Week Six

What I really liked this week was when we talked about the transition of having children and how it affects your marriage. I am pregnant with my first child right now, and I can say that it has been quite the challenge to adjust to as a married couple! We are so excited to have a baby, but it is so true that it changes your life. When the baby arrives I know we are going to go through many more changes, and we will have to work hard to stick together during that time.

I feel like the most important thing you can do to survive challenges in marriage is to pray together and stay together. Sometimes you just want to run away because the stress of life seems to be too much with another person there, but it really is important to stick together. When you are together, it allows you both to encourage each other and to work out the issues you face together. If I had to go through life alone, I wouldn't be able to make very good decisions without the advise and help of my husband or family.

Week Five

As a married woman, it was really interesting to hear everyone else's opinions on marriage. I really liked the reading "Hangout Out, Hooking Up and Celestial Marriage" because it shed some light on what the differences are between just hanging out, dating, and marriage. When we talked in class about expectations of a husband or wife, I thought it was interesting on what some people said. I liked how a lot of people focused on how we should be changing ourselves as opposed to trying to change the person we are dating. Also, how we marry who we date, and therefor we should be really careful about the people we select to date.

The application to married people this week in my opinion came when we talked about how you should treat people of the opposite sex in all situations, especially in dating. I think that as someone who is already married, it is important to remember to treat your spouse the same positive way you did when you were dating. When dating, it seems as thought you treat each other wonderfully because you are smitten with each other. Sometimes that fades a bit and when you're married you fall into the habit of trying to correct your spouse all the time. It think that its important for me to remember to love and treat my husband as if we were still dating.

Week Four

Growing up in Northern California, I have had my fair share of exposure to homosexuality and the implications it introduces to the family. I have known a lot of people, including extended family members, who's choice to act on homosexual feelings has caused a lot of turmoil in the family. Their choices have caused my family to change the way that we act around them, and have changed the family dynamics. I love my family so much and we really do accept everyone for who they are, but just like choices affect a family, lifestyle changes affect a family.

I was really impressed by the discussions that we had in class this week. In one particular discussion we talked briefly about educating our children about homosexuality and how schools are taking matters into their own hands and are starting to teach children about these adult issues in elementary school. I think that to teach children these things and not expect some backlash is a little naive. In my experience, with issues that are sensitive like these it is important to teach your children about them in the home, and not in school. Especially at such a young age! I just think that as we adults are forming our own opinions on homosexuality, we have decided as a nation that it is important to impart these views on our children. Children are innocent, and I just think that some matters like these can wait to be taught until a little later in life when it actually will be relevant to them.