As we officially move into autumn, the world is changing. The kids have gone back to school. Summer vacations and adventures are over. The air is starting to cool. Halloween and Thanksgiving are around the corner. Autumn is a time of reflection. We think of the past with a certain amount of nostalgia. When Jeff […]

In our religion, we value marriage highly—more than anything except the atonement of Jesus Christ. We believe marriage is central to God’s plan of happiness. Accordingly, when a marriage fails, we often think we have failed at life. If we are divorced, we may think something has gone horribly wrong, that God’s plan for us […]

A wise marriage counselor once said to compare the seed of faith in Alma 32 to the seed of love. When we’ve been hurt by a past relationship, it may be difficult to try again. This illustrates how love can grow: “. . . exercise a particle of [love], yea, even if ye can no […]

Many times have we heard divorced mid-singles express deep disappointment over the loss of a marriage saying, "I did everything I was supposed to. I went on a mission. I married a returned missionary in the temple. I kept the law of chastity before I was married and after. I paid my tithing and accepted […]

I very much relate to the idea expressed in this meme, which is that many of us have trauma from former relationships that makes us fearful of innocuous behaviors that we might see  moving forward. You may find yourself defensively telling a dating partner about something your former spouse used to do that hurt you, […]