Week 7: Staying Emotionally Connected

This week a quote from my reading really stood out to me:

“Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ requires that we trust that God is working to rescue our spouses even as He is working to rescue us.  When we have energizing faith in Christ, we trust His progress with our partner.  The more we trust God’s purposes in perfecting our partners (and don’t try to take over the job ourselves), the more we all progress”  (Goddard, 2009, ch. 3).

Here’s where I’m going to be completely honest.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve listened to General Conference and thought, “Wow!  Robert really needs to hear this part,” or I’ve read about a principle in one of my classes and just knew that the principle it was expounding on was just what my dear husband could do better to improve our relationship.  

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  (Matthew 7:3)

Fortunately, I’ve learned that subtly playing the General Conference talk when in earshot of my spouse isn’t nearly as effective as examining my own life and trying to correct my own flaws.  I dare say that when looking for flaws, we should all be a little more self-centered; it’s okay to “talk about me.”

The question really becomes, “If I trust God and what he has mapped out for my life (and I do), then shouldn’t I trust that he knows just what my companion needs and to deliver it at the proper time?”

“God has other designs.  He has hooked us up with partners and life experiences that are perfectly suited to grow us toward godhood” (Goddard, 2009, ch. 3).

Here’s a perfect example:  Quantity v. Quality

I’ve been needing my husband’s attention more.  Yes, we’ve been dating and giving our relationship its “due,” but I have felt like I’ve just needed more time (after all, President Uchtdorf even said “In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time.”).  I have felt like I have to compete against technology for his attention.  

Rather than “fix” my husband by “helping” him remove his mote, the spirit prompted me to evaluate and honestly see my own beam.  He needs me to put down technology too.  He needs me to put aside my schoolwork, or email, or facebook.  He needs to be higher on my priority list.  

I will trust Heavenly Father’s plan for my partner, but also for me.  

“To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it.”  (Scott, 1995)