Thoughts on Love and Marriage

Well ... the topic in my LDS Marriage and Family class last week was True Love. So the assigned reading was of course on love (from the 'eternal marriage' manual). Talk about uplifting and happy reading for the week. And ... I absolutely love quotes! If you've known me for any length of time you know this to be true. I had quotes (on love) surrounding our reception and have a book I've been working on for years that's filled the best of the best quotes.

There certainly are a lot of them though. So many great words from prophets and apostles and other general authorities. See for yourself:

"The love established between man and woman, as they live and together and rear their family, should not die, but live and grow richer with the eternal years. True love hopes and prays for an endless continuation of association with the loved one ... love is ever warm, more hopeful, believing, courageous, and fearless ... to them happiness and the making of it have no end." -John A. Widtsoe

"Love is cleanliness and progress and sacrifice and selflessness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes, but lives through sickness and sorrow, poverty and privation, accomplishment and disappointment, time and eternity." -Spencer W. Kimball

"...respect that regards one's companion as the most precious friend on earth..." -Gordon B. Hinckley

"Perfect love is perfectly patient." -Neal A. Maxwell

"True love and happiness in courtship and marriage abe based upon honesty, self-respect, sacrifice, consideration, courtesy, kindness, and placing 'we' ahead of 'me'." -Marvin J. Ashton

"Love, as defined by the Lord, elevates, protects, respects, and enriches another. It motivates one to make sacrifices for another." -Richard G. Scott

"But such a total, virtually unbreakable union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with the union of all that they possess - their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams..." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"...most problems in love and marriage ultimately start with selfishness." -Gordon B. Hinckley, Jeffrey R. Holland

"True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"Love is a fragile thing" -Jeffrey R. Holland

"...trust ourselves totally to the one we love ... The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold on to each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together." - Jeffrey R. Holland

"True love 'beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things'." -1 Corinthians 13:7, Jeffrey R. Holland

"'Charity [pure love] never faileth.' (Moroni 7:46, 1 Corinthians 13:8) It is there through thick and thin. It endures through sunshine and shadow, through darkest sorrow and on into the light. It never fails." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"Marriage is sustained by faith and knowledge of its divine establishment, and is sustained daily by energy of love..." -David B. Haight

"The Lord measures the success of a family by the quality of its relationships." -Merrill J. Bateman

"As a righteous couple grow and mature in their love, they will come to know that the fine blending of the spiritual and physical dimensions of their relationship forms a solid foundation for their eternal union." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Giving ourselves to one another in an eternal marriage is an unconditional giving of the whole person for the whole journey." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Eternal marriage is godlike marriage. The term eternal describes the quality of marriage as much as its duration." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Love is a process."

"Love is a choice."

And my absolute favorite of all: "Happiness is marrying your best friend!" -I'm not sure who said this but it's been Matt and I's quote ever since becoming engaged.

Love is awesome. Marriage is amazing. That's my opinion. I can honestly say that I continue to love Matt more everyday. And you'd be surprised what you can learn about love from a class. Perspective takes on a whole new meaning with regards to marriage. The simple daily things of life kind of float away. They always say marriage is a lot of work but it makes the work seem like hardly anything when you focus on how much you love the other one and the covenants you made at marriage. I'm finding it a lot harder to put my thoughts into words at the moment. I'm lucky to have Matt as my hubby - I'm so happy he kept after me.

Tender Mercy

Flashback to prob a month ago:

My phone rang just as I was stepping out of the bathroom at work where I had been shedding a few tears of woe is me. It was my sister-in-law Angie and I sucked it up and answered. She explained to me that her friend had read on our blog that we didn't have a dishwasher and she wanted to give us her portable dishwasher. I had never met her and she knew Matt just from when he was a little tyke - yet out of the goodness of her heart she wanted to give us her portable dishwasher ... for nothing in return!

Angie asked me if we would want which I proceeded to say OF COURSE. This was one of the moments when I knew God was watching out for me. The moment I got off the phone I could feel His arms wrap around me with a hug that said 'it's going to be ok, you can do it, keep holding on, I love you remember.' I'm almost started to cry out of happiness this time.

It may just seem like a dishwasher but it has so much more meaning to me. The last time I did the dishes I couldn't stand for the rest of the day (we're only talking an hour or two of washing too)...that's what a messed up back will do. Before football started Matt always washed the dishes because he knew how much it hurt my back plus I just don't necessarily like doing it. But football and school took over which is how it should be. The dishes were a source of stress in my life that has now evaporated. It's hard to put into words just what a dishwasher has done for me and Matt. It's not just a dishwasher, it's a blessing, it's that nudge of hope, a daily reminder that God knows me individually and is watching out for me everyday.

We picked up the dishwasher last Wednesday night and it is absolutely fabulous. All of our dishes are done (except for a few cookie sheets that didn't fit) without hours of work on our end. Thank you Amy!! We can never thank you enough for your generosity and kindness!