LOVE is Families

I believe there is a Plan. A Plan of Salvation. A Plan of Happiness. My religion has taught me so since I was a little girl and I truly have a testimony of it. The Lord directs our paths and has laid before us the way to find true happiness. It is not by chance that we are placed in families. No mistake that we are given mothers and fathers to watch over and care for us. To have brothers and sisters who grow and learn with us. To have grandparents who spoil us and smother us in kisses. To have aunts who pinch our cheeks and uncles to wrestle with us. To have cousins who can be more than just friends because of the blood bond shared. It's a blessing beyond anything.

Falling in love is a gorgeous thing. Staying in love is even better. I love the romance and all the sweet things that happen because of it. I'm just glad there's more to it than that. I'm thankful that I fell in love with my husband and that we together were blessed by the Lord with a family. Loving my children makes me love my husband even more. It's a challenge to be on the same page sometimes as we parent, but working through it as a team strengthens our relationship and in turn, strengthens our family.

I heard a quote once that said something like "The best thing a father can do for his children is love their mother." It goes the other way as well. I'm still uplifted to see my parents in love 40 plus years later and my in-laws in love 50 plus years later. I want to pass that legacy on to my children as well.

My mood tonight with this post is not quite as giddy and silly as it has been because of an e-mail I got from my sweet, sweet sister-in-law Celeste. She sent it to the other women on my Lay side asking that we please pray for her friend Sara whose little toddler is in the PICU at Primary Children's Medical Center. He had an accident in the bathtub and somehow miraculously survived. Sara is chronicling their experience on their family blog so they have a record of it and to keep friends and family updated. I read about their experiences over the last week and of her account of the tragedy. I am floored at the miracles they've already experienced, at the hundreds of comments pouring our faith and prayers and love from friends, family, and many strangers, of the rock she says her husband has been for her, and for her decision to replace fear with faith.
I want to pass on her words, as so many others have been, to you. Their blog address is http://stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/
or just click here.

If we follow the Lord's will for us, according to His Plan, we will find someone to fall in love with, to marry and start a family with, and to go through the eternities with. That is probably the most romantic thing of all. So tonight, I am in love with this: