Fences...

     This week in class we learned about boundaries. There are rigid boundaries, like a brick wall, they don't invite people in. There are diffuse boundaries, that are like fence posts without a fence, letting people run through your space. The kind of boundaries that we want are clear boundaries, like picket fences, picket fences clearly define your space, yet are inviting and welcoming.
    We all know people who don't let anyone in. We all also know people who let themselves in too far. Establish correct boundaries in your relationships, and it will lead to greater happiness.

The Family is of God

This week we learned about family trends in the world today. On average there is a rise in the number of people engaging in premarital sex, a rise in unwed births, a rise in people living alone, a rise in the number of couples cohabiting, an increase in the average age of a person at the time of marriage, a decrease in birth rates, a decrease in household size, an increase in the number of marriages ending with divorce (Lauer & Lauer, pp. 10-14). Many of these trends are largely anti-family....

We were supposed to read some research about one of the trends in families, and I chose to read about marriage age. I found that the studies show that marrying young (before 23 years old), actually has many benefits, including increased mental health and happiness in the married young adults compared to single adults of the same age, and that getting married younger doesn't necessarily lead to greater chance of divorce. (Uecker & Stokes).

So why do people wait to get married? Why do we do any of these things when research tells us that many of them leave us worse off? The reason, I believe, that we try most anything, is that we are looking for happiness, but sometimes in the wrong place.

God sent us here with a plan of happiness. It is the family. Matthew Neely's song, "The Family is of God," says "God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be—

This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God."

http://www.lds.org/friend/2008/10/the-family-is-of-god

I know that the family is of God. This is His plan for us, the way for us to be happy.

Sources:
Lauer, Robert H, and Jeanette C Lauer. Marriage & Family The Quest for Intimacy. 8th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

Uecker, J.E. and C.E. Stokes. 2008. "Early Marriage in the United States." Journal of Marriage and Family <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00530.x/abstract;jsessionid=17D38ED2D00B80CA5B2F3731830BD4B2.d03t02>

Why my blog?

I am in a class about Family Relations at BYU-Idaho, and one of our assignments is to blog about what we learn. I am really excited. I chose my blog's name and url from one of my favorite songs, I'd like to Teach the World to Sing,  by Lea Salonga. 

"I'd like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow-white turtle doves

I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms

And keep it company."

I wish that I really could build the world a safe, loving home, and make sure everyone has company... I think that my family is in a big way my home. I'm very excited to learn how to help my loved ones feel more at home.