Eternal Marriage: its like a good run

Just some thoughts on eternal marriage, I by no means am an expert on what is like to married or what not, but I do feel that my upbringing and what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches, I am an expert on what an eternal celestial marriage SHOULD be.

Today I went for a wonderful run with a really amazing friend named Brooke, a friend from my local young single adult ward. We went on a three mile run through Provo, and it was amazing I had a blast. This was tough for me because ½ of the run is uphill and I have not been running uphill for about…. Ever ok? I’ll be honest and keeping it real. I don’t run uphill. So we were going uphill and the other friend with us had to stop so we did, eventually we got to a halfway point and he had to turn around and head home he was so tired and not ready for such a long run, so Brooke and I started going again, she had the most pleasant attitude the whole way, truly an angel, Christ like to a T. and then came the point where I had to slow down so she did too. Then we started running the race again then again I had a cramp and had to walk… and she slowed too… we walked and talked … then I felt better and said let’s run… I plugged in my earphones and a wonderful empowering song came on ,and I had to sprint and smile, just sublime… grinning from ear to ear… and sprinting ( I make it a point to smile while I run because people have this awful scowl each time I see them running).  THEN I noticed I was too far ahead of her, and I slowed down to wait for her... and then our finish line was in sigh about a quarter mile left, and I turned to her and said I’m tired but NO Quit., not a complete English sentence, but… NO QUIT… and I didn’t we got to the last cross walk and my body couldn’t do it… so we walked and waited for the cross walk to turn to  the little man made of white lights to appear, then I turned to her and said, lets run the rest of the way home.

To me this is a parable of how a marriage should be, we are on a run, a run back home to our heavenly father, and most of the time when we run it’s a circle from home and right back to it. On this run we have a running mate, in the case of our marriages it’s our wives or husbands.  Just like a run marriages have stages, the first 5 min or so of a run are amazing and easy, you’re just full of energy, but then hills come and you get tired but you push through them together, it will be rough and hard but you do it. Then you become tired and a spouse gets a little weary along the way, then we stop and let them catch their breath and then we continue onward. Sometimes you have to completely stop and take the time to listen to one another and their needs focusing 100% on them. THEN run again... then comes the downhill portion where you are in sync and have it pretty figured out, and then you’re coming to the close of your journey, and like my run , a powerful song appears in your life,( I like to think of this as the gospel of Christ ) and it carry’s you forward at a faster pace, and also like my run you each take turns waiting and helping each other,  it’s also filled with whimsy if you enjoy it, Brooke was a wonderful example of this,everytime there was a sprinkler near the sidewalk she would run right through it, this always made me smile.

 then… at the very end when your destination is in sight, you run to it, and make sure even if on your last stretch you need to rest, run home even if it is 10 feet run it.

As mentioned before I may not know what it is like to be married but, Christ has taught us how we should be. Listen to his words, live them, pray about them and seek his guidance he will send the Holy Spirit to manifest his will for us. Because he wants us to make it home fast or slow, he wants us home as a family.

Not afraid to show my scars

Not afraid to show my scars

Submitted by anonymous

Here is a wonderful story from an anonymous contributor, this individuals story is powerful and gives us a lot to think about. A lot about love, the savior and endurance.

“Why is it that these acts against virtue are the most hard to overcome and the ones that leave the deepest wounds and the most horrific scars? For the longest time any time I was involved in a conversation having to deal with, the harmful effects of pornography, I would use the common phrase “oh I have a friend who has an addiction and this is what he does and this is what his therapist says about it and this is how he feels…”  I would figuratively hide my scars underneath my clothing… and finally I’m just tired of pretending I don’t know what it’s like personally to be affected with an addiction to pornography. I have been scared to share it and this is step one in sharing my story.

I was first exposed to pornography when I was around 12 years old, and I was highly addicted throughout my teen years, and into college. 12…. Sometimes I weep for that poor 12 year old boy who would spend the next 8-9 years struggling with depression, severely low self esteem, and sexual addiction one after another.  Take a mental trip with me, picture yourself at 12, you were super impressionable, and trying to figure out who you are and then you are exposed to a drug 4 times as potent as crack cocaine, your love for your self isn’t only lowered its shattered, you start basing you relationships off of sexual encounters, you’re so afraid to have friends because you are scared that they will find out your secret, and your parents too.  Girls became… unapproachable, all they became were objects, things without feelings or purity, and my relationship with other guy’s my age were ruined, all I could do was feel envy because they were always more good looking and desirable than I was, both sexes became tainted by the affects of pornography.

When I was 16 I had enough, I went and talked to my church leader,  a wonderful man who helped me understand that , even though I had chosen to view these images , that Christ had prepared a way for me out of that deep , deep dark pit.  And I was clean for about 4 years and then I had the biggest relapse of my life, and I binged I think for 3 days straight … I felt so horrible, I was preparing to serve a mission for my church and wanted to leave as clean as I could, and felt as though I had ruined my chances of doing the thing I wanted most. 

It was there at school where I ultimately turned to God for help, I was reading in my scriptures particularly the Book of Mormon, and I came across this scripture, in Mosiah 4:9 Believe in  God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

I was struggling but this scripture gave me the hope to know that my father in heaven knows my path out, I felt the words of my savior say to me “my son, I love you, and I want you to return to me again, but there are things you need to change, I have established my law and you need to follow it.” 

I did it, I served a mission and it was the most wonderful experience I have ever experienced, but just because I served a mission doesn’t mean that my, addiction went away completely, I still face times of temptation and desire, and afterward I had a few relapses, but I think I learned the most amazing thing, God understands and I am still me! Porn addiction changed my behavior and desires but, you know what? I have changed them back and am still fighting to do so.  It can feel lonely but know this, you are not alone.  You are not weird, you are not picked out of a crowd, and Satan wants you to feel this way god does not. He wants you to feel his love and his son’s power and the process of repentance; it frees your soul from the darkness.

I just want to end by saying, to you the addicted porn user, hold on and stand up, speak up, there is hope at the end of the day, why? God knows you, and I have walked your path, I have felt the desire, the thirst for lust that is more powerful than the need to eat or sleep, but our heavenly father has a more powerful path and plan. But for it to work he needs you to start moving your feet. Take my hand and my experience and let’s stand together.”