Reconciled through the Atonement

I was thinking about this concept regarding eternal marriage, and comparing it to marriage not sealed by the Priesthood for eternity. In normal marriage, it's not a triangle with binding promises and covenants between each member, it's just a line between two people and they can move further or closer to each other. Unfortunately those promises made between just the two people are sometimes taken lightly and broken, and the whole marriage is thrown away without much thought or effort. So often we see marriages falling apart, and I've noticed it a lot in celebrity news. A common reason given for divorce is "Irreconcilable differences", which always kinda confused me. What was it that they couldn't reconcile? Why couldn't they reconcile? If only there was a way to become reconciled, right?

Reconcile means to bring into agreement or harmony, make compatible or consistent, to re-consecrate, to restore, to make good again, to repair.
The way I usually think of the word "reconcile" is being reconciled to God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When you consider those definitions with the Atonement in mind, it makes so much sense!

Our purpose in coming to earth is to learn and progress. We all wanted that opportunity, but coming here came with a price. We would be separated from God, our Father in Heaven. We're separated not only by distance, but by death and sin. These are obstacles that we couldn't overcome. Basically, death and sin are our "irreconcilable differences" between us and God. We needed a way to be reconciled to Him, to repair the breach between us. It's a gap we couldn't fix ourselves, we needed someone to do it for us- to be a mediator.
Thus, the only way for us to be reconciled to our Father in Heaven was through the help of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. He could be the mediator for us because death and sin had no hold on Him. He came to earth just like us, but unlike us He lived a sinless life, giving Him the power to overcome the obstacle of sin and pay the price for us. Jesus Christ is the line that connects us to Heavenly Father, that repaired the gap between us. We are reconciled to God through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for this!
It takes effort on our part too, just as any other relationship works. But we don't have to let the irreconcilable differences of mortal life keep us away from our heavenly home and our heavenly parents forever.
I'm also grateful for the gift of eternal marriage and eternal families! It's comforting to know that the things that matter the most will last forever.

Sharing my Insights

As I've been studying and listening to General Conference talks recently, I've been feeling impressed to write down my impressions and to share them. Some of my most prized possessions are my spiritual study journals. I started seriously documenting my spiritual insights when I first left on my mission over 3 years ago to Upstate New York, and continued throughout my time home and my mission in Missouri, up until now. These journals house some of the most important things I've learned, as it has been given to me by a loving Father in Heaven who wants more than anything for me to progress, and the best way I can do that is by learning of Him and His gospel. He teaches me these things through the Holy Ghost, His special witness and messenger. The thoughts and feelings that come from the Holy Ghost are pure revelation, personally fitted to us and our needs. It's amazing to go back through my journals and see all of the things that I've learned.
Since coming home from my mission, I've felt a bit of a spiritual dry spell, and I've missed the level of spirituality I enjoyed as a missionary. I feel a yearning to be that way again, especially as the world is trying harder than ever to distract me from the things that are most important. Thus my desire to start a blog about my spiritual thoughts. I figure I could just keep my studies to myself where they only help me, or I could write about my studies in the hope that someone might find answers and insights themselves through these posts.  I love hearing what others have to say about the gospel and what they've learned, because I now know you can learn something from everyone and Heavenly Father often uses us to teach each other.
That said, I'm not doing this to cause any offense to anyone or to start any fights. I know clearly that everyone has different opinions and beliefs, and today it is really hard to share those opinions and beliefs without being attacked and being told you're wrong. I have no interest in that battle of words. I had enough of that on my mission, with people telling me I was wrong and trying to goad me into bashing. I would get riled up, but I quickly learned that learning does not come through anger. The Holy Ghost cannot dwell where there is contention, so if either party has the intention of arguing and trying to prove the other wrong, the Spirit will not be able to testify of truth. In those situations, I would just testify of Jesus Christ and move along, because those types of arguments don't help anyone.
My hopes for this blog is that anyone who wants to read some gospel insights and think about the gospel with an open mind will be able to do so.  I'm a 22 year old woman with human weaknesses and a lifetime of learning ahead of me, so I'm obviously not right about everything. However, in my 22 years I have felt very blessed to have had experiences and lessons that have taught more about my Father in Heaven and His gospel, and I want to share those.
I feel so passionately about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing gets me more excited than learning and talking about it! I'm excited to have an outlet to do so, because it helps me feel closer to the Spirit and be able to remember the things I've learned
Simply put, I just want to share the things that have blessed my life, in the hope that they might bless you too.