W12 Unity in Marriage

Fun side note- Richard Miller is my father-in-law! So this was fun reading this article by him. I really liked all the quotes he used in his article. I found it interesting that he talks about once children become adults the parent-child relationship changes. He says “In healthy families, the parents no longer exercise control or expect their adult children to obey them.” Families are always adapting and changing and this is one big change that happens. Richard Miller also quotes President Spencer W. Kimball (Marriage, p. 17) who said, “Well-meaning relatives have broken up many a home. Numerous divorces are attributable to the interference of parents who thought they were only protecting their loved children… Live your own life.”

Richard then goes on to talk about how husband and wives need to work together as equals and that is how healthy marriages work. A quote he had that really stood out to me was:

Sometimes a husband may believe that his role as head of the house gives him a right to be exacting and to arbitrarily prescribe what his wife should do.  But in a home established on a righteous foundation, the relationship of a man and a woman should be one of partnership. A husband should not make decrees.  Rather, he should work with his wife until a joint decision palatable to both is developed ( H. Burke Peterson, Ensign, July 1989, p. 9).  

In Elder Eyrings talk That We May Be One he talks about how through the church we are able to become one in our marriages. We do this by having the Spirit and utilizing the Atonement in our lives. He then talks about how remembering the Savior helps us to remember his patience and love and will then fill our hearts with love. This talk reminds me of a common drawing that is shown to newlyweds that is a triangle with God at the top and the husband and wife on the bottom and the closer you get to God the closer the couple grows together. That is the same idea of this talk, as you remember God, and draw closer to him, we will draw closer and become one with our spouse.