A Season of Joy

On my wedding day - pure joy.

I feel that God has given me this time in my life as a season of joy and rest. I still have challenges - including 10-page papers and trying keeping the dishes clean while working 4 nights a week - but I also have deeper joy and satisfaction than ever before.

Marriage is so wonderful. I love living with my best friend, sharing my meals and my messes and my laundry with him. I love reading the scriptures with him each night, praying with him multiple times each day, and seeing his sweet face when I wake up each morning. He makes me laugh, serves me, and tells me that he loves me every single day. He is so good at serving me and lifting me up when I fall. He allows me to be my best self. Marrying Brandon is the best decision I ever made.

Marriage has also helped me to refocus on what truly matters most. When you form an eternal family, you realize that so many things are temporary and worthless. We live a slower, simpler life these days, putting our efforts into strengthening our relationships with each other, our families, and our God. We have learned to value people over possessions, and have discovered that, as Ben Behunin put it, "Joy, in all its glory, can only be obtained through unselfishness."

by artist Ben Behunin

And while, of course, I have been abundantly blessed, I believe that this truth is the key to my happiness. I found that the more I serve my husband, the more I serve in the temple, and the more I forget myself in working to center my life on Christ, the more joy I have. And let me tell you, it has been glorious indeed.

I wish that everyone could find the happiness that I have - but that is not up to me. You each have to find it for yourselves. I would recommend that you start by reading some of the talks from this past weekend's General Conference, picking up a copy of Remembering Isaac (a book that changed my heart and my life), and then getting to work! There are so many in this world who need your goodness, your talents, and your love. You cannot imagine the blessings that God has waiting for you.