Family is Future

Most of us have played the game Telephone at some point in our lives. A communication chain is formed, and a person begins the game by whispering a word or phrase into their neighbor’s ear. That person then whispers what they heard into the next neighbors ear down the chain. This process continues until the end of the chain. The last person to receive the word or phrase says it out loud. The goal is to have the word of phrase go unchanged as it is passed from person to person. Sounds simple enough, but in most cases, the message receives some thorough manipulation by the time it reaches the end destination. This is especially true if the chain is made up of a large number of participants. Good communication is vital in a relationship. Especially in critical or rough situations. Thoughts and feelings are constantly being communicated. First, they are encoded into a medium, a form of communication, whether that be verbal or nonverbal. That message then travels, much like in the ga...

"Life is hard, and then we die". Ever heard that one before? As lame as it sounds, it’s true. Life is hard! Crisis happen all over the world every single day. The number of potentially breaking events that unfortunately do happen every single day, is an incredibly long list. The death of a loved one, natural disasters, addictions, evictions, loss of employment, disability, injury, illness, abuse, financial struggles, etc. Although we can't always control what life throws at us, we can control how we will react to what is thrown. We all handle crisis a little differently. Take this home owner for instance, "For days, wildfires raged through our area. We had to evacuate our home for nearly a week. When we returned, we discovered that hundreds of homes had burned down in our neighborhood. Driving around, words like "disaster" and "crisis" kept coming to mind. Yet a smile brought a moment of relief as we drove by one burned-down home. The owner...

Women and men are not the same. Shocking, I know. Your parents may have tried explaining this to you using birds and bees. Having “the talk” however does not mean you are suddenly an expert on sex. It doesn’t work that way. The joining of two people through such intense physical intimacy comes with a lot more than a single conversation or even a single experience can teach you. Before I get into this topic, it is important to lay out on the table the importance of keeping this kind of relationship within the bonds of matrimony. The only truly “safe sex” is done between a husband and wife who have saved that part of themselves for each other. It is safer not just physically but emotionally, spiritually, and mentally as well. Sexual intimacy can be compared to a very delicate gift. It should be unwrapped slowly and together. Just as “The Talk” should not be a one and done thing, neither should sex. Each partner should communicate, cooperate, take time, and explore together. It’s not ...

Dating. Young adults can't seem to get enough of it. Our everything revolves around relationships. If were not currently in a relationship we probably just got out of one. If we aren't currently in one, we are probably thinking about being in one. If were not thinking about being in one, were probably sporting the fact that we aren't in one. But the thing with dating is that if all we do is date, we'll just end up in a nasty cycle of "hang out, make out, drop out, repeat". Talk about an emotional roller coaster. Hurl! I'm not saying go into every first date with a ring agenda in the back of your mind, but you also shouldn't throw emotions around like a hacky sack. Avoid just spending time with someone. Invest it. So, let's say you've got this dating thing nailed down and the question was popped! First off, mozeltoff! Second, Are you ready for this? The average wedding in America costs $30,000. Of course, it doesn't have to be anyw...

Oscar Wilde once said, "never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary". Beautiful thought, but when you're fighting the emotional and social currents that come with the dating life, especially the one here at BYU-I, it becomes more of a cute saying that a teenage girl might put on her wall in vinyl than an actual possibility. Let's be real, we will all have more first-date-fails than we will successes. That's just how this one goes. Sorry, not sorry. So how exactly does one find a person to love? Well, clearly, I'm not the best source of information. I'm no relationship guru...aka, I'm single. However, I will impart of whatever wisdom I have, the majority of which I have gained in my Family Relations class this last week. At least you know it's hot off the press. People filter people. No surprise there. Ring checks are a common thing at BYU-I. No shame. If a person is already taken, then keep moving. We filter people based on their p...