Listening to the Light-Marriage

This semester we’ve talked about types of relationships, how to turn towards one another, and how to build better marriages. This week we included in-law relations and finances. Two, sometimes, very hot topics! The meshing of two people together, coming from completely different backgrounds is hard! Discussing how you are going to proceed in your marriage in relationship to in-laws and finances is important! I hate discussing finances! I tend to not like to talk about things that I don’t feel very educated about. I’m sure that’s not too unusual. I remember growing up, I knew that my Grandpa Dan paid cash for every car he ever bought! I don’t remember really sitting down with my mom and talking about her finances. I remember one time overhearing her talking to some insurance guy right after my dad died, and whatever number she was talking about seemed really high, and I thought we’d never be able to afford that. But really, I have no idea what she was talking about, I just remember...

I had some interesting things to study this week in my marriage class. I have really loved reading M. Russell Ballard’s book Counseling with our Councils. I’ve had to read parts of it for a couple different classes, and every time I read from it, I come away with wanting to implement some aspect of it in my life. I have been able to use it in my church calling multiple times this semester. I also read an article called Who is the Boss? Power Relationship in Families, that was given at a BYU Conference on Family Life. Additionally, I also read a talk by Henry B. Eyring that was given in 1998, That We May Be One. I love how all of these materials can help me become a better disciple of Christ and improve my relationships! Adding children to the picture changes everything! Relationships change. Have you ever seen when a child works his parents against the other one? I get caught in this one all the time and I’m not a parent! My nephew will ask me for a popsicle. I tell him he’s got...

This week in my Marriage class we have been studying about fidelity and physical intimacy. There was a lot of great reading involved. One that stuck out to me was an article written by Kenneth W. Matheson, a professor at BYU, called “Fidelity in Marriage: It’s More Than You Think”. It talks of a couple where the wife has a “special” work friend (Matheson, 2009). This stuck out to me, because I had a friend that was my “special” work friend, but we were both single. I could understand how you get to the point of being so close to someone at work. She didn’t think she was doing anything wrong. They talked a lot. They knew what was going on at work and it was easy to discuss things. Then it turned into hanging out during breaks and the occasional lunch break. She didn’t see anything wrong with sending him personal emails and text messages outside of work (Matheson, 2009). Is that a form of infidelity? It certainly leads to more. Matheson included some questions to consider when a...