blended families

So its been a while since I have posted. I blame my new job. So last week we discussed blended families. Blended families normally consist of a step parent coming into the family. This new family system can be tough to adjust to with, or without step-children coming in as well. Our teachers wife came in to class and gave us a unique insight for she has had experience in the area. What was significant to me is that the new parent that is coming in should make the transition extremely slow. They should be careful not to be overbearing or too passive. What is really important to the couple during this time is that they respect one another and have mutual understandings without challenging disciplinary methods with the children. Another important thing is to act like one family system. Too often a family acts like separate subgroups and never blend. A system such as this will not be very successful. 

A family in Crisis

Last week we talked about crisis and how it effects the family. We learned about how the reaction of family members, especially the parents will effect the kind of experience that the family unit haves during that crisis. Crisis' include loss of life, loss of job, move of residency or any other event that presents a new situation to the family. We learned about how it is essential for a family to rely on each other and pull together to support one another in order to get through crisis. If they do not pull together, it can heavily impact the individual relationships within the family. Discussing these things made me think about my own family or origin and how we got through so many crisis'. It was clear to me that it is the blessings we were given by having the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our home. It allowed us as a unit to have an eternal perspective. That perspective being that families are eternal and are the most important things in this earthly life. I am so thankful for my family and the fact that I was able to learn from the trials and I am stronger because of it. I also have the ability to apply these things to my family now and benefit from my experiences. 

1st week of November

Last week, the focus of class was on intimacy. What I thought was interesting was how intimacy needs are different between men and women. This meaning that when it comes to a man, his sexual needs have to be fulfilled before he feels emotionally intimate. With a woman it is exact opposite. I also learned that there is a lot of conflict when it comes to marriage because of this fact. It was evident to me that this conflict comes from not understanding how their spouses work. We were asked the question, "Why would God ever make man and woman work this way?" The answer is simple, yet profound; because man and woman have to work together and rely on each other in order to fully have their emotional and physical needs fulfilled. I found importance in this because what majorly wedges couples together has divinely been designed to make them one and bring them together. It is only through understanding and faith that we can save marriages through working together to become one. 

Last week of October

So for what ever reason my blog didn't post for last week so I am now retyping it. peachy.

we learned about The family dynamics and how it is effected when a child is born into the family. I learned that there is several dangerous things that can effect the relationship of the spouses. They include not trusting the husband to take care of the child and not including the husband in bonding opportunities. Something as simple as including the other when the baby is kicking. These things held significance to me because they seem so simple yet have such a huge impact on the relationship. I also found it to be significant because in a marriage it is important to share experiences and build off of these things. 

Love

Class this week has been about love. I thought it was interesting to learn that English is one of the only languages that only has one word to describe "Love". In Greek there are 4 different words to describe 4 different types of love. Eros- Romantic, sexual. Agape- "Christian". Storge- parent-child. Philia- Brotherly, friendship. So which one is real love? All of them are. When I was just getting married, my wise aunt told me that true love isn't solely based upon the Eros type of love because the romance and sexual aspect of a relationship will eventually fade and be put on the back burner. It is so important for us to have a strong friendship with your spouse because that is where all of the four types of love originate. 

A touchy subject- homosexuality

I am late writing this. Life happens. Last week class was very enlightening. we discussed a topic that is often never discussed within the education system. We discussed homosexuality and the patters that have been observed to cause homosexuality. Contrary to what the media has presented, more scientific studies and observations are concluding that homosexuality is not an orientation you can be born into. Another pattern observed is that those who consider themselves to be gay have been sexually abused previously in their life. We continued to discuss what the leaders in our church have addressed homosexuality. They have acknowledged that homosexuality is a legitimate thing that individuals are faced with. They continue to plainly say that acting upon these feelings is wrong. Something significant that they addressed is how they have the same expectations for those who have homosexual feelings as those who are heterosexual. They expect that they will remain pure and not act upon immoral temptations. 

Holy Moly

So I know I am posting late, but I have a really really great excuse.... My excuse is that  I got married! yay! the Most important part is that I was blessed to be able to be married in the Denver Temple. Last week was literally a blur, especially classes. So I am going to write about my experience of the Temple. The first and greatest thing I noticed was the calming peace in the Temple. As soon as I entered, all the stresses of planning the later reception and sticking to a schedule faded away. It was so wonderful to be able to share this peace with my sweetheart. It was great to have both of our families inside with us. The spirit was so strong that I immediately started crying. It was comforting to see that my husband Jayce was crying also. I gained an appreciation of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without his sacrifice, it would not be possible to have eternal life and be able to be with my loved ones forever. There is so much more that I wish to share, but due to its personal nature, I won't. I recommend that everyone gets to the Temple, so that they will have the joy of experiencing the feelings that I have.