Trends

This week in class we discussed current family trends. Some were more surprising than others but the one that I found most interesting is about household composition. The numbers of families with married couples, or male or female households are declining while the numbers of non-family households with male or female householders are increasing. I found this a really interesting trend because it seems like everything is starting to turn backwards in the world. The world seems to be getting away from family values, and the importance of family is not emphasized or discussed as much. More people are also cohabiting with each other before or instead of getting married. These and other trends make me really sad and scared sometimes. I wonder what the world will be like in ten years. What will families be like. There is some comfort in knowing that we are commanded to have families and that families are forever. I hope that I will be able to make just a small difference in someone else's family or be able to convince someone about why families are so important and vital.

Who Do I Want to Become?

During class on Friday we discussed all of the topics that we would like to learn more about this semester. The board was full of topics, some seem simple and other are so complex I have no idea how we are going to be able to learn about but at the end of class we started talking about how what we learn will effect us. Brother Williams ultimately asked us who we want to become by the end of this course then gave us a few minutes to write about. I just thought I would share what I wrote. At the end of this course I want to be a better me, and be able to find what works best for my family. I want to be able to figure out the best ways to communicate with my husband and our families. I want to be better prepared to teach my future children about building their own families as well as the importance for them to have a family. I want to be a better wife, a better future mother, a better daughter and daughter-in-law, a better sister and sister-in-law, and a better aunt. I want to be able to defend families not just with doctrine from the church but from research too, I know families are important because I grew up hearing that all the time but how can I convince someone outside of the church why families are so important. I also want to learn how to balance all my roles in my family (wife, daughter, sister, aunt).