The Family in the Modern Context

 Marriage is a frightening thing to many people. It is a huge commitment, and it could go horribly wrong... right? Mainstream media tends to either romanticize marriage to an unrealistic degree, or they villainize it as a kind of "ditch" in the way of living life. Is marriage just a gamble? Well, no. There are certain things that you can do to make your marriage work, and these are intentional actions.  Throughout my years of high school marching band, our drill instructor would often repeat this phrase, "You perform the way that you practice!" This applies to things like marching band and sports, but also to everything in life! We can not expect that we will behave differently in a new situation just because it is the real deal. The habits and practices that we form before marriage will absolutely affect the way that our marriage goes. We go the direction that we are pointed. One important aspect of the marriage process that can be overlooked is the engagement phas...

Dating can be a tricky topic. You will find about as many opinions on it as you will find people to talk about it, and there is a lot of room for personal interpretation.  That being said, there are good ways to date, and there are less than good ways to date.  There has been a big shift in how dating works in the current era, when compared to how dating worked up until these past few generations. In the past, you were very likely to end up dating and marrying someone from your community. The main reason for this is pretty simple; the proximity and access to each other made it easy to meet and get along. With less forms of transportation, there was less reason and opportunity to travel far.  Dating someone from your community has some advantages. You both grew up in the same area, so you will share things like friends, education, and culture. When you share these elements, you will already have a basis of understanding between each other, and you will have a better initia...

 Everyone is different.  This is something that I think we can all accept without much argument. We understand that individuals respond differently to different situations, and that's one of the strengths of the human race. When we are forming relationships with other people, it is important to keep this principle in mind; we all communicate in unique ways, and assess things in different ways.  Of course, when approached correctly, this is not a negative thing. In fact, forming relationships with people who differ from you can be an extremely beneficial and positive way to learn and grow your own strengths. If two people get together who share the same exact strengths and weaknesses, then they cover exactly that much ground. They may work together very well on a few things, but if they both share the same weaknesses, then those weaknesses remain a part of their relationship.  If someone has a strength where someone else has a weakness, then they can uplift the other ...

Culture can be defined as the customs, social institutions, and behaviors of a particular nation or people. Culture is an important part of many people's identity, and it can often permeate our lives and our behaviors in ways that we do not notice or observe ourselves. The culture that we grow up in becomes a part of how we behave, and it is something that we typically carry with us for our entire lives. So, in other words, culture is a big part of what makes us... us! Of course, culture will also impact our families. A family is fundamentally a dynamic group of people, and if culture impacts the individuals, then they will bring this culture with them into their family. In some cases, this can be a good thing. The culture of our families can be an uplifting building block of their organization, and it can create a sense of connection between different families. While each family is governed in a different way, they can draw on that same cultural similarity and find familiar elemen...

If something is dynamic, then it is going through constant change or progress. You can think of it as the opposite of static. It could be illustrated as a stream that runs through a forest. As rain falls, the stream will grow and bubble over, find new courses, and constantly move forward.  Families are dynamic organizations. Families will go through change and evolution. The simple fact of the matter is that things are constantly happening to us and around us. That sounds obvious, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the nature of our existence. Stagnation in our attitudes can lead to problems in the family. We have established that the family is a dynamic unit, and so if you are very stuck in your ways, then you will eventually come to an impasse. Perhaps you don't want to change, or you think that the way you do things is the only correct way. The way that we were raised has a great impact on how we think that families should or should not operate. What is normal to us could s...