Saturday, September 30, 2017

General Conference


Take some time to...
watch General Conference 10-12pm and 2-4pm today and 9:30am-12pm and 2-4pm Sunday! Yes 8 hours of speakers, but in that 8 hours you might find answers to life's questions that would save you more that 8 hours spending on the things that might otherwise might not matter. This entails important family matters. Please share your insights when you're done. I would love to read them.
www.lds.org or BYU TV

Monday, September 25, 2017

Lesson 2- Myth Busters

     We live in a world where we are constantly seeking answers to our questions. Have you ever played telephone? Well what if you needed an answer to a problem you were seeking and that was the only way you heard the message? Some "facts" get lost in translation as they are twisted and turned because they may have been misunderstood in the first place. What happens is that the last person receives the message and find it to be totally incorrect.
     Likewise, some people believe that certain ideas are legitimate, but find out later they were fooled. It's okay, it happens to all of us. Internet sites, social media, magazines, etc. are filled with information. Luckily, we have been blessed with discernment to figure out what's good, better, and best or what's plain wrong or a mean green money eating machine. There are ways to figure out where your resources are coming from and figure out if their legitimate or not. It is easy. Look down at their references. You can further discern whether their information may be correct by investigating who did the research and who the participants were. Common mishaps may occur in sampling, maturation, terminology, researcher bias, time lag, and correlation=causation. An example of a discrepancy in sampling might be when comparing children of step-families and single parents having no difference in negative effects on children rather than comparing to a traditional family household (Gardner). So, use your best judgement.
      It's good to base our knowledge on facts, including data research from scientists, or if you are religious, inspired prophets and church leaders inspired by God who speak in behalf of the human family as a whole and whose words are frequently backed up by research in the social sciences.
     Why do we need to know this? It's better to know these things ahead of time so we don't find ourselves in a sticky situation. 8 myths that are common today are:

1. Earlier ages in the U.S. consisted of extended family
     Fact: people back then died earlier
2. Opposites attract
     Fact: Marriages last longer and are happier when people 
     are similar
3. People marry because of love
     Fact:Some people marry because they are lonely, forced, 
     or other reasons
4. Having children increases satisfaction in a marriage
     Fact: Having children puts a strain financially, but does not 
     mean dissatisfaction
5. Sharing cooties is a predictor of marital satisfaction
     Fact: More important than sharing cooties is the way you 
     communicate, spend leisure, and solve problems
6. Happily married people don't have conflict
     Fact:Conflict may provide opportunities to build healthier, 
     stronger relationships
7. Half of all marriages end in divorce
     Fact: Decreasing chances of divorce include religious affiliation
      and intact family history
8. Cohabitation is a good way of increasing the likelihood of stable 
     marriage. Married people have better relationships and problem-solving skills.

Dangers of Myths: They give a false perception. For example, if someone marries because of love and finds that they do not feel those feelings throughout their marriage, they might get scared and run away (Lauer).

     Well, I hope you do not think marriage is a complicated and scary thing. I believe what President Kimball has to say in order to have a happy marriage. He explains that happiness comes by following direction. If you look for it it will be harder to find it. You cannot buy it. You can ride a bus instead of a luxurious car and still be happy. 
     
   Happy people put their spouse first above all, loving them more than themselves. They are not only there physically, but emotionally to lift each other and do not share with others their quarrels with but work them out themselves. Love ultimately grows out of spirituality which entails purity (Kimball). 


     What makes you feel loved in your relationships? Why are you happy to have a family? What have you learned in your relationships or family life? Why have these lessons/attributes helped you to become happier person? What myths can you bust?

      I am glad to learn kindness, patience, unselfishness, forgiveness. I believe these attributes have helped me to strengthen my relationships. It may have been what Heavenly Father means when he talked about the fruit of the tree being most sweet, and satisfying above all...

“Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul (see 1 Nephi 11:23).
Charity is “the pure love of Christ,” or “everlasting love” (Moroni 7:478:17). The prophet Mormon taught: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (Moroni 7:45; see also 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).” (Charity)

“21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?
22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.
23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.
24 And after he had said these words, he said unto me: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.
25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.” (The Book of Mormon)





References


Gardner, Scott. Research Cautions. (PowerPoint slides). Retrieved from:        https://courses.byui.edu/faml160/research/research.htm

Kimball, S.W. (1975). John and Mary, Beginning Life Together. Retrieved from      https://www.lds.org/new-era/1975/06/john-and-mary-beginning-life-together?lang=eng.

Lauer, L.H. (2012). Marriage & Family: The Quest For Intimacy, 8th Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-    Hill Companies, Inc.

The Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 11: 21-25). Retrieved from: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/11.21-25?lang=eng#20






Saturday, September 23, 2017

Week 1-2 Population Growth

     During these first two weeks, we have been learning about population growth. Have you ever seen "The New Economic Reality: A Demographic Winter"? If not, you can watch here (http://byutvbeta.byu.edu/watch/59b6b917-984a-478f-93b1-521a647779c4/new-economic-reality-demographic-winter-part-1) It's a documentary refuting the myth that human population is not increasing but rather decreasing. Shortly after the baby boom in WW2, a man named Paul Ehrlich wrote a book about how too many people on the earth would result in mass starvation. It influenced many people and was a popular book. This terrified a lot of people into thinking that having lots of children was an evil thing, like they were going to wreck havoc on our environment. Instead, the opposite is true. When we have less children, our economy is worse because we have less young people taking on jobs. Population is linked to economic growth, and unless technology gets better and we get smarter, it will decrease.
     There are so many theories out there to "scare us" I think because they want to make money or gain power in some way. But, as I have further learned from church leader counsel, that it is not up to us as to how many children we have. It's up to the Lord. Critics may say that having lots of children is "selfish," expensive, or takes away from one's goals/dreams in life. I have thought about this. Could I be happy living alone for the rest of my life? I am pursuing a college degree and I have lots of dreams and goals in life and believe I can sustain myself. However, I do not feel like my life would be complete without having children or a family because being raised in a family has given me more joy and experience than I could imagine. I would not exist without them. It is true that we experience the most joy and sorrow within our families. I would agree with what researchers and church leaders say that the family is the foundation of our society and that teaching children moral principles is essential if we are to thrive. Why is there so much divorce? Why is there so much crime, etc. in the world? In this course, I am exploring Marriage & Family by Lauer that there are practices that protect against these mishaps. I am learning how to protect, defend, and advocate for strong families to help build and maintain a functional society. If we are to have a functional society, we must have functional families. The family is the fundamental unit of society. What do you think? 



Advice of the Week: Love is a spiritual thing
Happiness comes by following direction. If you look for it, it will be harder to find it. You cannot buy it. You can ride a bus instead of a luxurious car and still be happy. In order to have never failing happiness in abundance: 1. Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ full throttle 2. Love your companion more than yourself. "John and Mary, Beginning Life Together" By Spencer W. Kimball



Saturday, September 16, 2017

Family Relations 160

Hello, I am Erica Schumacher from Littleton, Colorado. I am a Senior studying Child Development at Brigham Young University Idaho. This blog will be about what I am learning about in class. It will include:fun stories, inspirational thoughts, connections and insights from what I've learned in the course, commitments or cautions, hopes, dreams, goals, a family mission statement, key principles, or prophetic counsel on marriage and family life. I would love to hear from you so, please feel free to comment, interact, and share your opinions.