Mothers are incredible. They feel so much, take so much, give much, and sacrifice so much for our families. I am grateful for the gospel because of it's teachings regarding motherhood. My wife use to tease me when she was pregnant with our first baby, "even when I'm just sitting, I am still working." And I guess it depends on how we've perceived the women in our lives to be. I know for a fact that the women in my life have been such hard workers and loyal to the men. Who else can play those roles better than my mom, or my wife, your mom and your wife? The home is where they belong. There is much to be done in the home and that is a fact. When women are called on for other responsibilities they will do all they can to support. But it is home that they ought to be.

Communication is vital in a relationship. I know that a lot of the problems we encounter in marriage life is the result of poor communication. One statement I remember that I liked from class is the fact that no one, not even our spouses can read our minds. God can. But only him. And I think this is why it's so important to include him in our lives, to counsel with him on a day to day bases; because he understands us better.
I also liked what we about with verbal and non-verbal language. How we used symbols and methods of communicating simple things. That's the way our Heavenly Father communicates to us, in fact many times, it's through personal feelings and the warmth in our inner-person that we recognize his communication.

One of things that came to me during one of our class discussion while talking about marriage relationship early on is the commitment level of each other and how that is crucial at this point in a couple's lives. I don't recall much about my parent's relationship when I was little, but I know that they made it through it because they had some sort of commitment. I am grateful for that. Marriage is a day to day building process and it all depends on how we as spouses view each other. I guess it makes me appreciative of the struggles that are blown towards our path and how many of them gets sent our way to prove that commitment and to test our hearts to see if we're gonna last.
But that's the beauty of the gospel. . . we are taught to stick with it and suffer through it because at the end, it'll all be worth it. Eternity!

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to discuss in class about sex and how sacred that is in the plan of God. I thought it was very appropriate and although for some it was uncomfortable it led me to believe that maybe most of us in class weren't taught the appropriate way of when to have sex or why we do. I mean it was sort of obvious with how most of us didn't comment or say anything.
It seems as though parents are beginning, if not already, to talk freely about sex to their children now days and I believe it's great. The question that came up was, are they taught to use contraception at any time if they want? or are they taught that they are to be married before engaging in sex activities? The answer is obvious and that is that the world understand it to be good and that they should encourage their children to have sex using contraception and what not to prevent pregnancy.
Clearly this is not the intent of the plan of salvation. Another question that came to me was, are our children aware of this issue? I will make sure that our home is a place of the spirit where love abides and where questions and the concerns of our children are being addressed. We need to understand that our children are sensitive and can learn really fast about these issue, and if we are not teaching them the right way, then we might be too late and suffer the consequences upon our own heads. Home is where these issues should be addressed and taught.

I thought a lot about titles in our lives. What makes us who we are? What titles do we often hear others address us? I know that some of the times I've notice within the echo that some of whom we associate with tend to title us with some undefined term such as "gay" when really they meant lame, or stupid. We start to ponder these things sometimes and often I find myself in anger and separated from the world. Then we begin to notice other people and want to be part of their role. A lot of choices are mixed up due to this. And it really is unfortunate that some think they were really born to be gay or lesbian. I thought this was an interesting observation and discussion in class.

One of the things that I am really thankful for is my culture, my heritage. I don't know that we all have the same intentions, drive, or whatever build from within our own cultures. But one thing I am grateful for is that we were all born with one. Now eventually everyone unites under the culture of the Savior, but each of us have our own views as well and how we identify things.
I think that cultures no matter where from is centered on families. As we learned this week about some of the value system and set of beliefs that creates certain cultures. Most all of them are similar, some in background and others in traditions.
The culture of the family was most interesting to me. I was glad that brother Williams demonstrated some of reality in class. In most times in those discussion I felt most affected by it. Everyone is trying to reach their goals of happiness. And it's interesting to note that those goals are mainly about bringing families from areas where they can't progress and enjoy freedom and privileges. As the Nephi taught in the Book of Mormon, all who come to this land is led by the Lord. This is a land where families can enjoy the blessings of the gospel. I really enjoyed this week's lesson.

One of the cool experiences about this past weeks part of the class assignments was observing how parents and their children interact with each other. I also took this opportunity to observe myself a few times with my own daughter and how she interacts with the both of us parents.
One observation I had with one of the families at Albertson was that every time the child wanted something the child would cry or whine a little bit. The dad would then react and say, What's the matter? While the mom would say, please use your words. Another time it was, sweetie, did you mean juice? The mom would say this. The dad says the same thing, What's going on son?
One of the greatest books I have the opportunity to read right now is the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," by Stephen Covey. And one of the first principles taught by Dr. Covey is being pro-active. While observing this little family, I noticed that the mom was usually the one being pro-active. The dad reacts and instead of trying to understand the situation, would ask the questions, what's the matter. Whereas the mom would say, honey did you want you sippy?
No wonder why kids are more lean towards moms!
Now, this is not always the case. Mom do it too. While observing this little family, it made me realized that I do the same thing too. So I need to help my daughter and try to understand her need before I respond.