celebrating-marriage-by-celebrating-family

~by Michelle

I was moved by this post by my friend — also named Michelle (pictured above with her darling family) — who talked about the grand plans she and her husband recently had to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary. But after a lot of chaos and putting their finger on the pulse of their family, they realized it just wasn’t the right time for a trip to New York City.

I love what Michelle says:

“The truth is, a trip is just a trip. We didn’t get married to go sightseeing and out to dinner, but to create a family together.”

I think she captures some pretty fundamental Mormon beliefs in that statement.

Now, before someone comes back with the fact that it’s important to nurture a marriage, I think she gets that and so do I. But a key part of what nurtures their marriage relationship is working together to nurture their family. From what I can see, they live what I think equal partnership is all about — not focused on the individual well-being of the partners alone, but on the good of the family as a whole.

Michelle would be the first person to say that they are not perfect by any means. But it’s hard not to feel the love when I get peeks into their life, especially as I see the ways she and her husband use their time and talents to build God’s kingdom within the walls of their home.

I don’t think it’s any wonder that she starts her 20th anniversary post with the following declaration:

“I think it’s a good sign that I still feel a tug of sadness when he leaves for work in the morning.”

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The most important of the Lord’s work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.

President Harold B. Lee