of charity, it suffereth long, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, I realized that was the answer. I have been so focused on having the house cleaned in just such a way, doing the things that I cared about and seeking in my mind after what I wanted to do, I had forgotten how to put my spouse first in my thoughts, I had forgotten that where my thoughts are is where my heart and body follow.
We have been given the example of Christ like love, a love we covenanted to show others at baptism. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father took the time to remind me that I have a covenant that I can live a little better. In this case it means looking for the good, because as Pres. Uchtdorf said, it is easy to find the negative because we are all imperfect, but when we start looking for the good it is easy to find that as well. I hope that in all of our relationships we can remember to seek for the good, remember we are all on different points on the path back to our Savior and that we are loved, because of that love we and those around us can do amazing things. Truly charity never faileth. We have been asked to share that love.
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