Broken and Eternal Family Trees

The older I get, the more convinced I become that there are few, if any, coincidences in this life. There are so many experiences I have at particular times in my life that I couldn't have possibly planned better on my own. Today I'm so grateful that along with the trials I have received that the Lord has allowed to gain the perspective that I have concerning my more recent trials. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I've learned all I needed to from them, but definitely more than I thought I would this quickly.

I'm also grateful today that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our families have the ability to be together forever. I'm grateful for the knowledge that God knows each of us individually and that regardless of our individual and family situations, He will not deny us the blessings of exaltation if we do all we can to obtain them. There is an unnecessary and unrighteous stigma that surrounds divorced members of the church that I wish we could dispel. While we shouldn't condone it per se, I believe it is wrongful to look down upon individuals simply because they became involved in them. We all make mistakes and need the Atonement to heal us, regardless of the gravity of our individual sins.

This song has really taken on a new meaning for me the past couple days and has strengthened my testimony regarding families. I too have no idea how things are going to work out in the next life when it comes to creating and reuniting eternal families, but I take comfort in knowing that this is the first priority of our Father in Heaven, and that "bringing to pass [our] immortality and eternal life" is His greatest joy.