Today in class we talked about parenting and the importance of it. We talked about the purpose of parenting and named three steps which are, refine parents become more like God, closer to divinity, and protect and prepare to survive and thrive in the world we live in. We came to earth knowing and wanting to one day have a family and to become more like God. I do think that parenting is probably one of the hardest jobs you can have but it is probably the best as well. Parents are there to help their children grow and learn so that one day they can do the same to their kids. I think that everyday parents are coming up with ways to protect and prepare their kids for the world we live in that is always changing.

One of the things we discussed in class this week was the pamphlet One for the money, a guide to family finance. In this book it lists 12 steps of ways in which to be smart about finances.

Step 1: Pay an honest tithing
Step 2: Learn to manage money before it manages you
Step 3: Learn self-discipline and self-restraint in money matters
Step 4: Use a budget
Step 5: Teach family members early the importance of working and earning
Step 6: Teach children to make money decisions in keeping with their capacities to comprehend
Step 7: Teach each family member to contribute to the total family welfare
Step 8: Make education a continuing process
Step 9: Work toward home ownership
Step 10: Appropriately involve yourself in an insurance program
Step 11: Understand the influence of external forces on family finances and investments
Step 12: appropriately involve yourself in a food storage and emergency preparedness program

I think that each one of these steps is important to have and use with a family. My dad has always shown and taught me how to work hard and to budget my money wisely. I am very grateful for this because one day when I have my own family, I will be able to use these steps with the knowledge I already have with handling my money well.

Communication as a process starts with thoughts or feelings from the sender, then it moves to encoding the message. Then it moves through the media which can be verbal or nonverbal, then the receiver tries to decode the message and then they give their thoughts and their feelings. Emotion comes out through tone, words are 14%, tone is 35%, and nonverbal is 51%. This is how someone can try to get there thoughts or their feelings known. Listening is very important in communication. In order to be a good communicator, you have to be a good listener. 

Family crisis can be really hard to work through, Reuben Hill developed a model to try and help people cope with there crisis. A: is the actual stressor event, B: is both resources, responses, C: is cognition, X: is the total experience. You can use this model to try and get through your crisis. Coping is what we do it advance to handle a situation when it occurs. Instead of approaching a crisis negatively, look for ways to learn and grow from it.

In class we talked about sexuality and the importance of having intimacy in a relationship. The most important sex organ is the brain. The brain produces three hormones, which are seratonin, dopamine, and oxytocine. Seratonin is the hormone that makes you happy, Dopamine is a neurotransmitter for excitment, and oxytocine is released through touching. Sexual relations release a good amount of seratonin. Safety, comfort, love, and confidence is the key to successful sexual intimacy.