Wartime Wedding

My grandparents Max and Marjorie got engaged and married while Max was on leave from the military. They definitely had known each other awhile, dated, met each others' families, etc. Then, the story goes that Max came home and proposed to Marjorie. They tried to figure out all the details quickly before Max had to leave. They weren't sure where to get married, but they decided on the SLC temple. As my grandmother puts it, "temple marriages weren't stressed as so important back then." As they thought about it, they were content with getting married at the temple. So, they got married and had something short like 24 or 36 hours together before Max was deployed again for military service in WWII. They had a happily ever after that lasted for decades while they were both alive. Since, they got married in the temple, it can last for an eternity more.

There's was certainly a military, wartime wedding done very well.

One Dozen Years Married Together

Today we happily celebrate 12 years married together. We never regretted our decision to get married together. By getting married together in the Latter-day Saint temple, we invited God to help us in our marriage. I recently taught this concept in simple terms to children. I asked them, "who knows you better than you know yourself?" The answer, "God". Then I asked, "Who will know your future spouse better than anybody else?". The answer was again, "God". Then, I asked, "So, if you fall in love with somebody and want to get married and stay married, then,  wouldn't it make sense to invite God to help you in your marriage?". They understood this idea. Then, I mentioned that anybody can ask for help in their relationships with anybody and especially in their marriage. However, if you are married in the temple, then, God promises to help at all times. So, if you love somebody enough to live together, or enough to get married, then why not do it the way God intended, so He can best help you stay married happily. Also, this is the way to be married forever, even after death.

I can think of a time in our marriage, when I wasn't happy with Ryan. I prayed to figure out what to do. I had the prompting from the words of a song sung at church, "In the quiet heart is hidden, sorrow that the eye can't see". Then, I realized he must be hurting for some reason, so I approached him much more kindly than I would have. I couldn't have really known about his hurt, without God's help, because Ryan probably was only vaguely aware of it himself. So, I'm grateful to an all-knowing God for teaching me that lesson.

Eternal Marriage

Eternal marriage is something that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints look forward to and believe in. When we get sealed(married) in one of our temples, it is for forever. I've(Leah) watched a lot of couples who have been sealed together, for longer than I've been alive. Of the ones I am closest to, they have all stayed married to their first spouse. They are generally happy. The couples have fun together, work together, achieve goals together, raise children together, visit grandchildren together, retire together, etc. Lots of happiness and peace come from a lifestyle like this.

image credit lds.org

There are many others that I have watched, for longer than I've been alive, that were not sealed in the temple. They married elsewhere, if they married at all. Of the ones that I am closest to, that didn't marry in the temple, there have been many relationship problems. None have ended up staying with their first spouse and most have been through many divorces and remarriages. Some ended up with children they were not prepared to care for, while others lost custody of children they had hoped to raise.
If this is the difference a focus on eternal marriage makes, I choose the eternities with my husband and family.