A Promise Kept, In The Lord's Time

In 1963 a young mother of 4 was given her Patriarchal Blessing. She was my mother and she had recently reactivated into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was also married to my father, a man who did not share in her beliefs. In her blessing she was promised "...if thou wilt be faithful to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you shall have the privilege of going with your husband and your children to the temple of the Lord, where you will be sealed together for time and for all eternity in order that you may fulfill the greatest ordinance that was ever given to mankind which will have to do with and will have a bearing upon your life eternal..."

I can't know the feelings of her heart when she heard these words nor can I know what she felt as she saw this promise slipping from her life in 1975 when her marriage ended in divorce. Dad never accepted the gospel and when his drinking habits became more than mom could bare she chose to walk away. I was 14.

As a young child you always hold out a glimmer of hope that divorce is just a glitch in your family and one day your parent's will come to their senses and get back together. That wasn't the case for me. My mother quickly remarried and my dad remarried a short time after that.

When I was 16 years old my father decided to get help for his alcoholism. He admitted himself into a treatment center and never touch alcohol again. I was so proud of him but regretted that he hadn't made that choice sooner in his life.

When I was 18 my father joined the church. Of course I was ecstatic but at the same time I was filled with a sorrow that even I could not understand. Why would the Lord allow our family to break up if my dad was going to some day stop drinking and join the church? Why couldn't he have done that while he was married to my mom. Why couldn't my mom be more patient with him and wait for these events to happen while they were still married? I was young, I didn't understand.

When I was 21 my father married his third wife Barb, but only after she agreed to learn about the church and become a member. Their church attendance was sporadic but my dad studied the gospel and continued to grow his testimony. He shared what he learned with his wife and with the help of ward friends and family that the Lord had put in their path, they started attending church regularly.

A few years later my mother and her second husband divorced. She found herself alone to raise the 13 year old child they had adopted together. She had all of us older kids and many friends to support her during this time. She also had the Lord.

My mother's testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ never faltered. The moment she returned to the church back in the early sixties she always attended her church meetings. She took her four children to church alone every week. She served in numerous church callings and raised her children in the Gospel. She did not let pride or sorrow or sometimes even embarrassment keep her away. She did, as her patriarchal blessing had told her..."be faithful to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

In 2002 my dad and his wife were sealed in the Seattle temple for time and all eternity. This was the most blessed days of our family's lives. My dad had come so far and made so many changes in his life and we were all so very proud of him. We were so grateful that he could have an eternal companion. We also knew some day, after our parent's passed away, that we would have them sealed to each other and then be sealed to them. It was a blessing we would wait for.

After 27 years of a wonderful marriage my dear step-mom passed away. I was now 48 years old with six children of my own. I had married in the temple and had my own eternal family but I still longed to be sealed to my own parents. My dad was now alone and feeling the sorrow one feels after losing a spouse. His testimony of eternal marriage kept him going. Knowing that he and his wife would be together again gave him reason to continue on.

Months past and once in a while my dad would visit mom. I think she was just someone that he felt comfortable with. Someone who had been alone for so long that she needed company as much as dad needed it. They became friends again and even hosted a lunch with old friends together at my house while I was out of town.

On News Years Eve, 2009 my mom and dad went on their first official date. They went out to lunch and pretty much were together every day after that. It wasn't too much longer before they knew they were in love again. My dad proposed and mom said yes. Oh my gosh I can't even begin to express the excitement that news brought to our family. Our parents were getting married! We plastered it all over Facebook and soon many friends who had known my parents years before when they were married, were contacting us wanting to know what was going on and how could this be?

Our biggest joy of course came from the knowledge that our parents were now going to be sealed in the temple and be and eternal couple and my siblings and I were going to be sealed to them. Something we all thought would not take place until my parents had died was happening now and we were all going to be there, in the temple together. The Lord had promised this to my mother so many years ago and now, through so many miracles in our lives, it was actually going to happen.

It did happen. The joyous day was Saturday, July 10th. My parents were sealed in the Seattle Temple and then my sister, two brothers and I were sealed to them. The joy I felt, kneeling at the temple alter with my family is overwhelming to me. I could literally feel heaven open up and the Lord pour his love out on us. As we all hugged around the alter I felt a love for my family and my Father in Heaven that I have never felt before.

I know my Father in Heaven loves us and he wants us to be happy. He promises us blessings and when we do our part he pours those blessings down upon us. Forty seven years my mother waited for a blessing promised to come to light. Forty seven years and I'm sure even she did not expect it would happen during her time here on earth but she stayed true to her faith in Jesus Christ and in his Gospel. She stayed true, and in the end, in the Lord's time, his promise to her was fulfilled.