A lovely morning last summer.
A long, brisk walk - just me and my two lil' sweeties in the stroller.
I remember that Lucy was in rare form. Her odd comments and sincere animation were devoid of the four-year-old conjecture sometimes present when she pines for attention, and she was just making me laugh. I finally said, "Lucy, I just love to be together with you."
She oozed a similar sentiment in return, adding as an afterthought, "I just want to keep Spencer (her little brother) forever!"
I agreed, heartily: "So do I! And I want to keep you and your dad forever!"
We kept walking, and as my heart filled with tenderness at those thoughts, my tounge ran away with doctrine: "Lucy, do you know that we can be together forever?! Do you know that Mom and Dad were married in the temple? Do you know that if we all try to keep Heavenly Father's commandments, and if we all try to be kind and loving..."
I had lost her.
She was looking out across the horizon. "Forever?" she asked with quiet thoughtfulness and raised eyebrows. "Even when the sky turns black?"
It was my turn for raised eyebrows.
Even when the sky turns black?
I've considered Lu's question periodically since that summer morning. I thought about it at length when Wes began new treatments for brain cancer.
"Even when the sky turns black?" my heart inquried of heaven.
"Even after life as we know it is over?"
"Even following the seeming darkness of death?"
"Will we really be together, then?"
"Forever?"
Having an answer to those quesitons is a big deal to me.
"Was there ever a man who truly loved a woman, or a woman who truly loved a man, who did not pray that their relationship might continue beyond the grave?
...The human heart longs for it, and the God of heaven has revealed a way whereby it may be secured. The sacred ordinances of the house of the Lord provide for it."
Gordon B. Hinckley
I believe that.
We believe that - Wes and I, both.
And because of our belief in the eternal importance of love and family, because of our belief that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children," we think February is wonderful: a season to remember and rejoice in love.
Long lasting love.
For time and all eternity.
That's really what Valentine's day is about to us.
So in celebration of the season, we thought we'd post everyday this week. Just random things about love & marriage. Because, what's more fun than that??
Tomorrow: "The Gospel's True and I Love You": A Legacy
