Thought of the Sunday 38

My husband and I are celebrating our fourth year of marriage this weekend and that makes me think of eternal marriage.  As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe in the scripture from Matthew 16:19 that says, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."  This is when Jesus Christ gave Peter the keys of sealing which is part of the Priesthood.  We have this sealing power today through the same Priesthood that Christ gave to Peter.  This means that when a couple is bound (sealed) on earth they are also bound (sealed) in heaven.  We call that marriage for time and all eternity.  Haven and I were sealed in the Temple and created a new, eternal family unit.  This gives me great comfort for a few reasons.  Here they are:

• I have something to aim for.  If I want my relationships to continue through eternity I have to be worthy of them.  That means I have to be obedient and keep the promises I have made.  Therefore I have perspective to overcome challenges in my life.  
• I know that my husband and I have the same goal in mind even when we make different decisions.
• If things aren't going well in our marriage then I want to fix that as much as I am able.  I want to work hard to always be a part of my eternal family unit. 
• God will help us to succeed and He has given us many tools to do so.

These are just a few of my thoughts on why my eternal marriage is important to me.  To me, the idea of eternal families takes away the forever sorrow of death; because there doesn't have to be any forever separation within a sealed family.  We live out this life and continue on in the next.  We can look forward to seeing our family members after this life.  Though we miss them while we are here, in just a little while we will see them and know them again.  This is a very comforting thought to me and it is all because we have such a loving Heavenly Father, who is the Father of us all.