Maintenance vs. Repair

The past two Tuesdays have been the highlights of my summer thus far.

First, witnessing my boy go through our beautiful new

Temple with his deacons quorum to do baptism ordinances and then again

this week when I had the incredible opportunity to first do a session and then

be on the evening cleaning crew for the the temple.

It was like a deep breath of pure oxygen for my spirit.

A Little Lesson

After I finished vacuuming the first ordinance room my duty card

told me to to go vacuum the celestial room.

I entered the brightly lit room.

I carefully pulled the vacuum back and forth over the perfectly white carpet.

I gently went under each chair, one by one,

knowing this is where members in our temple district

sit to commune with God.

I knew I was in earthly life's most sacred place.

Finally, there in the right hand corner of the room I discovered a small piece of lint

on the floor that my vacuum quickly sucked up.

I continued vacuuming room after room and then finally

in the women's change area I vacuumed up a small red tic tac.

It occurred to me how I was vacuuming a building

that was carefully and purposefully maintained day after day.

It went quickly, efficiently because it was so beautifully

maintained, everyday after each temple day came to an end.

I thought of my own home in the throws of a renno and busy young family life,

where neglect and sporadic attention and care for each room

meant less maintenance and a lot more repair.

Our lives work better when we take care of sacred things daily.

Attend the temple, scripture study, prayer, service,

remembering covenants. keeping commandments

are always a good start.

When I find myself neglecting these basics

tackling the bumpy journey of life seems to be more about

fixing and repairing

and less managing and maintaining.