No matter what else is going on in this life, no matter what chaos is around us or what tragedies befall us, there is the hope of eternal life with our eternal families. I am so fortunate to be married to such a wonderful man and to have this blessing of eternal marriage, eternal family. Recently I met a sweet woman who had just lost her husband to drug abuse. She is a devout Christian, he suffered the horrors of addiction and depression. She had faith that she would see him again in the afterlife, but she was so distraught by one aspect of this belief. She had always been taught that in the afterlife we are all brothers and sisters but that our personal relationships here on earth are obsolete. She told me how she felt selfish for wishing she could have him as her husband up in heaven. That was the first time it ever dawned on me that people of other faiths don't necessarily believe in eternal marriage and companionship. I hurt for her. I told her that I had always been taught and believed with all my heart that we get to be with our loved ones in the same regard that we knew them here on earth - our spouse will still be our spouse, our children will still be our children, and so on. Looking back I wish I would have shared more with her about this, but I was too chicken to open up and have one of those "missionary moments." But, I think about her every now and then and hope that she has found comfort and answers to her questions through prayer. One thing that always gives me hope is knowing that my marriage is eternal. That knowledge is so important to me. Once I had a nightmare that I was driving down the road and there was suddenly a huge explosion ahead of me and then I watched as the debris and cars ahead of me hit me with an incredible force and threw me backward. In this nightmare, my first thought as I knew of my imminent death was, "I hope Jordan finds me in heaven." I know it's kind of morbid dreaming of my own destruction, but I actually woke up feeling a little comforted knowing that eternal families are a reality. I can't think of anything of more value and importance in my life.
3 days before Ty and I got married we came up on a car accident that JUST HAPPENED where someone had been thrown through the windshield and was lying face down on the freeway. I had nightmares all three nights that something would happen before we got married!
ReplyDeleteAlso, just wanted to let you know these 30 days of posting has been great. I have really enjoyed reading your posts. When are you going to plan a California adventure?!
We so badly want to plan a trip out to
ReplyDeleteCalifornia to see our new nephew (and you guys, of course!) - Our biggest roadblock is Jordan's demanding schedule. He only gets one week off twice per year and we have to get approval from the Army to go more than 250 miles away from the base. Maybe this spring? Or you guys are definitely always welcome out here, too.