Essentials

This is the temple currently under construction in Indiana where we live.  We are so excited!

My sister once said "If it isn't essential to your eternal salvation don't worry about it."  I wonder if she knows how that phrase has stuck with me and shaped me over the years.  It has effected the way I see myself, how I treat others, even how I raise my children.
Today I decided it was time for Elizabeth to lose the binky.  Nap time was torture.  For half an hour she screamed and cried.  I am so tired I could have slept through it I kid you not, but instead I sat thinking.  How important was it for her to be binky free?  It wasn't essential to her eternal progression.  In the grand scheme of things does it really matter that she has a binky until she is two or even three?  I decided it wasn't all that important and I gave her a binky at which point she fell immediately asleep (After some serious cuddles of course!)
Benjamin is one of the most stubborn children I have had the pleasure to learn from. (Did you like that positive spin?)  Some days EVERYTHING is a battle, but lately I have been more focused on picking my battles.  I have chosen to fight for those things which are essential to his eternal progression.  He must go to church with me, but he doesn't have to wear a white button up shirt if he really wants to wear the green one.
Glen gets very angry if he feels like he is being chastised.  He generally tries very hard to be good but as soon as he feels like he is in trouble he turns to anger and then the situation just spirals out of control.  Here again I have used that wonderful phrase as my guide.  If it will not effect him in the eternities then it doesn't matter.  It's not a big deal that he said stupid, but it's a big deal that he hit mom.
As for me, I want to look and feel good, but I'm not going to obsess over my body, the state of my house, how fancy my clothes are or even what people think of me.  As long as I am being kind, loving, and following Jesus then the rest of it doesn't really matter.  After all, the Lord isn't going to deny me entrance at the gates of heaven because I wear a size 16 instead of a 10 and because my living room wasn't picked up tonight.