Really?

I read a post this morning on Desnews website that made me groan and shake my head.  Now granted, I tend to read a lot of stuff online that makes me groan, and lots of it I'll shake my head at, but doing both at the same time?? lol

(sorry - found this photo a LONG time ago and don't know who to credit it to...)

Anyway - it was an article about soul mates.  Personally, I think her premise that there is no 'soul mate' for us is probably true.  The whole Saturdays Warrior thing is more romance I think, than reality.  I do think that there are those more likely to be right for us than wrong, and that we need to be selective.  But to say that Heavenly Father really doesn't have a say on who we marry, as far as encouragment, isn't quite there.

We know differently, I think.  I'm going to be a little personal here:
My patriarchal blessing told me that I needed to be careful in choosing my friends because I would choose my husband from my friends.
I tell you - that gave me BIG hope during my struggling college and post mission days.  Just because I wasn't dating didn't mean I wasn't going to get married.  My Heavenly Father knew I needed hope and He gave it to me in a way that I could always hang onto.

When I met my future husband, I was attracted to him, though I thought he was weird.  Apparently being weird is a qualification for being my friend.  Just so ya know...cause I guess I have several that are kind of weird...and my kids are weird, so we kind of passed it on... lol

Anyway - I met him for the first time when I was 18.  Didn't make much of an impression, and I didn't give him a second thought.  I met him again after my mission.  That's when I thought he was weird.  But, he was cute, and I could tell he was getting ready to go on a mission.  (a little late...some of us are slow in that department - he is 5 days older than I am)  We became great friends.  I could talk to this man about ANYTHING!

And that's something that I think is essential in a future mate.  He may not be your soul mate, but he is someone that you have much in common with, you can talk to him about anything, and you don't feel like you have to talk when you're with him.  It's comfortable just to be together.  Our Father in Heaven may not point a finger at a particular guy and say, "Hey!  Pay attention!  That's your man, now go get him!"
We do have freedom of choice, remember?  He also knows that there is the possibility of several men that we would find happiness with.  He will guides us in our lives to find those that we need.

I know there were several jokes going around when I was single about our husbands being killed in the war in heaven...or that our hubby was born in the dark ages and we missed out...  But each of us has a plan.  There are many variables in life, and there is a plan.

We learn and grow from everything we go through, and waiting to find the one that makes you happy might be your growing experience.  For those of us who never do find the man of their dreams, there could be all sorts of reasons.  Perhaps he never found you either and went through life alone.  Perhaps he was born on the other side of the globe and never did follow the guidance of Heavenly Father to find you.

I'm just glad I had that little sentence in my blessing so that I had hope.  Now 27 years, 7 children and 2 grandchildren later, there isn't much I would change about my life.  Definitely wouldn't change who I chose to marry.  ;)

And I know that Heavenly Father had everything to do with that.  Just saying.