Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Family Size Issue....

I feel like everyone talks about what size family is appropriate. The real question might be is there such a thing as a family that is "too small" or "too big." The answer, I think, (generally) is no. That being said, I do think it matters how many children a couple has. This might sound a bit hypocritical, but hear me out. We come to this earth as part of the plan Heavenly Father has made in order for us to receive exaltation. It is a required and essential part of the plan. Because the Second Coming has yet to happen I think it's safe to say that there are still souls waiting to come to earth and continue in their individual courses of the Father's plan. The prophet's have counseled that we as parents (or someday parents like me) should have as many children as we can so that we can help those spirits gain physical bodies and continue their eternal progression. Thus we know that we should have "as many children as we can." Now, hold on. That doesn't mean we all need to go out and try to replace the world's population ourselves. But it does mean we need to have children. If we can. So how many children should we have exactly? Good question. And fortunately, it's a personal one. Every couples' and person's circumstances are different and so are their capacities and abilities to have children. Unfortunately some people can't have children, and they will be blessed for their willingness to do so. And someday the blessings of parenthood will also be given to them. But for those of us who are physically and emotionally able to be parents, we need to make it a top priority. Every couple should carefully and prayerfully consider the number of children they should bring in to their family. Financial circumstances may limit the number of children a family can appropriately provide for. Also, some people are just more endowed with the capacity to raise and deal with larger numbers of children. Whatever each couple can handle, and can truly provide for; financially, emotionally, and spiritually that is the number of children they should have. And fortunately there happens to be someone who knows perfectly what that number is for each of us. And because he is our Heavenly Father he loves us a lot and wants to help us make the best decision. So as each of us approaches this decision, we should do so prayerfully. So here's to my "some day" family. I wonder how many of us there will be...?

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Here's to my "some day" family...

I don't know exactly when, but some day I hope to be able to have a family of my own. It might still be a long way away, but for a long time I have been thinking about what I can do to prepare. The first thing I decided was that I needed to make a conscious effort the be the best self I can be. The second was to learn as much as I can about families. This decision has landed me in a class called Family Relations at Brigham Young University-Idaho. The main reason I started this blog is to reflect on and share what I learn about families. The purpose of the blog is to help anyone and everyone who might read it to learn more about families, and to help me continue an endeavor to prepare for a future family. So here's to my "some day" family. Someday all this learning will be part of my reality and we'll be looking forward to another some day.