Baggage

As couples we come together and we both carry lots of, "baggage."

I love the statement from Poduska,"It does not take us long to realize that we do not enter marriage empty handed; we carry a lot of "baggage," with us.  "  Well how true is that!  I think this is true of all relationships, we have baggage.  Some of it not bad but some is.  He further states that many newlyweds tend to bring to their marriages a fairytale belief in living happily ever after, a belief seemingly based on this supposition: "we have been good. Therefore, only good things will happen to us."   I think we all enter into marriage and relationships with the mindset of happily ever after. Sometimes we enter with things not so happy and some things weigh us down because of our knowledge of history and we don;t want it to repeat.  When we enter into a union, we have to focus on each other and work towards being each other's,"person."  

No matter what we do have baggage, but it is what it is. We have to work together to get the relationship on track with each other and find a balance. Sometimes that is more sacrificing then we like, but it is necessary. 

Counsel Together, because We Are Equals

We are equals and because of such... we need to be united. 

I love that this reading coincides with what we have been talking about in Ward council this past week. We talked about the same things that Elder Ballard talked about.  being a part of the ward counsel committee is so enlightening but also so crucial to recognizing that we need to be one.  There are decisions that are made that maybe some of the committee doesn't agree with.  That is okay, we don't have to agree, but we do have to agree and be on board with the decision that Bishop has decided. 

The same applies in our families,  we have to be on board and agree with each other whether we agree or not.  We have to be united.  As couples we lead the family together, not one in charge of something and another in charge of something else.  There is so much importance with our children seeing that we as parents are united, miracles happen and love grows because they see that we are working together, not against each other. To function successfully and effectively we have to work together. 

I think with our ward councils running well, the ward members see the unity and carry it to their families. 

 We need to see righteous priesthood leaders to be part of our families.  We need partners. We need people who will be equal. As parents we need to set the example of how a council can work. Working together to build relationships and find the way of family unity.  Unification is what makes our purpose for eternal families possible. 

Intimacy

  

 This week's study of  Intimacy in marriage  really stood out to me about the ideal marriage.  Is there an ideal marriage?  I think not.  I think we all have struggles, and hardships like Cinderella.  Not all of us are free from the worries of money and live in a castle like Cinderella did, but....  We can have the happily ever after with alot of speed bumps in the way.  

We get married with the intention that we are the only one that our spouse sees us and no one else.

There is this really unfriendly thing that can get in the way and distract us from the things that matter. While the WORLD is choosing their way to do things, WE as members of the church who want to have the spirit with us, are working hard to FOLLOW the Prophet.

The way of the World and the Way of the Lord are 2 completely different paths!!!

One way that we can safe guard our marriages, our relationships and our kids is to protect everything we can that is willing to destroy our family units!  We have to have strong guards against the evil that is trying to seep into every little crack we have.  Any weakness, any sign of letting our guard down.  

These times that are brought down are what make our Cinderella story less available to happen.