W14 Reflection - Top 10 List

·         Communication - Success in any relationship or family is based on trust and honesty; these two enhance effective communication. Family members must speak freely to anyone and the family council is the best platform for family members to address their issues and ideas.

·         Gender – Gender is an essential characteristic of our identity. We are either male or female despite the fact that nowadays we have those who categorized themselves as LGBTQ. As children of our Heavenly Father, He sees us as pure souls and instruments in His hands, therefore parents and societies need to teach children to understand their roles according to their gender. For example, a woman/mother bears children and provide most of the nurturing while the man/father plays the major role of a provider.

·          Late marriage – Marriage shouldn’t be planned because of competing with others. A couple must be ready before saying the vows. However, marrying at late age has its own pros and cons. In my understanding, marriage should not be delayed. With changes in our day’s environments, fertility is a common issue, especially for a couple that needs a large family.

·          Divorce – No matter what, divorce shouldn’t be on the top of the list of solutions, but the worst case scenario might find divorce as the only solution. In such a situation, the couple should settle on how to part ways in peace so that the children are not affected and have a peaceful step-family. Although the divorce rate increases from time to time, I will teach people around me to look at marriage with an eternal eye.

·         Mate selection – Selection should be the first exercise to consider before jumping into marriage. Speaking of selection, one should have enough options in order to decide which one will make out the best partner and for that the qualities required should be made based on eternal principles and not the external appearance of the person.

·         Red flags – effective communication is the best tool to remove misunderstandings. When red flags arise, one should first try to be understanding since sometimes when trying to people, they might act inappropriately without knowing that they are offending their partner. But through communication, then both can speak honestly about their feelings and if it makes them feel like two separate worlds, then they should wish each other good luck in their quest searching.

·         Compromise – What brings peace in any deal is compromising. Although as a couple, we might have a list of our share housework, when children come into the family, the couple needs to adjust their list of housework. There is no job for boys and no job for girls. We compromise to help each other where possible we can. And this is applicable to finances, our understanding of life, and the decision we make in our homes. We should consider each other as equal partners and always consider each other’s feelings.

·         War – There is no perfect family in the world. We strive for perfection and should be ready for hard times. These hard times might be because of either the behavior of a family member or a natural disaster. Children and parents must be trained and be ready to go through these moments. Food storage for example is a way to sustain ourselves during hard times.

·         Sacrifice – Marriage requires a lot of sacrifices. It requires each other to realign their plan in order to fit the other. Private contracts for example must be reconsidered in order to have a peaceful family.

·         Aging together – the duration of a marriage or couple’s ages should not be the reason to stop doing the things that make your partner want you more. Consider taking him/her out, buying each other’s gifts, or vacation