Only then would they discover whether their marriage was based on a contract or a covenant . When troubles come, the parties to a contractual marriage seek happiness by walking away. They marry to obtain benefits and will stay only as long an they're receiving what they bargained for. But when troubles come to a covenant marriage, the husband and wife work them though. They marry to give and to grow, bound by the covenants to each other, to the community, and to God.
Many people today marry as hirelings.
And when the wolf comes, they flee. This idea is wrong. It curses the earth, turning parents' hearts away from their children and from each other. Before their marriage, Tom and Tracy received an eternal perspective on covenants and wolves. They learned through the story of Adam and Eve about life's purpose and how to return to god's presence through obedience and the atonement.