Does Gender Really Matter?

Heavenly father has stated in the family proclamation that we are all created in the image of him and that we are sons and daughters of heavenly parents. With this he also states that gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. Therefore I believe that we are each created for a certain purpose and for our purposes our gender plays a large role. But with being born for our certain purposes we should be treated equal to one another. We are all sons and daughters to our Heavenly Father.

Being sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father we should treat each other as our brothers and sisters and help each other to grow. We need to build each other up and teach each other all principles and characteristic. Children should learn the same things and grow up to participate in whatever activities they would like and not have gender role to where they aren’t able to play that because that’s a boy’s toy or a girls. But with being our own person and being able to participate in whatever activities we should also teach specific qualities that they need to have per gender. In The Family, A Proclamation to the World it states:

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. (https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation)

Therefore we need to teach our sons how to be a good fathers and hard workers so they can be the support of the family and we need to teach a daughter how to be a nurturing mothers. With these characteristic both men and women, boys and girls should all learn them but some of these characteristics are more prevalent in one gender or another.

Circumstances can change these responsibilities though. My mother, before she had my oldest brother, had gotten in a three wheeler accident and became a paraplegic. She broke her back and has no movement in her legs. She has been in a wheelchair ever sense. Along with this my parents got divorced when I was little. So at my house we grew up knowing that we all had to pitch in. There were things that my mother couldn't do or things that were harder for her to do because of her disability. Therefore for me, I have learned to be a hard worker and to help out all those around me as well as I have learned by helping her cook how to cook myself. My mother is a great example to me and with everything that she has been through she is almost never negative. She takes life as it comes and teaches us to do the same. I admire her and love her so much.

 

Family Structures DO Matter!

This week we talked about how being in different classes and cultures affects the family. I really liked one of the statements that Brother Williams said. It follows as is: “do no underestimate that some family structures are better than others.”  This is a very controversial statement but, I agree with it. A family structure is whether the parents are married and living together, living together and not married, separated, single moms or dads, divorced, gays or lesbians.

                From this week I have learned that the family structure really does matter. It is proven in studies that children with parents that are intact are better off in society than any other children. Parents in other circumstances can be really good parents and role models but having two parents in the home are usually better able to provide for the family, create a good home environment and have good role models to become good mothers and fathers in the future.

I have learned this concept in my own life. My parents got divorced when I was really young and I had a harder time understanding what each parent’s roles were. When I was young, because I didn’t remember them ever living together, I didn’t understand that moms and dads were supposed to live together and one day after being at a friend’s house I asked my mom about this. Because of everything my mom went through and because a lot of the times we don’t realize that our children might not understand she had no idea that I didn’t know this concept in life. And she helped explain this to me. But other than this I am able to look at my life and see how different it would have been if my parents hadn’t have gotten divorced. But we all learn to deal with the trials that we have been dealt with. I have been able to learn a lot and am now able to understand that in some circumstances you have to do what you have to do to get by. I love both of my parents very much and I know they want what’s best for me. I hope that with this we will all be able to really take into consideration how our family structures really do affect our lives as well as our children’s lives and that we need to do what is best for them.

The Four Theories of Marriage and Dating

This week in class we talked about four different theories that go along with dating and marriage. These four theories start with the family system which shows how each part in a family is necessary. Exchange theory which is weighing the pros and the cons. Symbolic interaction theory which is when we are more affected by our own thoughts then what the person that stated it really meant. And the last theory is the conflict theory which in any relationship there will be some conflict.

            I have come to understand these four theories extremely better then what I thought of them before. These four theories all play a huge role in our lives. In our family right now as well as our future family we need to be able to include everyone. This will help us out extremely. We need to be able to weigh out the pros and cons to each relationship that is in our lives and determine for ourselves if it is worth it or not. If it’s not worth it get out! It will most likely be destructive. We also need to be able to understand what others mean by what they say. Not just our own interpretation of what we think they mean. This can be crucial because we all have our own way of interpreting others because we have all grown up in different circumstances. Last of all is the conflict theory. I think the biggest thing for conflict is being able to compromise. Compromising is a great skill that we need to continue to build and grow. I think a lot of the marriages that tend to have issues is because neither side wants to compromise. Compromising is the key to relationships and will reduce the conflict within it.

            I believe these are all extremely important concepts in dating and marriage. And I hope by writing this is will help any of those who read this.

"It's not just about the here and now, it's about eternity"

Most of the general public would rather work and go on great adventures in life then having to settle down and have children. And when they think about children they think that how many children they have depends just on how many the family wants.

I believe that in the pre-mortal life we all accepted his plan to come down to earth to be able to obtain a physical body and gain earthly experiences and progress toward perfection. In accepting his plan we all have specific roles we are supposed to achieve here on earth. One of those roles, which is for everyone to multiply and replenish the earth. President Brigham Young stated “if not my family, whose family would these innocent spirits go to”.  This doesn’t mean that we should go out of wedlock and conceive children but that when we get married we should consult with Our Heavenly Father to see if the right time is now. We can also consult him with how many children we should have. President Kimball said “it will be tough financially but those of us who are able to and do, we will be able to make it work”.  I agree with him. We postpone having children because we think we can’t afford them or that we won’t be able to give them the life they should have. If we don’t have Heavenly Fathers spirit children then they may go to a home that is less caring. He also states “children that are grown up to where they have to work through hardships and some struggles are more likely to grow up and carry the lord’s work”. Therefore if we are doing our part in his plan then he will help us through the struggles and hardships we have or that we may have. Life won’t be perfect because trials help us to learn and grow but we will receive the help that he sees necessary.

Families are ordained of God and I have certain spirit children waiting for me to bring them into the world and I need to be prepared to do so.

My Journey

I am from a little town called Mud Lake Idaho.My passions are sports and being outside. I can be really shy when I first meet people or start new classes but once I get conformable I can be really loud and fun. I never thought I would make a blog but i'm attending BYU-I and for one of my classes we are suppose to write insights that we get from this class. This class is about families and having a successful marriage. So throughout this semester I hope I will be able to give you insights that I have had to be able to help any of you in your lives.