Sara Maddux's Blog: 2013

Friday, April 5, 2013

Well this week was interesting. we talked about divorce and step parents. This week actually really stood out to me because my parents got divorced when I was in 4th grade and I've had 2 step moms sense. One of them was really horrible and the other is okay. we have our ups and downs. so everything that was discussed in class that has to do with the step parent child relationship actually really does apply. Step parents who try to step in and be the mom is not a very good way of trying to establish a relationship with the step children. This week was a good week because a lot of things really stuck out to me with dealings with my step mom and the affects that it has on the child and their biological parents. and the parent- step parent relationship. I especially enjoyed the readings and the one that has to talk about the family and what was happening with Joe and his family. that really applied to me with my first ex step mom.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

This post is for March 22nd.

We talked about money management and how we can teach out children how to use money wisely with the resources that the church has provided for us and how to use our money wisely. We also talked about how we can help out children learn to earn money by helping out around the house with mowing the lawn and washing the car/ vacuuming it out or something like that. We also talked about Adam and Eve and the hard work that they put into life and teaching their children. how hard work can benefit a family.

Friday, March 29, 2013

This week I learned a lot about parenting and what it really means to be an active parent. which is so important in a childs life. I also love what we talked about today in class about consequences and how parents sometimes need to allow their children to experience the natural consequences from their actions. Though it might be hard it is a learning experience for their children that will benefit them in the future. We also discusses for a few moments about making sure that children's needs are being met, their physical, social, and emotional needs.

Friday, March 15, 2013

What I learned this week was the great tools of communication! These tools have really helped me to understand more about communication and how to properly do it. Even though it is going to take lots of practice just like anything does, I hope to be able to communicate better with those around me and to help those around me also be able to communicate better with others. I really love this class and am grateful for it and for all of the help that it give to me on marriage and family relationships.

Friday, March 8, 2013

This week I learned a lot about how people tend to have a cognitive problem in their brain where they think a lie and then believe that it is truth. when in all actuality it is just a lie. My teacher talked about a few ways to stop your thought process from thinking lies because then they become truths to you. He said to recognize the thought and immediately change it with a positive thought. this is one way that you can stop those thoughts from coming. It is so sad to think about how so many people including myself really do tell ourselves lies and then we become anxious and then we start to think that it really is reality when it isn't. This topic and class period actually really helped me this week.

Friday, March 1, 2013

This week what I really enjoyed was all we talked about... haha. We talked about how having intimacy in a relationship is so important when you're married. And what it means when you do actually have that intimacy within your marriage and how special and sacred it is. it really makes me appreciate my Heavenly Father more and I have come to have a greater understanding of the great Plan of Happiness through learning about sexual intimacy in marriage.

Friday, February 22, 2013

well this week what really stuck out to me was when we talked about the differences that happen when a couple that is married has a baby and how the couple can have a decline in their intimacy with each other. Also that stood out to me was how we talked about involving the husband with the pregnancy and helping him to know that he is needed even after the baby is born. To involve the husband with all of the joyful times that you'll have with children. and that it is important to keep separate time for you and your spouse because that relationship is so important. Your spouse comes first even when you have children.

Friday, February 15, 2013

This week what I really liked and learned a lot about is actually from the family systems project that we had to do. It really opened my eyes to the actual different roles that me and my siblings and parents play into our family. It allowed to me view and ponder on this and now I feel like I have a great respect for the roles in my family because I now have a greater understand of how they all work together and why my family needs all of those different roles. Heavenly Father really knows what he is doing when he puts family members together. WE are here to help each other learn and grow.

Friday, February 8, 2013

This week we talked a lot about the difference between gender roles and also about same sex marriage and what makes someone a homosexual. While talking about these subjects and how important it is for a man and a women to get married and the different roles that are applied in a marriage and with raising children the spirit has testified to me that the Family a Proclamation to the World is indeed truth from God about how important it is to be married as husband and wife. I have thought a lot about my own individual role of being a wife and what is expected of me. Sometimes I feel like I am falling short of those responsibilities but I know that with the Lords help I can become perfected through my marriage. It is so true that I need my husband in order to reach perfect and make it to the Celestial Kingdom. He does have strengths that I dont have and I have strengths that he doesnt have and when we become one and teach each other then that is when miracles happen. It is also interesting to me how people have said for the longest time that people are born "gay" when they really arent. Why would a loving God make them that way to sin from birth? He wouldn't and doesn't. It does make sense what research says about how people view them as gay from things they do and then title them. and then they look back and say oh yeah... i guess that is true. When it isnt at all. Its okay if guys are more sensitive sometimes. My husband is sensitive and that is one of the things that I love most about him. That will make him be a great Father someday and it does make him be a great husband. And it is okay if girls are more masculine. I love cars and being able to learn about them and how to fix them. I love to watch movies that have car racing in them because I love the way the cars sound when they race. Does that make me a boy... NOPE! Anyways that is some of my thoughts from this week.

Friday, February 1, 2013

This week I learned a lot about the different cultures that are in the world. I guess I never really thought of my life and experiences as a culture. I knew that there was different cultures but I guess I never really focused on what my culture is in my own family and what things I contribute to my personal family now that I've been married. I am grateful for the Mormon culture though, I love it because it bring peace because it is focused on the Savior and His teachings. I also learned a lot about families and family structures. Like what we read and talked about today in class about the Mexican family and what they had to go through and how much of an impact divorce or even just the dad going away for work for a few months can have on a family. I have been really learning a lot about families and how much we need each other. Elder Bednar talks a lot about this. That we need each other to survive and make it back to our Father in Heaven. I guess you could say that a lot of truths that I've "known" I am learning and gaining a deeper understanding of what they truly mean to me and to my Father in Heaven.

Friday, January 25, 2013

This week I had realized that my family actually does have a lot of "unwritten rules" in our home. I hadn't really ever thought about things like that before and now I can see a lot of them. I've been married for 2 months now and just thinking about it we already have unwritten rules, haha. So this really has stuck out to me this week. I also really love the family mapping system and how you can map out relationships and help break those ridged ones and mold them into clear open ones. This week was really good.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Research week.

This week we did a lot of research about the different trends that families have. I have learned that the trends of Cohabitation, living alone, getting divorced, marrying later, that the birth rates are decreasing, there are smaller households, pre-marital, births out of wedlock, and employed mothers all have a negative outcome on society and families. I have thought a lot about the gospel and how Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. The Plan of Happiness was created for a reason.