On the Importance of Making Covenants

While growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I had heard many, many times that when I married, I should make sure that it was in our faith's temple. I was told that the reason it was so important that I married in the temple was because only there would I be able to be married for time and all eternity--that marrying in the temple was the only way I would be able to be with my spouse forever, literally.

I heard that speech so many times. So many. But it wasn't until after I got married that I understood the gravity of that teaching.

One week before Jake and I were to be married (in a temple, as it would turn out), I took him in to have his first colonoscopy. We learned that day that he did, in fact, have an ulcer in his colon. Upon receiving that news, I remember being completely overwhelmed. I was about to make the biggest decision of my life, and on top of that I had just learned that my twenty-one year old fiance was sick. I'd be lying if I said I never once considered calling off the marriage. But I didn't, and a week later was one of the best days of my life.

It was almost one month to the day, after we got married that we received more earth-shattering news. Not only did my husband have an ulcer, but he also had a failing liver... and the only course of treatment would be a transplant...quite possibly within seven years. Seven years. We were both twenty-one, in college, and heart broken knowing that Jake might not make it past the age of 28. Words cannot describe the anguish we felt.

It's been almost two years now and there have been numerous miracles occur to help soften the blow of such a devastating diagnosis--the most comforting and miraculous of all being that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that our marriage is eternal. I didn't marry Jake because I thought he would make me happy for a couple of months, or because I wanted him as my husband for a couple of years. I married him because he is my truest friend, my confidant, and a much better man than I could ever dream of. I married him because I wanted to spend my life with him, and my eternity.

I will forever be grateful for the decision that we made to be sealed in the temple of our God. There, we made promises to each other and to God that we would be dedicated to our marriage; and there, God promised us that if we do our part, He will let us be together, even after we die. I know God will keep that promise, because He is God and keeping promises is his nature. That promise of eternity is the one thing that has kept me going. It has brought so much more strength and comfort than I could ever imagine. It has been the calm in the storm.

I will forever be grateful to God for allowing me to reap the blessings of the temple. And I will always be glad that we decided to get married there so we could have those blessings. Receiving ordinances and making covenants isn't just for old people like I used to think... it's for everyone.

Growing-Up to be Great

I always wanted to grow up to be something great-- to somehow bring more light, more joy, more purpose to the world. That, in part, could explain why I chose to study Psychology in college. But since graduating, I've come to learn that being something great doesn't necessarily mean being great in the work-force. Sure, for some, it may be their calling in life to invent something that will help improve the quality of life for millions, for others their role may be fulfilled by writing beautiful literature.

But I don't think I'm one of those people.

I will probably never discover a new--more effective--therapeutic technique, nor is it likely that I will be known in the history books as someone who influenced the world in such a way as Mother Teresa.

And that's okay. I can still be great.

Greatness is showing love to others when it's easier to show hatred. Greatness is forgiving. Greatness is serving your fellow man. Greatness is helping pick others up when they are down. Greatness is showing compassion, charity, and love. And those, my friends, are some things that I can do. I don't need to go down in the history books as one who fought for human rights, or as one who influenced millions. I just don't. I, for one, am perfectly happy to be the person who loves deeply and lives fully. That is what greatness looks like for me.

What does greatness look life for you? Figure it out, and let's be great together.