Worth the wait.

On Valentine's Day, I have so many people to be thankful for. There are many who are dear to my heart whom I love, and love me in return. This holiday is devoted to the act of love. So, throughout the day, I took time to reflect on that exact thing: LOVE. 

When I was a little girl, my dad would tuck me in every night. I would wait around before dinner, so excited for him to come home from work each evening. I was a daddy's girl and my daddy was my everything. (I have been blessed with an amazing mother as well.) Each night, without fail, my dad would have me make a promise that went something like this. "Daddy, I promise to go to college..serve a mission if I want to, and marry my husband in the Boise, Idaho temple. And never move away from you and mommy." My dad still reminds of the promise I made him years ago. 

When I think about those night when my father tucked me into bed..I also think about my Heavenly Father and the promises that I have made with Him. As a Daughter of God, I have made sacred covenants with my Father in Heaven to follow His commandments and follow Christ. Valentine's Day is devoted to love, and our Savior showed the greatest example of love through Charity. Charity is "everlasting love" (Moroni 7:47; 8:17). The Savior wants all of his brothers and sisters to not only receive HIS love but to also share it with others. He declared to his disciples, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." (John 13:34-35). Christ had unfailing compassion, so as he did, we too should exercise charity in our own lives.

"I promise to marry my husband in the temple."

Such a simple sentence that means so much. There is no other way for me. A temple marriage means eternal love, eternal life..and most importantly; an eternal family. I am so grateful for the example that my siblings and parents have set for me, I have always wanted to get married in the temple because I know that I want to be with my best friend forever and always. I think about the temple every day, and there is no way I would jeopardize the amazing gift Heavenly Father has given us to be with our families forever.

“Marriage is perhaps the most vital of all the decisions and has the most far-reaching effects, for it has to do not only with the immediate happiness, but eternal joys” 

"Youth should begin today to so order their lives that they will be found worthy at the proper time to go to the House of the Lord and be uplifted and sanctified by the temple ceremony”

I will prepare now because it is worth it.

I define myself and find my beauty in

the light he gives

i'm refined by his divine intentions every day i live

it doesn't matter what the world believes

or what they say that beauty means

it comes from within...

i wanna be beautiful to him.

He's given me his trust

so i'll be strong enough

to run from a dangerous touch

i don't need THAT kind of "love"

i don't need that crutch

He's given me his trust.

I am thankful for the promises that I have made with my Father in Heaven, and that I am a Daughter of God. I know that Christ is the greatest example of "true love", and that the Lord has given me many things to appreciate and love in my life. I know that if I continue to follow the commandments I will be forever blessed with the greatest kind of love--ETERNAL love. I am thankful for this wonderful holiday that has shown me all that I have to be grateful for. I have many things to look forward to....It is worth the wait.