Marriage and Family Insights

Everyone makes decisions for a reason, even children, though their reasons are not always what we think they are. They make decisions based on their needs and their want for them to be fulfilled. Children and teenagers have 5 main needs: comfort and belonging, power, protection, withdraw, and challenge. These needs are why children make the decisions that they do. Because parents and others often do not see past the behavior of the child to what the child actually needs, there are mistaken approaches that they take instead. Parents take mistaken approaches when they assume they know what their child wants, when in reality they are seeking something else.           The 1st needs, contact and belonging, are needed right from birth because children benefit from the touch of someone. That contact can come in many forms including eye contact, hugs, holding, and others. The need for contact is so great that people, especially children and te...

          Work is an important part of everyone’s life, or at least it should be. One important and also a good part of work is being able to do it with family. By working together with family, I have been able to connect better with my own family. Work is first taught within the home, and it is important that it is. If it is not taught within the home, then it may not be taught at all. People learn a lot in the home and one of those things is being able to take care of themselves. By being taught to work from a young age teaches children about the reality of the real world and what is really out there. Being deprived of opportunities will leave people at a disadvantage in a lot of things in life. People also benefit from working and earning their own money.            All throughout the time that I was growing up, I was taught by my parents the importance and significance of work—especial...

The Communication Process – The Feedback Loop: Thoughts & Feelings à Encode à Media/Medium à Decode à Thoughts & Feelings à Encode à Media/Medium à Decode  à             The communication process is in every part of our everyday lives. It is a part of every communication that we have, without fail. The cycle starts the thoughts and feelings that someone has about their understanding of what is going on around them or in their head. These thoughts and feelings are then encoded by them to who they are conversing with. They encode their thoughts and feelings through symbols and methods as a way to deliver their message to the person that they are communicating with. Their message is delivered in a type of medium, which is often some form of media. This message is then received (or not received —which often causes problems because of miscommunication) by the other person who has to decode it, and they do so ...

The topic for this week was crisis. In the Chinese language, the symbol for crisis means danger and opportunity. Crisis means danger because things are in danger of changing from what they were. These can include our family structure, finances, hope, and opportunities. We are also in danger of changing ourselves, for good or for bad. When change and crisis happen, people do not always accept or move on from it. It also means opportunity because even when bad things happen, good things can come of the situation. There are opportunities to grow closer together as a family (or whomever is going through the crisis), serve those around us or those in a crisis themselves, build our faith and testimony, and build our faith and trust in others.  What crises you go through in your life will forever have an impact on you—whether it is good or bad it is up to you. Because of this, you can choose to learn from it and grow or to let it control your life and have a hold on you. We can view ...

            There are many people that fall under the temptation of pornography. There are also many who do not fully understand just what pornography, this included me until we discussed it in class this week. I learned that pornography is any medium that causes sexual arousal. It also is the attention or real effect of sexual arousal. Pornography can be found in a number of different mediums including visuals and prints—literature, music, video, images, and even the spoken word. Music, while it may not seem like it, can be pornographic in quite a few ways. These include: lyrics and instrumentals (the sound music makes). People sometimes do not even realize that what they are reading, listening to, etc. is pornography. This is because the definition of pornography is not always known to people. In many cases it is unclear and confusing—it seems to be one thing but is actually something else entirely. Because of this, people are...

When people go from dating to being engaged to being married, a lot of changes take place. One of the most important things to remember is that it matters how you start your marriage, and this depends on how you start your exclusive dating relationship. How you begin your dating relationship sets the stage for your entire relationship after that. One key component of any relationship is communication. It is vital that the steps from causal dating to exclusive dating to engagement to marriage are intentional and couples do not just slide into them. If you just slide into the steps throughout casual and exclusive dating, then it is much more likely that you will slide out of marriage. Because of this, it is important to determine the relationship. It has a huge impact on the outcome of the relationship. This is why communication is significant in any and all relationships. It is also important to practice good communication skills so that all relationships stay strong. By starting with...