Improving Your Family by Improving Yourself

Happy marriages and families don’t happen overnight. They’re built through personal daily acts of compassion, selflessness, and love. Marriage isn’t easy, and families aren’t perfect, no matter how much we wish they were. Although we like to believe that family life will always be blissful, that’s not how life—or marriage—works. Difficulties… Continue reading

“Where’s the Baby?”: Some Questions We Just Shouldn’t Ask

When to start a family and how many kids to have are personal decisions. People’s well-meaning questions can create unhelpful pressure—and even pain. “So are you planning on having kids soon?” The first time I was greeted with this question, I had been married for three weeks. My husband and… Continue reading

The Universal Message of Marriage and Family

fathaer holding newborn

Marriage and family are divinely designed, and leaders from several religions are encouraging everyone, regardless of their religion, to develop that vision. In a world that undervalues the sanctity of marriage and family, it can be hard to defend the belief that marriage and family are of God. But the Church… Continue reading

Diary of a Soon-to-Be Mother

pregnant woman with hand on stomach

With two more semesters to go before my college graduation, my husband and I discovered that I was pregnant. How could I do what the Lord wanted while fulfilling my own goals? As a young woman, I always had a fear that I wouldn’t get married or have a family. But… Continue reading

Keeping Homes Intact: The LDS Church and the Children of Same-Sex Couples

The policy change regarding children of same-sex couples is not intended to discriminate against these children. Its intent is to prevent them from getting caught in a tug-of-war between the Church and their parents. In November 2015, LDS Church officials issued an instructional letter clarifying that children living in a same-sex… Continue reading

Family: 3 Things the Devil Doesn’t Want You to Know

father and young son sit on a hammock

In order to rise above this world’s moral confusion, we must strengthen family relationships with faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s possible that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have never been more “peculiar” (1 Peter 2:9) than we are today. In a world ever shifting toward selfishness… Continue reading

Contest Winner: Wandering Sheep

child in a field of red flowers

A general conference talk gave me hope for my wandering son’s future. My husband and I have six children. They all bring us joy, but parenting them has also provided us with trials and learning experiences.  In 2003, our fourth child was fourteen and was struggling with many issues. Although I never learned… Continue reading

Finding Joy in the Process

Fact: life can be tough. However, as we look toward Christ, we can find the joy we need to endure even the most difficult trials. We never think that we will be the ones who will have to suffer through a particular challenge or trial—until it is staring us in… Continue reading

From the Mouths of Babes

Four children with their arms around each other.

We can learn a lot from children, including how easy it is to share the gospel with our friends.   Stories of the funny things kids blurt out travel far and wide and sometimes become some of the best family memories. However, there are also moments when children say insightful… Continue reading

Marriage: Then and Now

shot of bride and groom feet

By using “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” as our standard, we can see how far off-center the world’s idea of marriage has become, how it got there, and how we need to define marriage today.  A judicial system has to balance social and individual interests—the good of the… Continue reading