Thankful Thursday

I am Thankful for Eternal Marriage

Scott and I were married on January 23, 1979. I know, we are really old! Our next Anniversary will be our 3oth. I am so thankful to have him in my life. Like most husbands, he drives me crazy some of the time, but I love him anyway!

We were married in the Arizona Temple. Back then the Arizona Temple was in our temple district even though we lived over 1,000 miles away in Dallas, Texas. We had to make great sacrifices to marry in the temple. I remember packing up our whole wedding and transporting it to Arizona. We had to give up some things to get married in the temple. Most of our friends couldn't be there because it would cost too much for them to come. And for that reason our reception was held a week later in Dallas. But we were surrounded by our family and it was a wonderful day...everything I'd hoped it would be. I think many of us now don't realize what a blessing it is to have so many temples all over. President Hinckley was amazing, wasn't he?

When we drove to Arizona, I got to ride with Scott in his little red VW Bug. We enjoyed spending that time together. Our parents followed us in a caravan. My dad had a CB radio at the time and he told every trucker on the road that we were going to Arizona to get married. Every 18 wheeler that passed us honked and we didn't understand until later why they were honking!

A lot has happened in the past 30 years... three beautiful children, two amazing grand children, lots of moving, lots of love and lots of life! I think the thing that keeps us going through the good and the bad is knowing we have an eternal marriage...one that will last forever! Knowing the eternal truth behind eternal marriage is more important now than ever...

In April General Conference 2006, Elder David A. Bednar gave a wonderful talk called "Marriage is Essential to His Plan" in that talk he says:

"Two compelling doctrinal reasons help us to understand why eternal marriage is essential to the Father’s plan.

Reason 1: The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation.

The eternal nature and importance of marriage can be fully understood only within the overarching context of the Father’s plan for His children. “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and … has a divine nature and destiny.” 3 The great plan of happiness enables the spirit sons and daughters of Heavenly Father to obtain physical bodies, to gain earthly experience, and to progress toward perfection.

“Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose” 4 and in large measure defines who we are, why we are here upon the earth, and what we are to do and become. For divine purposes, male and female spirits are different, distinctive, and complementary.

After the earth was created, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. Importantly, however, God said it was “not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18; Moses 3:18), and Eve became Adam’s companion and helpmeet. The unique combination of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional capacities of both males and females were needed to implement the plan of happiness. Alone, neither the man nor the woman could fulfill the purposes of his or her creation.

By divine design, men and women are intended to progress together toward perfection and a fulness of glory. Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences. The man and the woman contribute differently but equally to a oneness and a unity that can be achieved in no other way. The man completes and perfects the woman and the woman completes and perfects the man as they learn from and mutually strengthen and bless each other. “Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:11; italics added).

Reason 2: By divine design, both a man and a woman are needed to bring children into mortality and to provide the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children.

The commandment given anciently to Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force today. “God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. … The means by which mortal life is created [are] divinely appointed.” 5 Thus, marriage between a man and a woman is the authorized channel through which premortal spirits enter mortality. Complete sexual abstinence before marriage and total fidelity within marriage protect the sanctity of this sacred channel.

A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met. Just as the unique characteristics of both males and females contribute to the completeness of a marriage relationship, so those same characteristics are vital to the rearing, nurturing, and teaching of children. “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.”

I am grateful for the great Plan of Happiness, for Eternal Marriages and for my wonderful husband and his commitment to me and these principles! I am grateful my children are committed to gaining these blessings in their lives too!