Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can learn from our experience without being condemned by our experience.

The deep hurt is the mirror image of the deep joy that still awaits you.

Marriage is by nature a covenant, Not just a private contract one may cancel at will.

Equal partnerships are not made in heaven-they are made on earth, one choice at a time, one conversation at a time, one threshold crossing at a time.

We can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more.

This earth is not our home. We are away at school, trying to master the lessons of "the great plan of happiness" so we can return home and know what it means to be there. Over and over the Lord tells us why the plan is worth our sacrifice - and His. Eve called it "the joy of our redemption." Jacob called it "that happiness which is prepared for the saints." Of necessity, the plan is full of thorns and tears - His and ours. But because He and we are so totally in this together, our being "at one" with Him in overcoming all opposition will itself bring us "incomprehensible joy."

Joy is not an alternative to opposition; it is part of a compound that includes opposition.