Love With All Our Hearts

I wanted to share an article that I read while studying D&C 42 which I thought was really good and well put. (I am taking a D&C History class right now through BYU)

What does it mean to love someone with all our hearts? It means with all our emotional feelings and our devotion. Surely when you love your wife with all your heart, you cannot demean her, criticize her, find fault with her, nor abuse her by words, sullen behavior, or actions.

What does it mean to "cleave unto her"? It means to stay close to her, to be loyal to her, to strengthen her, to communicate with her, and to express your love for her. (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1983, p. 43; or Conference Report, Oct. 1983, pp. 63–64.)

In latter-day revelation the Lord speaks again of this obligation. He said, "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else" (D&C 42:22). To my knowledge there is only one other thing in all scripture that we are commanded to love with all our hearts, and that is God Himself. Think what that means!

This kind of love can be shown for your wives in so many ways. First and foremost, nothing except God Himself takes priority over your wife in your life--not work, not recreation, not hobbies. Your wife is your precious, eternal helpmate--your companion. (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1987, p. 50; or Conference Report, Oct. 1987, p. 61.)

Elder Delbert L. Stapley of the Council of the Twelve quoted D&C 42:20, 22, 24 and then gave this informative counsel:

These commandments also are very clear, forthright, and understandable. What applies to the man cleaving unto his wife and none else applies with equal force also to the wife for her husband. There is no double standard in the Church. Both man and woman are responsible for their personal acts.

I often wonder why a man or a woman will give up wife or husband and children for an adulterous relationship. When sin is the foundation of the marriage relationship, the chance of a secure and happy companionship is very remote. Surely the Spirit of the Lord, neither God's laws to man, sanction such behavior, nor can the blessings of the Lord be expected upon such a union.

It is difficult to understand how church members who know these commandments can cast aside such knowledge and yield to the lusts of the flesh. Small violations lead to more serious and devastating sins. Those who play with fire, ultimately, if they persist, will be burned. (Improvement Era, June 1963, p. 482; or Conference Report, Apr. 1963, p. 35.)

Other Brethren have given us this excellent counsel on these verses:

Marriage is a divine institution, ordained of God. Achieving success in the home is a supernal challenge--no other success can compensate for it. (L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 1995, p. 72.)

And, when the Lord says all thy heart, it allows for no sharing nor dividing nor depriving. And, to the woman it is paraphrased: "Thou shalt love thy husband with all thy heart and shall cleave unto him and none else." The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes preeminent in the life of the husband or wife, and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse. We sometimes find women who absorb and hover over the children at the expense of the husband, sometimes even estranging them from him. The Lord says to them: ". . . Thou shalt cleave unto him and none else." (Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, Dec. 1962, p. 928, or Conference Report, Oct. 1962, p. 57.)

Brethren, our home can never be any better than our selection and care of the one to be the queen in our castle. This sweet and hopefully eternal companion needs particular attention, for she is so tender and so special. "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto her and none else." (D&C 42:22.)

If you really love her, you are more concerned for her welfare than for that of yourself. Do you see that she has opportunity for her self-improvement? She has the same God-given desire for perfection as you do. A regular day of diversion whereby she may pursue this goal is so vital. But do you know what she wants most from you? Your companionship, your courtesies, and your communication. And least? Your selfishness and silence. Each couple must constantly cultivate the art of communication. (Russell M. Nelson, Improvement Era, Dec. 1968, p. 87; or Conference Report, Oct. 1968, pp. 89–90.)

-I know this article states loving and cleaving to your wife but I think that husband can be replaced just as easily-

Our New House!!!

Exciting times for our family:) We are building a home in Graham on 224th in a new development called Thrift Pond. We actually started this process back in March and finally-finally after weeks and weeks of waiting on permits, plans, etc. we are seeing progress. This week they started framing the bottom floor (it's a split level layout)and can't wait to see how much gets done next week.

Chicken Party

Yesterday we went out to Graham and worked on pressure canning chicken. It started out by cutting all the fat off of approx. 120 lbs of chicken and cutting them into about 1 inch chunks. After about 3 hours of cutting we had chicken going in the pressure cookers and had fun doing it! Now I'm excited that I have so many jars of canned chicken in my food storage.

And it continues...

I woke up to the sound of my poor husband throwing up this morning around 4:30 a.m. Mike got a flu shot a couple weeks ago so I don't know what is going on around here. I think it is just something going around. Dallas and I are the only one who haven't thrown up....hopefully we won't either.

What a Night-

I spent all night getting up about every 30 minutes tending to sick boys last night. Cody started throwing up around midnight last night (at first we thought it was because he had eaten to many donuts or something) but when Brandon started about an hour later we figured it must be some kind of weird bug. Sunday morning about 2 a.m. Elijah woke up feeling sick and threw up. Mike and I hadn't even gone to bed yet since we had only got back home around 1 a.m. from his Halloween gig. Then after throwing up one time he went to bed and was fine yesterday. Poor babies were puking around once an hour-thankfully they took turns though-I would help Cody, put him back to bed, lay down close my eyes and then I would hear Brandon starting to cough so I would jump out of bed, grab him and rush him to the toilet. Brandon was so sad while he would be standing in front of the toilet throwing up. He was crying saying he was tired:( Mike started feeling sick after Cody started so he took NyQuil and was pretty much out of it after that.
Cody is home today resting and Brandon and Mike are laying on the couch. Poor babies-to bad they don't have a superior immune system like their mom:) Eeee heeee! Now it's laundry duty to get rid of the smell and watching the office. Now that I took my midterm I can finish up the rest of my D&C History class.

On another note-we drove by our property yesterday and they dug the hole for our house and the forms are there so they can start cement work. We are soooo excited to see something happening on the lot now. We will keep you posted on the progress!

Halloween 2010

We had our ward trunk or treat last night and had a fun time. I made a pumpkin roll and the kids all had fun dancing to thriller, purple pumpkin eater and monster mash. The kids got just enough candy and had fun going around to the different cars.

In other news...Elijah got his stitches out after tearing his earlobe last week and we were also able to finally make a trip to the Northwest Animal Trek. It was AWESOME! and the tour guide said that the fall is really the best time to go since the weather is so good the animals are all out grazing and laying down. We even got to see some bull elk locking horns so it was pretty cool. Tonight Mike is playing his first gig with Idol Eyez ( a private party but spouses can come tonight) so I'm excited to go and be there with him. Fall is here and I can't believe that time is just flying by.

Such a slacker

Well obviously I have not been keeping my blog up like I should so tonight while my sweet husband is at band practice I thought I would try to catch up a little. Dallas and Cody started their Fall sports. Dallas is playing flag football and is loving it. The team even has a special play just for Dallas (bubble screen right/left)
Cody is taking indoor soccer at the rec center and plays with 2 of his best friends so is also enjoying it. We've had a lot of injuries this month-hopefully no more will come-1st Dallas split the top of his head open which thankfully didn't require any stitches. 2nd-I spliced my finger open on a tin can while taking the garbage out-very painful! and 3rd-Elijah fell off a toilet this morning (not exactly sure how)and definitely required stitches to attach his ear lobe back together. I was 1 of 3 people holding Elijah down on the table so I'm not sure how many stitches were put in but it was at least 3. Poor baby was so scared:( Our family also made a trip to Oregon to surprise my family and make it to my brother Derek's homecoming talk. We left at almost 6 in the morning and made it with about 20 min. to spare. They were all so surprised to see us so it was worth it and Derek gave a great talk. Busy month and it's not even over yet!