Priesthood and Marriage

Priesthood

I struggled with what I wanted to write about the priesthood.  Although I grew up in the church, my father was not a member, and I did not have the opportunity to have all the blessings that come with having the priesthood in your home.  All those stories that people share of the father's blessings or the blessings for the sick that their father gave them, I cannot fully relate to.  It was a different situation for me.

The priesthood was and is important to me.  I listened to the talks and the lessons about the priesthood with great interest as a child and young woman. I loved the scriptures that discussed what a righteous priesthood holder would be like.  My favorite scriptures on the priesthood are in Doctrine and Covenants 121:39-44:

"We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.  Hence many are called, but few are chosen.  No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;  By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—  Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death."

Eventhough I did not have the priesthood in my home growing up I knew that it was something that I wanted to have in my own home someday. Who wouldn't want a man who would show unfeigned love, kindness, pure knowledge, gentleness and meekness?

This is the part where I introduce my husband, Jim.  He is a convert to the church and his path to the priesthood has not always been easy, but I shared an experience with him this weekend that showed me that he truly is a righteous priesthood holder and is there when I need him most.

I will not look too good in this story. I am not proud of my behavior and I don't think my first reaction to being reproved was what it should have been.  However, I feel like I should share the experience because my husbands reaction to the situation truly increased the strength of my marriage.  We both came away understanding each other a little better and on my part, I loved my husband more than ever.  (Well after I got over myself.)

Saturday was my niece's dance recital at the Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin.  The recital started at 1pm and we left the house around 12:15pm. Forty-five minutes seemed like plenty of time to get there. I started out feeling like this would be a nice drive and a chance to visit with my husband.

Well, my lovely vision would quickly change as we ran into traffic.  Out of nowhere I became frustrated with the situation. I am usually pretty mellow about stuff like that, but this time I could not control my emotions.  I started to get angry with Jim because he remained so calm through it all.  Couldn't he see that this was important to me? Didn't he know that I hated to be late?  Why was he so dang calm?  I couldn't stand it!  He is usually the one that has no patience for traffic, yet he would not feed my little tirade.  Was he mocking me? What was his problem! 

Through all my snippyness he remained calm and in a mellow voice would tell me that it would be alright and I shouldn't worry.  I of course was not appeased and so gave him the silent treatment. Who was he to tell me to calm down? It was usually me who had to tell him to calm down.  I didn't like this scenario at all.  I sighed and groaned just to let him know I wasn't happy with the situation.  He just kept driving. 

The worse part is that even when we got there, with time to spare, I was having a hard time letting go of my feelings.  As we sat through the recital and I started to calm down, I started to think about how I had behaved and the contention that I was causing.  I even said to myself, "You are driving the Spirit away! Get a grip woman!"

We had a good time at the recital and then we had the trip home.  Secretly I was hoping that he would not say anything about the drive there, but I also knew that I owed him an apology.  He was the perfect man I needed him to be on the way home.  He simply said, "You were a little snippy on the way there, it was wierd because it's so unlike you, usually it's me. Are you okay?" 

What a sweet man he is.  His gentle reproof gave me the opening to share what I had been experiencing and the opportunity to apologize.  Had he become angry or belittled me I would have shut down and the situation would have gotten even worse.  Instead he showed me unfeigned love, gentleness, meekness, kindness and the wisdom that comes with pure knowledge.  He invited the Spirit to be with us and guided me through the situation.  My admiration and respect for him grew a ton that day. I was once again reminded of the importance of a righteous priesthood holder in my life.

 His faithfulness inspired me and gave me the opportunity to bask in the awesomeness of the man I love.  How blessed I am to have a man in my life that loves the Lord and is willing to take the time to teach me and correct me when I need it, and to do it in such a loving way.  He suffered through my temper tantrum and through persuasion led me back to where I needed to be. His words and actions were a reflection of Christ that day.  He built me up instead of tearing me down. I will be forever grateful to him and to God for showing me the power that the priesthood can bring to a marriage. I am truly blessed.