this week we are studying the sixth and seventh paragraphs of the family: a proclamation to the world. these paragraphs state:
"HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed." each week we are asked to create a provident living plan that is based off of an assigned topic but that also goes along with the unit's topic. for this unit, our provident living plans are supposed to be based off of the five love languages and being aware of others. holy. in the last three days since i've had this on my mind i've become incredibly aware of how difficult it is to understand other peoples' love languages. but also how important it is to try to speak theirs so they can feel love as well. but then it is also so important to recognize their efforts to show their love for me.... needless to say, it's been quite the process and it's only been like THREE days.
often times we show love in the way we like to feel love. that being said, we need to show and express our love more often and more fully and sometimes in different ways. even if it's awkward at first. below are a few ways we can practice living other peoples' love languages:
one of the talks that we read for class this week was more diligent and concerned at home, by Elder David A. Bednar. one quote from his talk that really stood out to me was this: "We should remember that saying 'I love you' is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love. President Thomas S. Monson recently counseled: 'Often we assume that [the people around us] must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. … We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us' (“Finding Joy in the Journey,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2008, 86)."
i'm definitely still learning this whole "love" thing. i want to be better at showing people that i care about them. i want to be better at expressing that i care about people in a more specific and personal way. i'm grateful for times like these where i learn a whole lot about what i can do better at. here's to loving more and loving better.
[pictures imported from pinterest. thanks p. to find where they're from go here.]