The purpose of this blog is to share with the world everything that I have been learning about the family in my Family Relations class. Recently we've been going over the different things happening to the family.
Basically, here is what I have learned:

Family trends are looking bleak. I am fearful about the way the world is looking, I don't want to raise a child in a world that is digressing so rapidly. For the most part, the really good and extensive research that people come up with on how to create successful families corresponds quite nicely with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints and the council of the living prophets and apostles. I think that we, as church members, are a little ahead of the game.  Although, my point is that we are not only extremely lucky to be able to know so much about raising effective and healthy families but we are also responsible for actually doing our best to follow the council we are given and to share it with others. Thus, I am sharing it.

Some of the family trends that we are seeing are an increase in cohabitation, an increase of people being motivated by self-interest, an increase of premarital sexual relations, an increase of mothers working outside the home, an increase of the age at which people decide to marry, and a decrease of the number of children being born.
There are a few European countries that don't even have a replacement birthrate. What happens when everyone dies? I'm not only saying that we should all have more babies, I am saying that we need to combat these family trends and start encouraging people to marry younger so they will be able to have children, decide not to live together or have sex before marriage so that their marriages will have a better chance of succeeding, raise children the way that God has intended, and care deeply about the family, not only yours but every family around you.

I am calling for a family revolution! I want to see the world change, although I have little hope that it will.

When we are more focused on the things that really matter to us in our lives, we will be able to deal with the rest. Never forget that the family is the essential unit in society. Everything starts with family and everything will end there. Our lives are our families, so live them well.

What is the most important thing in your life? What is the one thing that you just can't live without? What makes you the happiest you've ever been and can cause the most sorrow?

My Family.

To me my family is everything. I can't live without my husband's love. My brothers and sisters bring joy to my life and I would never be more sad than at the loss of a beloved family member.

We are all born into families. Some families are better than others, but that shouldn't stop us. The best part is that we can creat families and create a new family life for ourselves. We don't have to be stuck in a rut if the family life odds didn't fall in our favor.  There is a chance for everyone to have a meaningful family, whether it's by blood or adoption or friends that are dear to you. Whether it is in this life or the next, we can all have a family.

That is the goal of our existance. That is my goal.
My husband and I were married on April 16, 2011. Together we have started to build a family that is based on the things that we think are important. Love, respect, God, and many other things have an important place in our family plans. As we bring children into our famly we want to be able to teach them what is right, how important family is, and how important God is.

This semester I will be learning more about the family in a university course that I will be taking for my major. I hope to share my insights with you here and maybe help you learn as well. I hope that everyone who reads this bolg will learn something new or think of something in a new way that they have never thought of before. Whatever the outcome of reading this, I hope it's possitive and adds some light to your life.