We MUST be able to give love and service with charity.

We also MUST be able to receive love and service in charity.

First Part: Common Sense. Pretty easy. Straightforward. I can do that... right? Well in most situations anyways...

Second Part: Not so much.

An observation I have had in this department it that it is kind of easy to serve others, mostly because it makes you feel good and those around you feel good. But what about when others serve and love you. Is it just as easy?

Classic example.

Ashley and I go out to lunch. Ash grabs the bill this time. Thanks.

Ashley and I go to Chilis to watch the Utah TCU game at her inconvenience. I try to take it this time. Say its okay I've got it. Give her back the money she shoved in my wallet. Give her back the money she left on my bed. Give up.

Maybe this is just a mallory ashley experience.

But the point is, let others serve you. Let others love you. It makes them feel good. So allow it to happen.

Love Who You Love!

LOVE WHO YOU LOVE

WITH ALL THAT YOU HAVE

AND DON'T WASTE THE TIME THAT FLIES SO FAST!

LOVE WHO YOU LOVE

AND SAY THAT YOU DO

HOLD ON AS TIGHT AS THEY'LL LET YOU!

P.S. I love you.

SAY YOU LOVE ME...

SAY YOU LOVE ME...

THEN WRITE IT IN A NICE NOTE!

WRITE IT IN A NICE NOTE!

Verbally communicating the little phrase "I Love You" can have a wonderfully positive impact on any relationship. Sure you can rationalize that if you say it on occasion than the person shouldn't forget, but I guess don't take any chances on that one. Maybe the person doesn't forget, but loves to be reminded that they are loved.

So say "I love you" to someone you love today!

Or write it in a nice note :)

I Am Not The Only One.

In an effort to view the family through the eyes of others I sent out an email to a couple of friends and family that said,

"I just would love it if you could tell me one reason you are thankful that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have the knowledge that families can be together forever?"

I was humbled as people shared with me their deep love for their own families. I am surely not the only one who wants to be with my family forever. I guess no matter how much family members, especially siblings, can drive you crazy, or how difficult it may be to watch family members make decisions that cause you pain, we all feel a deep sense of love because of the bond that is created in the family unit.

I have been reassured that even through the difficulties of family life, because it is not going to be an easy road, the truth remains; family will bring the most joy.

When we truly understand the concept that families can be together forever, we will do everything we can to be worthy to meet them again. We will do everything we can to keep the eternal perspective and not let the unimportant issues get in the way of building familial relationships.

The most prevalent answer sent to me by way of email is this: everyone finds comfort in the fact that families can be together forever. Because death is inevitable, it is nice to know that it is not the end. The family relationships will continue in the life to come. I know that is true. And I am not the only one.

Welcome to Our Family Time

Last week was a grand Thanksgiving Holiday. This thanksgiving was dedicated to a Hart Family Reunion celebrating the 50th anniversary of my Grandma and Grandpa Hart.

Can you believe it?

50 years!

50 years later they have 5 kids. 5 sons/daughters in law. 16 grandchildren. And more love than they could have imagined the day of their marriage.

Our family time included

-A Thanksgiving Feast

-A Post Thanksgiving Feast Football Game.

-Family Bingo

-Sharing Stories

-A Toast

-Presents for All

-Pedicures, Golf, and Scavenger Hunts

-Family Pictures Galore

-Good times around the good family table

It was all a lot of fun. And we created a lot of good memories. I love my family. I can't imagine not being with them to celebrate this Holiday season. I can't imagine not knowing that we can be together forever. And I believe that is truly what we should remember during the times we are together. Sure pictures and games and wonderful things but let us not get caught up in these activities, for they would not mean much if we did not have an amazing family to share it with. I know the events may bring back great moments of reminiscing, but some of my most quality family times have been spent in quiet hours where there is no pressure of activities. In these moments I have shared dreams and goals with those I hold closest to me. In these moments I have learned about others as they too have dreams and goals. In these moments I have built a deep trust and connection with my family members.

I believe that is what family time is all about.

Families Can Be Together Forever

I believe this is my last week of posting for school related purposes. I have not even had the chance to cover many of the joys that pertain to marriage. I haven't even started in on the family unit. Luckily this blog does not have to end when I turn in my final report.

I hope yesterdays blog was a good introduction into the idea of the family unit.

In primary we use to sing a song that is called families can be together forever. This is a solid and beautiful doctrine we believe as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When parents are sealed in the holy temples children are born in a unit that overcomes death and can be eternal. There is pain and sorrow in death, but when we understand this truth there is also a sweet surety that death is not the end. We also have a sense of added desire to live worthy so that we might reunite with family members that have left this mortal state.

I have never had children, but I have been a child. I have felt success in my life. As I have pondered my success I believe that much of it came because I was blessed with a good family life. My mother and father were married in the Idaho Falls Temple, sealed for eternity. They were actively involved in our lives as children. They built traditions which strengthened our family unit. They spent time being good parents. They helped my brothers and I to become good and dear friends. I look to them as a great example of marriage as well as a great example of parenthood. They sacrificed for us. I am so thankful that we can be together forever.

I was reading in a book about this. I quote "Nothing brings more light to a child's face than the sacred assurance that he can be together, forever, with his family. Conversely, nothing tears at his heart more than sensing that the much-promised family belonging may be slipping from his grasp. We do not marry for ourselves alone. Our children are entitled to expect that we live not only for our future but for theirs."

I just know that marriage between a man and a woman that will righteously rear their children is most important, especially in our society today. I know that family units can bring the most happiness in this life. We can be very successful in other areas of this life, but the sweetest joy comes in success in family life.

Thanks Again!

Thanksgiving week has come and gone. To start the week off right I asked one thing of you. Be thankful for your significant other. In the rush of this thing called life I forgot something else to be thankful for. You see most of my posts have been about a partnership that we find in marriage. The whole one man one woman union that is quite beautiful. But what would that union be without a family to back it up? What would it be without crazy kids?

This last week I was reminded how thankful I am for my family. Not only my immediate family, but also my extended family.

Sometimes when I am here all by myself at college I have moments of forgetfulness because what I am doing here kind of revolves around me. I don't want to be prideful or selfish. But if I were to tell the truth what I do is a lot for me. I go to my classes. I grocery shop for me. I study for my tests. Not that I didn't do that before either. What I am really trying to say is that the distance that separates my family and I contributes to my forgetting. But this forgetting has to be momentary because I am so thankful for my family. They do so much for me. They are the reason I am able to be attending BYU and taking my classes, and doing my grocery shopping. I can't imagine accomplishing anything without them.

As we gathered together for Thanksgiving I was reminded just how much they do for me. I was reminded just how much I love them. I was reminded just how much I am thankful for them. I sure do love my crazy family.