Plan of Happiness

Sometimes when I look outside of my marriage and onto the covers of magazines that line the checkout lanes I wonder what it is exactly marriage is to others. Why are so many cheating? Why are so many dating the nanny? Why are they divorcing? Why is one vacationing on the shores of Costa Rica and the other sipping wine with their gal pals in Long Beach? Don’t get me wrong, I would like to go somewhere with my gal pals, and I would definitely like a nanny at times; I just don’t want it to be a sore spot in my marriage.  

Elder David A. Bednar asks, “Do we perhaps talk about marriage without adequately teaching the importance of marriage in the Father’s plan?”

First of all, I am ever so grateful that I understand how important marriage is and second; I know that I have a Heavenly Father, who has had a plan for all of us from the beginning. The Plan of Happiness!

Well, if everyone knew about a plan for marriages and families, and it was titled “The Plan of Happiness” I think we could get some people to hear us out. That’s where missionary work comes into play. However, this is not a post, nor a blog, about missionary work, it’s about marriages.

I started to think deeper about the Plan of Happiness when I further read Elder Bednar’s comments, “Emphasizing marriage without linking it to the simple and fundamental doctrine of the plan of happiness cannot provide sufficient direction, protection, or hope in a world that grows increasingly confused and wicked.”

The plan of happiness (also the plan of salvation) is a plan our Heavenly Father created to save us, redeem us, and exalt us. We read from The Family: A Proclamation to the World, “The family is central to the creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of his children.”  Families are the central part of happiness. Major doctrines are founded upon this plan, including the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. All of these things happened in order to save us, redeem us, and exalt us. 

·        God created the earth and man so we could have a place to be born into and experience life with our families. Learning to perfect ourselves along the way and become like Christ.

·     The Fall occurred and allowed Adam and Eve to start having their family.

·        The Savior completed the Atonement so we could be forgiven by God and we could forgive each other. Without the Atonement we could not live together as families.

As I look inside my marriage, I see how focusing on and understanding the importance of the Father’s plan can strengthen my marriage. When I recognize all that has been done for me so that I may live in exaltation with my husband and family, I want to honor my covenants. I want to honor my first parents, and I want to honor my Savior.