First of all, I realize that I may seem very hypocritical. Just a month ago I was condemning rushing into marriage, and here I am...although not necessarily rushing it...I already know (we already know) we will be married...I guess to the naked eye it looks like I could be making the same grave mistake many couples do, but let me bear my testimony on this fact lest anyone judge me.

I have known too many couples have their marriage end in divorce because they weren't adequately prepared for marriage. Perhaps they married for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they married for the right reasons, but didn't take time to get to know each other. Or maybe they prayed about it and asked God..but didn't really hear the answer. I don't know...I'm not to judge. I don't judge people's marriages...but I feel strongly about advising everyone (including myself!!!) against rushing anything. Heavenly Father has a timeline for us...and that is what is vital to understand. He knows where we are concerning our preparedness. Some of us are already 'ready'...but perhaps our future companion is not. Perhaps he or she made an incorrect choice...and we are left having to pick up the pieces and continue on in life on a different road map than previously. But the Lord will not withold blessings! He is omnipotent and omnipresent..and he must take into consideration the free agency of others! I know this, because he promised me something that had to do with another's free agency..and it didn't not happen. But the Lord is wise and just...and even before that promise...he was preparing another (or others) as well. I truly believe this. And I know I'm with the man that I am supposed to be with. This is perfectly clear to me. Heavenly Father, knowing my heart, knowing how hard I have been working on accepting my life as it were...to truly submitting my will to His own (and trust me...it has been a long and ardous road - I was and still am constantly trying to convince Him that I know what's best for me. Thank goodness the Spirit directs me otherwise!) has blessed me with the greatest desire of my heart. I would ungrateful if I did not recognize His hand...and recognize the responsibilities that this brings upon my shoulders.

My point? Rushing into marriage to alleviate loneliness...to satisfy sexual desire...to avoid culture stigmas...to just have children...whatever reasons that may come up...is wrong. It is a painful decision and the consequences of such can be disasterous. Yet I also believe in divine inspiration and revelation...and when the Lord tells me to do something, or tells me it is right...I act on it.

I do not know why the Lord felt it important that I meet my eternal companion in the manner I have. I do not know why he inspired both of us, after prayerful consideration and fasting..that we were to be married...and why he did it so quickly. For some it takes dating for awhile...or maybe a long courtship. To others perhaps the things they learned in previous experiences already taught them what they needed and therefore they were inspired early in the relationship. I do not know the mysteries of God, but I do know His voice and the power of the Holy Ghost, and I will not deny it. It is kind of ironic, actually...and I figured early on that Heavenly Father would introduce me to Jeremy in the manner in which he did. I have to chuckle at the irony and shake my head. I realize I need to be an example to others by not being a hypocrite. I still believe everything I have mentioned previous to knowing Jeremy. I truly do. Finding him does not change that.