This day turned out to be so beautiful!
Thank you so much for comments and emails on my post asking for ideas on how to remember Benjamin here in CO. We decided go ahead and try for a balloon release in front of the temple, and my sweet friend Suzie-Q offered to watch the littlies so that DC and I could go. This was an answer to prayers – I had felt like things weren’t coming together at all, and then, all of a sudden they did.
The work we did in the temple was so healing and strengthening. We helped to seal families together – husband to wife, son to parents, daughter to parents – people who are deceased who never had the chance to receive those blessings in this life. It was such a special, heavenly morning. One tender mercy was that in our group was an older couple who had lost twin girls in 1981. The mother was so compassionate to me, sharing some beautiful stories that I now hold close to my heart.
We were even able to go and meet Exacto and Fluffy in the temple baptistry – their faces were bright as we came out with them, even radiant.
I left the temple rejoicing that Heavenly Father has made a plan for families to be united eternally, and also wanting very much for our family to have more peace and harmony so that we can feel Benjamin with us more often.
Suzie-Q met us there with Hummer and Rosebud, and my awesome sister-in-law Daniela came over on very short notice with her Italian mother and the two sweet little ones. And so the celebration commenced, at the Denver Temple instead of Pinecrest Cemetery in central Arkansas.
We all wrote notes on the balloons and then sang Happy Birthday.
As we released the balloons we sang I Am a Child of God. Then we watched them until we couldn’t see them any more. Hummer lay out flat on the grass and watched the very longest.
I think of the temple as a bridge between heaven and earth. It really was a perfect place to sing to Benjamin and celebrate his place in our family -- which hopefully will be forever, if we can just be faithful now!
Tomorrow we’ll celebrate his “real” birthday, but I am so grateful for the beautiful day we had today at the Denver Temple.
![100 days of gratitude tag[7]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aidAEIv_gf0/UnXVf7XaUFI/AAAAAAAAKnw/RqLARiVT6Wg/s1600-h/100%252520days%252520of%252520gratitude%252520tag%25255B7%25255D%25255B6%25255D.jpg "100 days of gratitude tag[7]")
2 comments:
Beautiful! I loved the way I felt as I read this post. True happiness is found from receiving covenants in this holy place. That is where we can go to find peace amid the challenges of life. I'm so glad you found that in your visit. Your saying that you "think of the temple as a bridge between heaven and earth" reminds me of President Monson's quote about the temple is where heaven and earth meet. We are going to let off balloons this afternoon here in Texas in honor of BRB too! Loved seeing our wonderful family with pictures of the Denver Temple in the background. Thanks for sharing!
Even six years later, a sweet and poignant post to read -- thank you for including all of us, too. And, I hope things get a little smoother and more tender mercies are obvious from day to day. Call anytime ;)
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