Opposing Fear

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's and President's Day weekend! Ours was full of adventure. It was a blast!! 

Today in class, we were discussing marriage. Of course, I love this topic :). We talked about why people just don't seem to be getting married anymore. We discussed that since the 1960s, the rate has gone from a whopping 59% to 20% of people ages 18-29 getting married. Wow.

Here are the top 10 reasons that statistics have show for why people don't get married (for LDS and non-LDS people-- in no particular order):

-Fear of making a mistake 

-Need more emotional maturity

-No opportunity to marry

-Desire to finish school

-Fear of responsibility

-Desire to establish a career

-Fear of responsibility of parenthood

-Pressure from family not to marry

-Pressure from friends not to marry

-Unworthy to get married

Now how many of you have heard or seen these take place? 

I know in my own life, it was even a problem.

I was just recently married at the young age of 19, and I received every piece of advice you could imagine. Especially with a mission call, everyone gave me their two sense on how I should live my life. It used to confuse me, make me scared, feel like I was lacking, and question this choice.

Ultimately I realized that this decision was up to me, the Lord, and Daniel. I felt so at peace with it and that it was right and the timing was right. So what else matters? At the end of the day, I am answering to God and to no one else. At the end of the day, I am doing what He would have me do. At the end of the day, I chose my love and loved my choice. And I am soooo, so happy. Nothing is better than kneeling across the altar with the one you love and committing yourself to them, knowing in that moment that the decision you are making is right. Not just for today, or for a few months, but for eternity. To have a best friend, confidant, and lover. Daniel is truly helping me become the person I want and need to be. We have been blessed with true happiness since making this decision and trying to live true to our covenants.

In the reasons above, I found it interesting that 3 of them were the result of fear. We know that fear is the opposite of faith. I saw this video of Elder Russell M. Nelson of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and it touched me deeply. It reminded me of the experience I just recently went through, feeling peace when people around me may have not.

Russell M. Nelson knows who he is and does not live in fear. Russell was married in 1945, at the age of 20. He graduated medical school at the age of 22, gained many awards and achievements from being a heart surgeon, and performed the first successful heart surgery. He saved the life of a beloved man, who would later become a prophet, President Kimball. Elder Nelson is doing what the Lord created him to do.

May we live a life of love and faith, not listening to what the world has to say about us. Live so that the Lord will be on our side, remembering our divine identity and purpose here, and have an eternal perspective, so we can conquer all.