Marriage and Other Spiritual Thoughts

Cleave unto Our Spouses   Genesis 2:24 Says "therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife." Who has not understood this word their entire lifes. The english dictionary defines the word pretty clearly in two different ways one is not what the lord means and the other is. It means to adhere closely, stick or cling to. or to remain faithful to. In Helping and Healing Our Families James Harper and Susanne Frost Olsen quote "Elder Marvin J. Ashton remind us that in cleaving to a spouse, married children should be faithful and supportive to their spouses, but not forget their parents." (Harper, Olsen, 2005, pg 327). They go on to remark that [President Kimball identified some important points regarding family relationships. First, married children should confide in and counsel with their spouses. Second, if possible, they should establish their own household separate from their parents. Finally, any counsel from outside source...

The word Councils defintion in the dictionary says  an advisory, deliberative, or legislative body of people formally constituted and meeting regularly. or an ecclesiastical assembly. The church has councils for everything. They are essential for functioning like a well oil machine. A key to that is when Elder M. Russell Ballard says in General Councils in the Church Chapter 2 "no man is capable of judging a matter, in council, unless his own heart is pure; and that we are frequently so filled with prejudice, or have a beam in our own eye, that we are not capable of passing right decisions." (Ballard, 1997, pg 41). I realized this week that we have somewhat decent couple's councils but we have yet to include the children in a family council. Which is something beneficial to teaching our children about open communication. Giving them a voice and having them know our home is a safe place to open up about subject they are dealing with or have concerns about. I had t...

Fidelity Has the questions of what is fidelity, and intimacy have to do with one another? Hopefully I can get my thoughts tied together on both subjects here. Professor of Social Work Kenneth W. Matheson in his article in the Ensign September 2009 defines Fidelity as "Fidelity includes refraining from physical contact—but that is not all. Fidelity also means complete commitment, trust, and respect between husband and wife. Inappropriate interactions with another person can erode fidelity." (Matheson, 2009, pg 2). Matheson talks about Emotional Infidelity and the Signs of Emotional Infidelity and he then talks about Spiritual Fidelity and advises us what to do and how to start to repair a relationship. "In situations as these, spouses should remember that change is not easy and that neither spouse can change the other person. Instead, spouses can commit to making changes in their individual behavior." (Matheson, 2009, pg 3).   He goes on to say that "...