9 Years Ago Today...

Jake and I were married 9 years ago on this 12th day of May. That beautiful building you see in the background is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) in Oakland, California. On the front of this building, carved into the stone it reads, "The House of the Lord. Holiness to the Lord." For those who may not be familiar with LDS temples (which are found all around the country and all over the world) I just wanted to briefly explain why those of our faith are married in there.

When Jake and I were married in the temple we made covenants, or promises, to our Heavenly Father and He in turn promised to give us blessings if we keep those covenants. We believe that because we were married in this holy place our marriage can continue throughout the eternities.

Pretty much everything we of the LDS faith do in our lives is based on the hope and belief that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ someday, if we keep Their commandments. We believe that being married in the temple is one of the things They have asked us to do and it will bring us closer to our goal of living with Them again.

So here we are 9 years later, crazy busy with raising our 3 wonderful children, with work and school (but at least now it's the kids that are in school and not us anymore :), church responsibilities (for those of you familiar with the jargon Jake is the ward financial clerk and on the scout committee; I'm in the primary presidency of a sizable primary), making friends, still trying to acclimate to Oregon...the list goes on and on it seems. But as crazy as it feels at times there is a peace that we feel deep inside because we know we are trying to live our lives the way our Heavenly Father has asked us to.

Happy Anniversary Jake! I'm really looking forward to the big 1-0 next year -- what do you think we should do? :)