Week 10 Blog

This weeks topic for the blog is Fathers and Finances, throughout this week I have learned a lot about the role of fatherhood and how that can play a huge role in life. I have been contemplating a lot of the role of being a father and eventually getting the chance to raise kids with my sweet wife. This department of children has been a really difficult part for my wife and I, we have been through many challenges and complications with children and pregnancies. There have been many tears shed about this particular topic, it has been a very difficult time with my wife getting and staying pregnant, she has had 3 or so miscarriages and it has been a really tough time with all of this going on in life among other things. We both want to have children and have the opportunity to be parents to those children, it has brought us a lot of heartache during these trying times. We have tried a few less expensive options to eventually conceive a child and become pregnant but it seems that neither of these options have worked and we have been really desperate and will continue to try other things to make it happen. There are a lot of inexpensive options for having a child but there are also a lot of the more expensive options too. It is a good thing that there are other ways of having children through modern medicine or adoption, so there are many ways for a couple to have the experience of raising a child together and going through all of these times together as a father and mother.

Another thing that a lot of families struggle with throughout their marriage and life, that thing is the concept of finances and having enough for your needs. Finances is a big part of a families priorities and can sometimes become a hard thing to go through or even sometimes it can be hard to talk about and discuss. It can be a very sensitive subject and there are those that cannot handle the stress and thoughts that even talking about it can bring. This topic can bring about much stress and heartache, finances is one of those things that no one likes or enjoys talking about, it can bring about a lot of hard or awkward conversations that no one wants to bring us or discuss. For my wife and I, finances has been one of those things that has brought us a lot of troubling discussions and has caused a lot of fights, it has brought to us a lot of thoughts and feelings that we do not like to talk about. We had the opportunity to be a part of the LDS church's self- reliance program and the class that we took part in was the Personal Finance Class. This class started out pretty rough for me because I didn't like to talk about finances and part of this class was reporting what we did throughout that week and how we did our commitments and the tings that we learned from them throughout this week. The whole talking about finances thing was really hard to me and I was very uncomfortable with this whole topic. During this class, I learned a lot of things about myself and others, hearing the successes about others gave me the opportunity to take my finances more seriously and put all of these things I learned to the test and find out these things with my wife. This class gave me the opportunity to develop a budget and learn how to budget my money, this was an essential pat of my life because I had a really hard time with the budgeting and it gave me the chance to learn how to budget and become better with finances.

While learning about Fatherhood and Finances this week, it has allowed me the opportunity to learn more about these topics and gave me the chance to further develop my knowledge of these topics and allowed me the opportunity to learn more about these topics and apply them to my life.

Week 9 Blog

This weeks topic for the blog is Communication and Mutual Problem Solving, throughout this week I have been contemplating and pondering how a marriage or rielationship can only last because of proper communication. For the first couple months of my marriage, we were very new to this whole thing and we weren't really the best at communication and talking things out with each other to come to a solution and work things out. My wife is a very quiet and reserved person and it is sometimes very hard for her to express herself and share her feelings. We had a lot of trouble with the communicating and sharing with each other to solve problems and work out our problems and issues. It was a particular hard time when we had no idea as to what to say to each other, in these instances, we turned to the Lord and asked him what we should do and the steps we should take to solve these particular issues together with the Lord's help. Communication and solving problems is a key part of relationships and marriages and without those things, it will become a very tough time and experience and it won't always work out the way that you want it. During our first year of marriage, we both had trouble expressing ourselves and sharing our feelings, it was a very hard time and it was also a very trying time. We both had to learn how to not bottle up and build our feelings up inside and let them out in little bits of crazy and end up hurting those involved more and more, until we were both upset and yelling at each other and having an even bigger argument. Throughout these times, we learned to let our feelings out and we learned how to not keep our emotions inside and share them with those involved so that we can learn from these experiences and grow closer together.

Communication is a very important part of a marriage or relationship and without it, it can bring a lot of heartache and problems. A lack of communication can cause a lot of problems and issues within a relationship and without the communication, it can be hard to continue and can cause divorce or a break up in the relationship. I think that communication is a key part of a marriage and that no marriage will last or work without and can ultimately end in divorce. Divorce is never a fun thing so I make a suggestion to work things out and make communication a key part of your marriage or relationship or it will never work out the way you want. If a relationship or marriage does not have any communication or problems solving, then in these trying times, there will be no way to get through problems and work them out together so that things can be better.

Problem solving is a very important part of marriages or relationships and can allow those involved the opportunity to work together and become closer. Solving problems is also a very key part of marriages because without it, your relationship or marriage will also probably end in divorce too. I think that the ability to solve problems with allow the opportunity for a couple to become closer and experience these trying times together so that they can work together and solve these problems together. I think that the concept of problems solving is very important aspect of life and it can provide the opportunity for those involved to grow closer together so that we can all connect on a more personal level.

Week 8 Blog

This week's topic is Family Under Stress, there are many ways that can cause stress and there are also many ways that a person can forego that stress and become better because of this. Stress can be many different areas; it can be mentally, emotionally, and physically. There are a lot of ways that can get rid of or diminish that amount of stress that one person can do and help them to manage their stress and also help them diminish the stress amount. Stress management can be difficult thing for most and some people have a hard time with trying to manage or diminish their stress levels. Their are some that get so stressed and decide to take a selfish way out of it and some eventually take their own life and leave behind the people that love and care about them. I can never begin to understand the feelings or thoughts that these particular people are experiencing and the thoughts and feelings that the families that are experiencing these same things as they morn the unexpected death of their family member. In my opinion, suicide is in no way a way to get out of the stressors that life can bring or either is it a way to avoid the complications that work or things of that nature can bring. Stress can affect people in many ways and there are many people with different ways to handle the stress and overcome all of these hard things that may be in their lives.

There are a lot of ways that I personally handle stress; such as shooting firearms with my buddies, spending hours of fishing and embracing my wife because she seems to take away the pain and stress that the day has brought. As I am doing these things or activities, I feel a peaceful feeling come over me and it allows me to forget about the daily stressors and the things that have been on my mind lately, it also allows me the opportunity to forget about the things that are bothering me or the challenges that I might be going through at that time. I know that in my life, I have times where I experience a lot of stress but I always find a way to manage my stress levels and take things one at a time so I can lessen my stress and allow others around me to diminish their stress too. For me, I find stress as a challenge and I try everything in my power to overcome the stressors in my life and further experience my potential that I know I can become a better me.

Stress in the family can be a very trying and nerve racking thing but it can allow a family to come together and grow closer together as a family and feel of the love that we have for each other. Stress can sometimes be a factor that can break apart marriages and cause a lot of divorces in the world. Stress can cause a lot of tension and frustration in the home and can cause those involved to say things or do things that everyone will regret. Stress have the potential to cause divorces and it can take the opportunities away from the families involved and it will take away the important things in life.

Stress can affect most people in life and can also cause some to take their own life and make a selfish mistake that can affect many people in their life and it will have their families in a really tough situation. Suicide can affect anybody and you may never know how it will affect them and the things that they might have been going through internally and they might never understand why some people choose to take that way out of this life. To me, it is an extremely selfish way to escape your problems and get out of the things that might be affecting you during these hard times in your life. I believe that there is always another way to deal with stress that isn't suicide and there are a lot of people out there that are more than willing to listen and offer their services or assistance. For those of you that are viewing this blog post and might be going through these tough times and think that their is no way to feel relieved, I am here to tell you that their are many ways to tackle these times and their is always someone out there that will listen and lend a hand or shoulder to cry on.

Week 7 Blog

This weeks blog topic is Sexual Intimacy and Family Life, during class we have had some important discussions and there were some great insights shared. Intimacy is a really important part of marriage and it does not always have to sexual, it could be anything that a husband and wife can do together to grow closer. Intimacy can bring a couple together and allow them the opportunity to bond on a more spiritual and emotional level. Sexual intimacy is a beautiful thing and should not be taken lightly, intimacy can bring a connection or closeness that nothing else can bring.

As I stated earlier, intimacy does not always need to be of a sexual nature but it can also be other things in life that can bring others together. I think that the concept of intimacy has been taken out of context and people seem to think that intimacy isn't as important as it was and it does not have the same meaning or purpose anymore. There are a lot of people out there that participate in sexual relations and they don't think of it in an intimate way but instead they use sex to demean and objectify woman in a way that is horribly wrong. I think that sex has lost its true meaning to some and they have lost sight of what it is. There are men and woman out there that just seek to get their fix or some would call it a "one night stand", this can often be a problem and can result in unplanned or unwanted pregnancies or even STI's. This can cause a lot of problems and complications in the long run and it could possibly affect those individuals for the rest of their lives.

Intimacy does not always have to be sexual but it can be random acts of kindness that can make a difference in someone's life and allow those involved to connect on an intimate level. Intimacy can be anything that can bring a husband and wife closer together so that they can experience these levels of feelings and connections. In my marriage, intimacy and can of a sexual nature and also things that are not of that nature, I believe that intimacy can be a beautiful thing, if used in the right way and for the right reasons. There are many out their that taken intimacy lightly and don't give it the importance that it deserves, they think of intimacy as something that is not important and they are just trying to get their fix with someone they know or a stranger. I believe that intimacy is a sacred thing in marriage and should only be used between a husband and wife so they can grow closer together and experience a connection that only intimacy can bring. There are a lot of people in the world that would disagree with that but everyone has their own opinions and to each their own.

In the eyes of the world, there are many forms of a family life and many definitions of what they family is or could possibly be. I believe that the family unit is a very sacred and important thing, I believe that a family starts with a man and woman and in my opinion, it is the only way of what a marriage or family should be. There are also many in this world that would disagree with this opinion or statement but a marriage or family that starts with a man and woman is the only way that is pleasing to our Father in heaven. This is the only way that makes sense to many and it is the only way or option that is accepted by the Father. As an LDS member that is the only way that makes sense and it the only way of marriage and family life that I accept and is the only way that I will accept.

In conclusion, I think that marriage and family life is an important part of life and that it is a topic that is currently under attack from many but there are also a lot of people involved that are working to preserve the family and allowing others to live a life that is accepted by our father.