September 1 - Our Family Visions and Our Eternal Destinies

We commenced our discussion of what we would like for our future families by discussing the ideas the students had come up with during the last week about the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, temporal, physical, and experiential aspects of life that would be in place in the students' ideal future family situation.

I then shared a couple of personal experiences. The first was to illustrate that sometimes we assume other people don't have a vision of their families or hopes or dreams for the future, because their visions are so different from ours. We need to take care to really hear those we care about, so that we can work toward a plan that can meet every family member's needs, wants, and dreams, as much as possible.

The other experience underscored the importance of honestly and openly discussing family priorities with future spouses and really striving to ensure that priorities are largely in synch with each other before getting married. If spouses don't have similar values and visions, or if they purposefully mislead each other, that can quickly lead to marital misery.

We then talked about how, even if we plan to the best of our ability, life doesn't always work out the way that we hoped or dreamed. We need to be willing to adapt to the Lord's vision for our lives and our families.

I played an audio clip from a commencement address that Elder Hugh B. Brown of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave at Brigham Young University in 1968. He was in his 80s talking to a group of young 20-somethings who were about to graduate, and he wanted them to know about God, their relationships with God, and His plan for their lives. In the context of this discourse, he shared what has since become known in some circles as "The Parable of the Currant Bush." I wanted the students to hear his testimony in his own voice. I remember that I first heard it when I was about their age, and it changed my life.

The full audio of his devotional address can be found here:

Hugh B. Brown, "God Is the Gardener"

Edited print versions of the currant bush story can be found here:

Hugh B. Brown, "The Currant Bush" (published in 1973)
Hugh B. Brown, "The Currant Bush" (republished in 2002)

I'll share a few words here: "There are many of you who are going to have some very difficult experiences: disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, defeat. You are going to be tested and tried to prove what you are made of. I just want you to know that if you don’t get what you think you ought to get, remember, 'God is the gardener here. He knows what he wants you to be.' Submit yourselves to his will. Be worthy of his blessings, and you will get his blessings."

References

Photo by Lori Allred

Hugh B. Brown (1973). "The Currant Bush." The New Era, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Downloaded from http://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush?lang=eng on 9/1/2013.