Family Gal

Hello, Talofa, Hola, Malo Lelei-However you say It-Hello! This week I will be talking about communication! I really enjoyed my class discussions regarding communication, especially within a marriage or relationship. We communicate with people we care about everyday, and it’s important to remember how we treat others. Your communication with others reflects your feelings for them. Through our words, body language, and tones, it really shows others how much we care and validate their feelings. So, let’s dive right in!          The first key to being a good communicator, is actually being a good listener. People enjoy being listened to, and having someone they can vent to.   Six ways to improve your listening skills are: Take the initiative in the conversation, resist distractions, control your emotions and your tendency to respond before the other is finished, ask questions to clarify what they are saying, make use of the...

Hello! Welcome back to my blog! This week I’d like to talk about a very important topic to me and that is- Family Crisis and Coping. This is an important thing to talk about because no family is immune to trials. And it’s essential to a family system to be aware of how stress can effect a family and how to best cope with those different stressors.             There are a lot of crises that can happen within the lifetime of a family. Some of these are: unemployment, death, miscarriage or unwanted pregnancy, moving to a new location, mental illness or other chronic illnesses, and addictions (drugs, porn, alcohol, etc.). As we know from a gospel perspective, we learn in 2 nd Nephi 2:11, that there must be an “opposition in all things.” Opposition, or otherwise know as trials, give us opportunities to grow and to learn as not only an individual, but as a family as well. We may think to ourselves, “Why does this h...

“Tenderness and respect-never selfishness-must be the guiding principles in the intimate relationship between husband and wife.” –President Howard W. Hunter This week I would like to share a bit about intimacy between husbands and wives. For me, this is a very sacred topic and I hope to treat it with the upmost respect. Growing up in an LDS family, I was always taught to abstain from sexual relations before marriage. I know not everyone believes this, however I would just like to talk about the benefits of sexual intimacy within a marriage. Sexual intimacy creates opportunities to communicate on another level within a marriage. You may need to discuss certain things you are comfortable or not comfortable with doing. When having these conversations, it is so important to remember to be honest and respectful. Your spouse will be giving you pieces of themselves that they never give to anyone else. It is special and unique for the both of you. It is also importan...