Marriage and Family Advocacy

What does it look like when couple is unified, and has become one? Personally, I see a unified couple, when I see them making decisions together. But how can those decisions be made together? A Family Council can be a huge factor in the unification of spouses. We learn from Elder Ballard in his Counseling with your Councils article that “family councils provide ongoing solidarity and strength.” This has remained true to the various times that I have had family council. Whether it be with my immediate family, or roommates that I have lived with. Listed below are many of the steps to holding a family council as mentioned by Elder M. Russell Ballard. 1.      Regular time and place to meet (temple each Thursday morning) 2.      A meeting agenda distributed in advance of the meeting Beginning with expressions of love and concern for each member, individually Opening with prayer, inviting the Spirit to assist with ...

I really enjoyed the readings by Dr. Sean Brotherson when he explained that Sexual Intimacy is something sacred, but it is also something we should seek to learn about. He quotes, “Luckily, I accepted as true the scriptural admonition that we ought to “seek learning” on matters of ignorance “out of the best books” and that we ought to “teach one another words of wisdom” (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). Even about sexual intimacy? Let me answer that question affirmatively. Of course. God would not be very kind, in my opinion, if He were to create the means and the affection for married couples to express love to each other sexually, yet deny us the opportunity to gain the learning and wisdom we need to find fulfillment and mutual joy in this critical aspect of married life. So, I started reading books and asking questions.” It is so important for us to understand it so that we have the ability to continue to keep it a sacred and private matter.  I also found i...

What is Charity? I talked with someone today who struggles with taking care of her children while interacting with her husband whom she divorced years ago. She is happy enough and doing all she can to be a good mother, yet she still struggles with her husband that she split up with several years prior. She did mention one thing that I found to be quite interesting. She mentioned how selfish her husband is at this moment, and many of us wondered why she didn’t catch that at the beginning of their marriage. She told us that he was selfless until she needed to focus some of her time and attention on their children. That is when the selfishness struck in. What does this have to do with Charity? I think it has a whole lot to do with it. Charity is the opposite of selfishness. When we are truly thinking about how we can help others, then sometimes our needs don’t matter. So Charity… that means being nice right? There is more to it than that! Charity is also the attitu...