Preparation for Marriage

This week we discussed how dating prepares us for marriage.  We discussed how dating can show whether a man is likely to be a good provider and protector and preside over his family.  A date should be planned, paired off and paid for.  If a date has carefully planned out it is a good indicator that the man will be able to preside over his family and make wise decisions.  Part of good planning includes discussing and approving the activities with the date.  Dates should be paired off because this helps create a sense of protecting each other.  If your date is more interested in spending time with other people in your group and ignores you during the date it may be a sign that he won't be dedicated to protecting you and providing for your needs. A man who pays for a date demonstrates that he will be good provider for his wife and family.  This doesn't mean that he needs to spend lots of money on a date but he shouldn't expect you to pay for a date he asked you on. 

I had not previously realized how many indicators of a good marriage could be found in dating.  I will definitely start paying more attention to these signs in mine and others relationships.

Gender Differences

This week we discussed the issue of gender differences.  It is becoming more and more prominent that women today are seeking equality with men.  They want to have the same level of respect and be able to hold the same job positions.  Although I do not disagree that women should be able to pursue a career of their choice, there are some jobs that men simply are more physically capable of doing.  I believe that God created men and women with different gender roles for a divine purpose.  When a man and women comes together in marriage they are able to create a unit that works beautifully together through a balance of their strengths and weaknesses.

Class and Culture

Last weekend in general conference many of the apostles spoke on the importance of family and gave many of the same statistics that we are learning in class.  I thought that was pretty cool! Some of the things mentioned included decrease in birth rate and population, an increase in age at time of marriage, cohabitation, and an increase in children born out of wedlock.  These have become trends because the worlds view on the family is changing. 

We also discussed the difference between class and culture and how they affect a family.  We decided that people typically determine ones class by their income and external appearance.  As we talked about this more in depth, it was mentioned that class is a poor way to "define" people.  For example, children born in a higher class are not necessarily better than those in a lower class.  They just happen to have more resources and usually a higher education.  But that doesn't mean that someone born into a lower class couldn't work their way up to a higher class and become more successful than those born into a high class. 

We generally group people into cultures depending on their beliefs, experiences, and customs.  We may think of a culture as a group of people from a specific place or nationality but we discovered that individual families can also have their own cultures. 

Family Therapy

What intrigued me the most during this weeks class discussion was the mock family therapy session.  It was interesting to see how Brother Williams could gather information about each individual without making them feel insecure about themselves.  He then carefully used that information to help pinpoint what was causing problems and help the family come closer together.  It was amazing to see how an outside perspective of the situation could help unify the family.