"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinithians 2:9
As I look at the pictures of our sealing day to the twins, this scripture in Corinthians is what comes to mind. This scripture has come up it seems every time that something would go wrong in our efforts to adopt the twins. It has actually come up every time things were not going well with any of the kids adoptions.
I knew I didn't have control over what was going on, but I knew that God had prepared something incredible for me as long as I loved him and listened to the Holy Ghost. There was no room to doubt becauase I knew that somethings awaited me.
Yesterday as Ron and I were holding hands in the sealing room, we watched our kids walk into the sealing room, ( well, Ren came running in to us), I started to get a glimpse into what Heavenly Father had prepared for me. I have dreamed about this moment for so long and my heart felt like it would explode as I watched the kids walk in. They were so beautiful and pure and I wanted to hold onto that moment forever. Ren walked in and immediately wanted to sit on my lap. The twins looked so cute just sitting on Ron's lap. Reese and Nora walked in so beautifully and came and sat on the white chairs. They looked so big and reverent and were just taking everything in. I couldn't have been more proud of them for being so reverent.
A pretty neat part of the sealing was that our sealer was Larry Smith. Jenny Smith's dad. Ron and I went to do sealings right before Ron flew out to Pennsylvania and Brother Smith was the officiator. He made everything so special and just made me feel so loved. It was like I could feel how much Heavenly Father loved me from the words that he spoke. We decided to ask him to officiate at the twin's sealing and he did an incredible job. When he spoke to Ron and I ahead of time, I was already in tears just as he talked about how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. I was already in tears before I walked into the sealing room and was completely overwhelmed with the love we felt from all of our friends and family. I was a little sad that none of my family would be in the temple for the twin's sealing, but it was a little tender mercy that when I went up to the sealing office to meet Ron, Keith Kennington was waiting for me. He is one of the sealing coordinators for the Ogden temple and saw that we were on the schedule and made sure that he could be there for our sealing. It meant a lot seeing him and it made me think about my youth and all the choices I had made leading up to that point. Later on, Ron told me that he had been praying for me that I would feel loved and special and that Heavenly Father was proud of the decisions I had made in my life. He said that Keith and Larry were definitely an answer to his prayers as these two men had known me when I was younger and had been a father figure in my life. I agreed! It meant a lot to know that these two men were proud of me.
Also, Brother Smith also taught us a lot of great gospel truths that I thought were amazing!
"Faith is underestimated and Prayer is the most underused tool."
He also said that faith and prayer was not underestimated or underused in bringing our family together. He talked about how important the sealing is and Elder Nelson's talk about the girls coming to him in a dream and wanting to be sealed. Symbolism of the patriarchal grip , the kneeling at the alter, everything is symbolic of the atonement of Jesus Christ!
When I walked into the sealing room, I think I was overwhelmed with love from all of our ward family. It was difficult not having any of my family in the sealing room to be a part of something that was so special to me, but when I walked into the sealing room and saw all of our ward family. I was truly overwhelmed with emotion. I'm so grateful for all the people that have helped us over and over again. People that have had my kids over to their house time and time again. People that have came over and just started folding laundry. There has been so much service offered to our family and I just started to think about how much family I really had in that room.
A few days before we had gone to the temple, I was praying that I would just be prepared and feel the Spirit. I remember thinking about how I knew there were angels in the courtroom when we were able to adopt the twins and I had an overwhelming feeling that I knew there would be angels in the sealing room celebrating with us. Of course they would be there to watch their beautiful family on this special day.
There is so much peace in knowing that they are ours forever. That even death cannot take them away from us. For the longest time, we lived in fear that they wouldn't be ours. Trying hard to not get too attached. Then when we finally were able to adopt them, we still had the fear that we would have to go to court again. It seemed like we still had to have all the attorneys involved, we still had to get home visits done, and there was just a feeling of uncertainty. Finally with the twin's finalization and having them sealed to us. There came the peace that passeth all understanding.
Also with that peace, came a clarity that I desperately needed. The clarity that comes from seeing what is most important. Seeing my children in the temple, all dressed in white, gave me the visions and desire of having them return time and time again. That is my goal. I have been stressing about gymnastics and all these things that are important, but not eternal. I love my family with all my heart and I am so grateful that we can be together forever.
