Mawwage is What Bwings Us Here Togetha Today!

To me, marriage is probably the most important thing a person could ever do.  Not only do you get to spend forever with your best friend, but you get to create a family with that person and raise your children in love.  Being the youngest of six, I have been to my fair share of weddings, starting from when I was only 6 (I think) to 19.  Most of these weddings were done at the right place, with the right person and by the right authority.  And I can only pray and hope that it will be the same for me. 

Among the happiness that weddings and marriage bring, I also have seen what brings the marriage apart.  I remember when my parents got divorced.  Yes, I was young, but I remember it was a pretty significant year--so much happened!  It was the year I got baptized, the year my mom turned 50, the year my sister graduated high school, the year everything just kind of came apart.  I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad by sharing this sob story, but I want to share what can go wrong if we aren't careful. 

I think it's a pretty universal misconception that things get better and easier once you get married.  For some, that may be the case, but for most everyone else, it surely isn't.  During the time of the divorce, I wasn't quite old enough to understand what was going on.  So when I was older and actually understood more, I asked my mom why her and dad got divorced.  I don't remember all of what she said, but the main thing I remember her saying is, "pride."  It all came down to pride.  No matter who's pride it was, whether it was hers or my dads, pride was the downfall of their marriage. 

We are warned about pride so often in the scriptures and so often by our prophets and apostles. President Ezra Taft Benson taught, "The central feature of pride is enmity--enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen."  If you're like me and didn't know what enmity means, let me enlighten you.  Enmity is hatred towards or being opposed to someone.  This is so relevant especially with today's standards of marriage being redefined.  We often find that we are in opposition with those who believe differently than we do, and we revert to attacking them, usually in a verbal manner.  The best we can do is teach them what is right through love and patience. 

Until next time:)