Inspiration

I am feeling a little inspired because of a reading assignment from my religion class.  I just want to first off say how amazing BYU is.  There are religion classes that I have taken here that really brings the spirit to my day/week.  This is my last semester at BYU and, although, I did not need to take another religion class, I heard great things from my cousins Rachel and Vaughn as well as two friends Mandy and Trever that the Marriage and Family class was amazing.  Of course, thinking I need a two credit-hour filler, I got into Brother Goodman's Marriage and Family class.  What better way to also improve Brian and my calling as marriage and family relations teachers then having a professor of BYU teaching us the material.  Win, Win!


I am so happy already!  It is week two and I have read a couple things for this class which have been really good.  I was a little anxious to read the assignment for Tuesday's lecture because it is the longest one of the semester, 27 pages of information!  The topic was on The Family: A Proclamation to the World, which, thanks to my mom, I memorized when I was 15.  I thought to myself, oh this will be easy as pie to read because of course, I know everything within the Proclamation.  Thats true, I do have the words memorized, but the 27 pages I read today inspired me to want to be a better person in so many ways.  The topic began with many quotes from general authorities, apostles, and prophets on Repentance.  Oh how important it is say you are sorry to your spouse.  One quote I got out of it was from Robert L Simpson:

"Every couple, whether in the first or the twenty first year of marriage, should discover the value of pillow talk time at the end of the day--the perfect time to take inventory, to talk about tomorrow. and best of all, its a time when love and appreciation for one another can be reconfirmed.  The end of another day is also the perfect setting to say 'Sweetheart, I am sorry about what happened today.  Please forgive me'"

How sweet that is. The next thing I really enjoyed reading about was finances.  This is one thing I find hard to read because I like buying stuff :).  This topic was brought about in many different ways, but I thought it was interesting how there was a story shared about two couples who met at the boat loading doc one Summer night.  One man explained to the other couple that it was so sad for it to be the last time his family was going wakeboarding until the following summer.  The other couple explained that they always buy winter snowboarding passes for them and their children so they always have family things to do together.  The first couple then asked, "how do you afford that?"  The couple then explained how they have used their money they have saved for remodeling their bathroom and have used it for snowboard passes. 
The family who went snowboarding together always talk about the days they would go up the mountain to snowboard.  Who would ever remember  a bathroom that was remodeled 10 years before?  Wow.  Cool story.  I really just had feel good moments reading about the proclamation to the family.  Emphases was given on how "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."  How amazing it can be to love, to forgive, to work, and to have fun in our activities.  I have grown to love the Proclamation even more than ever because of this religion class' reading assignment.

Families are so important.  I just love my new husband and am happy to begin a small family with him.