My Family Culture

This past week in class we discussed culture within our families.  I thought about the family that I grew up in and the words that I would use to describe it.  Here are a few of what I came up with:
-traditional
-stable
-religious
-work
-conservative
-education oriented

As I thought back on when my husband and I went on our first date, we both felt an instant connection.  It is interesting that I thought he was "normal" compared to other guys that I had dated.  As I have thought about family culture, I have realized that our families have similar cultures.  They value some of the same things in life.  Some things are different between our two families, but that keeps things fun, right?  It has been a matter of trial and error for my husband and I to establish our own family culture.  Our culture is different from either one of the families that we grew up in, but we are our own family unit now and it has been nice to establish our own culture for our own family.

Family Systems

This week in class we discussed family systems.  Each person in a family is vital to the family.  Each member influences the others.  This made me think of how when people are doing something that isn't in their best interest, they tend to say that it only affects them.  As I thought about how family systems relate to this, I realized that it influences others more than I had thought before.  None of us are islands and so our actions have an impact on others, both inside and outside the family.

This week we also discussed the different types of relationships in families as developed by Dr. Minuchin.  It helped me evaluate the family that I was raised in and the relationships we had amongst ourselves.  It also helped me evaluate my relationship with my husband and how I want it to be, even after we have children.  I know that how I act and behave will influence our relationship with each other as well as with our children.

The Family

As I go to school at BYU-Idaho, sometimes I feel that I am very similar to everyone else regarding the goals and aspirations that I have for my life.  Yet after reading about the trends that our current society is engaging in such as higher divorce, people putting off marriage, and a lower birth rate.  When I learned about the trends that our society is going towards, I realized that right now I am in a unique situation; I am surrounded by people who are different than the majority of society.  I also realized how prophetic and needed The Family:  A Proclamation to the World was.  There is more to it than just some old men reflecting on the traditional families that they were raised in.  Instead, this outline of a traditional family has been created by the Lord and it is where children can learn the most and thrive.  I am thankful to know this and I believe it helps me set more ideal and realistic goals based on what the Lord would have me do in my family.

Here is the link to the Proclamation:
http://lds.org/family/proclamation?lang=eng

"The Challenge to Become"

After our class discussion on "The Challenge to Become" by Elder Oaks, I felt that I have a lot of improvements to make in my own life.  That can be scary, but at the same time, it can be very challenging and rewarding as we become more like our Savior.  I know that I have a long way to go before I become like Heavenly Father, but I also know that my purpose in this life is to become more like Him and so I can only work towards being a little better each day.

In class we also discussed how our families are planned and we aren't randomly assigned to be in families.  As I thought about my own family that I grew up in, I would agree.  We all get along well together and we all have strengths that uplift and benefit each other.  Even the spouses that each one of us has chosen seem to fit in perfectly as well.  We all need each other and I couldn't imagine not having a member of my family part of my life.