January 25th Threats to Marriage

In a video on www.mormonandgay.lds.org Elder Dalin H. Oaks talks about love and law. He said “We can love the individual and at the same time keep a tight hold on what we know our responsibilities to the law, it’s possible to do so.” He talks about having people around us who are from different backgrounds, different ideas and even different values is great for us, it is how we learn and develop as human beings. He stated how it is imperative that we do not argue with those who are making different choices than us, he said “It is better if we start talking about; Where are you coming from? What are your basic values? What do you want to accomplish? and then in that context we can explain that we are concerned about the Lord’s commandments because what’s important to us is the Lord’s commandments.” He explains that following the Lords commandments leads us back to Him. The Lord commanded us to “Love one another as I have loved you.” If we truly try to be like Jesus we should always include others.

As we try to include and love others, it can also feel like it is in juxtaposition to our beliefs, however we are told by Russel M. Nelson that “Brothers and sisters, undergirded by incontrovertible truth, proclaim your love for God! Proclaim your love for all human beings “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” They as children of God are our brothers and sisters. We value their rights and feelings. But we cannot condone efforts to change divine doctrine. It is not for man to change.”

 Not only should we try to defend God’s doctrine but we also must defend the Constitution. Judge Roberts stated that “Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us. Under the Constitution, judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be. The people who ratified the Constitution authorized courts to exercise “neither force nor will but merely judgment.” The Federalist No. 78, p. 465. We should not allow popular opinion, nor opinion of judges to change the laws.

January 18th Marriage Trends and Divorce

Being that I was born in 1980, and I grew up in a small middle class town in Southern California, I would say that I was most definitely part of a community where 87% of moderately-educated mothers had children within the bonds of marriage. All of my friends’ parents were married except one that I can remember. However now, 20 years out of high school the majority of my friends practiced cohabitation before marriage.

The central idea of Amato’s article on divorce that stuck out to me personally was the fact that children who come from divorced families have a harder time in multiple facets of life. While the world tries to convey that divorce is better for families in crisis and makes it a normality, they look the other way at the hardships the children face. Whether it be economic, emotional, intellectual, or physical. Amato states “Research clearly demonstrates that children growing up with two continuously married parents are less likely than other children to experience a wide range of cognitive, emotional and social problems, not only during childhood, but also in adulthood.” (p. 15)

To ensure the preservation of my family in the midst of gathering evil I strive to be a “present” parent. Being active and observant in their everyday life. My husband and I also try our best to be good examples, to be open with our children in our concerns and thoughts and try to share our ideas with them. We work hard to have the spirit preside in our home, have daily family prayer and we are now trying to incorporate the new church curriculum in our home as well.

If a person asked me about the Church’s position on divorce I would say that we try to uphold the bonds or marriage with great solemnity. We believe that marriage is ordained of God and is the natural state. However not all marriages work out, and to that all that can be done should be done to save the marriage before seeking divorce. We should also “realize that marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection.” (Elder Oaks)

January 11th Intro

President Uchtdorf has said that "Great marriages are built, brick by brick, day after day, over a lifetime." Sometimes I think people, including me, think that marriage should be perfect from the get-go, and that if its not there is a fundamental problem. However if you stop to think about it, anything that is usually of great worth takes a lot of work. Our testimonies, our education and relationships are just a few examples of priceless things that take effort and work to build and reap benefits from.

My mother passed away suddenly a few weeks before I was 16, I am the youngest of 8 children and my parents had been married for 32 years when she died. The devastation her death brought to our family was real and had a huge impact but our knowledge of eternal life softened the blow. I know that my sometimes my parents struggled, life got in the way, finances, disagreements but overall I knew that their commitment to each other and common goal of eternal life exceeding their trials. I've tried hard to model my marriage after this thought, that each day we build a little more to our relationship, somedays we may need to remove a broken "brick" but overall we're building a strong and sturdy marriage.