There are countless tender mercies and countless miracles in my life that remind me there is Someone up above watching out for us that MUST really, really, truly love us. Heavenly Father truly desires to bless us, to make us happier than we knew possible, to see us laugh and smile, to see us come out from trials a little more refined and a little more like Him, and to help us become like He is. Why would He want us to become like Him?? I've learned through my personal study and experiences that the reason behind this goal (to bring to pass our eternal life- life with Him and like Him- in our eternal families) is love. He LOVES us and He is happy. His happiness is eternal and His joy is FULL! He wants us to someday experience the magnitutude of what He feels and has!! He wants us to have that for ourselves!!
To help us to someday obtain this lofty goal, He provides us with essential help. Firstly, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has the power both to cleanse us of impurity and to change our very natures (to make us a little more godlike- more kind, more patient, more humble, more selfless.) Another incredible and essential gift He gives us is our families and the people who love us most and who we love most. I know without a doubt that the family is of God.
I know that finding true happiness and achieving the potential God sees in us is ONLY possible with these essential parts: our Savior, and our families.
Families teach us to be more like the Savior. They support us in our deepest sorrows and hardest trials. They celebrate our accomplishments with us and experience our greatest joys with us. They help us to reach new heights and have a vision of who we truly are. But one thing I've learned as of late, is that more important than receiving these treatments and gifts from your family, is first being willing to give all of these things to your family. I believe this is the secret for happiness in families: build your life, family, and faith on Christ, and then forget yourself and give all you have and are to the well-being of your family.
Since arriving home from my mission (one of God's great gifts to me), God has blessed me with yet another gift that is greater and more precious than I ever could have truly deserved or imagined. -His name is Seth!
I always believed in these principles I've just written about- but Seth has helped me to see, feel, and know the truth of these principles. He is the most selfless person I know. He has shown me that true joy comes from putting those you love before yourself- making their needs a higher priority to you than your own! His kindness, gentleness, and goodness have confirmed to me again and again my belief that the greatest joys we can experience in this life will be experienced within the walls of our homes and in our families. I always believed that God's plan for us and our families to be happy together forever was real, but Seth has helped me to feel deep inside of my heart that it is not only real, but it is possible.
On December 22nd, I will be married to the love of my life!!! And I've never been so excited for anything in my life!!!
There is no one else I'd rather pass through the difficulties and joys of life with.
He even makes being stuck under a bridge in a rain and hail storm wonderful :)
I am blessed and so grateful.
