Nipping at my Heels

Yesterday our sweet friends watched our kiddos, so Buns and I could hit up the temple.  We hadn't been to the Provo City Center Temple yet, and I was more excited than I thought I would be!  Can I be horribly truthful?  Sometimes when it comes to the nights we dedicate to going to the temple, I get bugged because I'd rather use our babysitters for time that we could go do something fun. Lol.  But every single time we go, I walk inside and feel immediate relief.  Peace and comfort.  All worries left at the door.  I feel close to God and Christ when I'm in the temple.

I feel a greater love for the people in my life, especially for my husband and babes.  I leave feeling uplifted and inspired to do and be better.  I see more clearly my identity as a daughter of God.  His child.  

Buns and I did baptisms, which I hadn't done in ages.  We brought some family names that my father-in-law gave us...ancestors from Tennessee!  I felt my testimony strengthen.  I have a very simple testimony.  But a testimony that won't be shaken.  I believed that in the temple yesterday.  And even when I don't have answers for everything, I have enough.  I have faith.  I have hope.  I believe in that burning in my heart that God is real and hears and answers my prayers.  I am his beloved daughter.  We are ALL his beloved children.

In the temple, they had the current issue of the Ensign out in the pews, and as I was perusing, I came across a little article entitled "You Are Royalty."  If you know me at all, you know I was all about that article in T-2 seconds.  Haha.

"While our family was in Argentina on assignment from the Church, our son and I often visited sites of interest in our free time. Among them was a zoo unlike any zoo we had seen before.  Rather than wander past cages of sleepy animals, visitors were invited to enter the pends and pet the animals.  Following the trainer, we made our way into the enclosure prepared for the large lions and petted them while they seemed to ignore us.

I asked the trainers how they had convinced the lions to not eat us.  They called my attention to several little dogs that likewise inhabited the pens.  When the lions were small, those yappy dogs chased the lions mercilessly and nipped at their heels.  The lion cubs became accustomed to cowering in the corner, afraid of dogs.

When the lions grew, they continued to cower in fear.  With the flick of a paw, they could easily have sent those dogs flying, but the lions didn't see themselves as they really were.  They were unaware of their regal identity and potential...

We have God's spiritual DNA coursing through our veins.  We are His sons and daughter and His heirs.  Swat away any deceiving messages, beliefs, or habits that cause you to cower in the corners of your life.  Don't let them nip at your heels and make you feel fearful or hurt.  Rise to the level of your eternal stature.  You are royalty."

(Kathy Kipp Clayton)