Another part of our temple trip to be sealed as a family was that we were able to finish temple work for my Gma & Gpa Stueve. I wanted to enter this part of our trip as a seperate blog entry to make sure it recieved the special attention it deserves. My Gma & Gpa Stueve were amazing people. Devout Catholics thier entire lives, they were the most loving, giving & Christ-like people you'd ever meet. They had 10 children together & never had very many worldly possesions. By the time they passed away they had over 30 grandchildren...& the family continues to grow. Having been married over 50 years before Gma passed away from ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease) they had set a wonderful example for their posterity. I admire them so much for how they stuck together through all of their adversities...& blessings. I assure you, there was plenty of both.
In our religion we believe that everyone is given the opportunity to be sealed to their spouses & children -their families- for time and eternity. This promises that if one lives worthily they are able to be 'sealed' to thier family through the duration of their lifetime, as well as through their "after life". If someone has died without being given the opportunity to recieve these blessings, these ordinances can be done by proxy... a person -perhaps a living family member- can stand in their place to do the ordinance for them, in thier name. This does not force any obligation onto the deceased person...it simply gives them the opportunity to recieve these blessings if they so desire. In an autobiography my Gma wrote as her health steadily declined, some of her last words in the book were "my greatest wish is that all of our family can be together in heaven." Dave & I were able to perform a marriage sealing ordinance for them, so that if they choose to accept it, they can continue to be husband and wife even now as I type these words. I love that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that we've been given this great blessing. I know these things are true with all my heart! Like my Gma Stueve, my greatest wish is also to be together with my family forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment