How To:

Promote the Family in a World that Thinks it's Unnecessary

This is my conclusion to my blog. I wanted to end with this topic because I have seen and heard so many examples that apply to this subject. I found this article online the other day and it really broke my heart to see that people shun large families. It makes me happy to see that there are still some people out there who value and promote families. 

http://sylcell.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/to-the-lady-ashamed-of-being-pregnant-with-her-fourth/

I love this girl because she is proud to be a mother. She loves her family and does not regret any of her children. Families have been shrinking dramatically in size and now it is uncommon to have more than three children, but that does not give strangers, friends, or family the right to comment on how many children you should have or how long you should wait between each one. 

My Family

I have been married to my husband, Drew, for almost seven years and we have one little girl and one little boy. She just turned five and he will be two in a few months. We don't have a set number of how many children we will have, but we know that we want a large family. We want our children to have siblings they can grow up with and be friends and have a support system.

Family is the most important thing to me and I am so excited for my children to grow up with siblings. I love being a mom and teaching my children something new every day. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a wife and mother. I look forward to each child that will join our family whether planned or not. I love watching my husband with my kids and I can see him soften when he holds and plays with them. I can also see how much they love their daddy and the wonderful influence he has on them. When they look at me, tell me they love me, and give me a kisses, I remember what family is all about. Family is the most important thing we have and I want to do all I can to not take mine for granted.

Final Thought

Let's make sure we make our family our priority every day. Worry less about what the world thinks, or what your friends or neighbors think about how you raise your family or how many kids you choose to have. Family is a personal decision and one that only you and your spouse should make. 

 

HOW TO:

WORK TOGETHER

"Family work provides endless opportunities to recognize...love and serve one another..." (Hawkins,213).

Why?

Working together as a family teaches responsibility, love, teamwork, patience, and charity. Housework used to be one of the main family projects; everyone had a room to clean or an assignment to fulfill. Today, those chores are mostly completed by mom and dad. Now, it is thought that it is cruel to make a child do chores; it takes away their childhood. I believe strongly that work is good for kids. I am not promoting child labor laws, but vacuuming the house, making beds, cleaning cars, mowing the lawn, etc. can be beneficial to your child's future. If we do not teach our kids how to work when they are little then when will they learn?

Working together as a family also builds relationships. I cannot tell you how many times my siblings and I cranked up the music and started cleaning the house. We sang, laughed, and talked the whole way through and learned how to work together. Many days, it was the last thing I wanted to do, but it had to be done. I learned that chores may not always be simple or enjoyable, but I also learned that the benefit of a clean house was worth the work.

Working together does not have to be miserable. Make it a game! We did competitions of who could get done first or see who could shoot the dirty clothes into the laundry basket. Eventually we got to the point where we would ask my dad if he needed help mowing the lawn or cleaning the basement. Why? Because we liked accomplishing something. Because we felt needed. Because we loved spending time with him!




What's In It For Me?

Children do not need an allowance or money for taking out the garbage or doing dishes; these chores are not optional! Chores around the house are done by those who live there. Not all things in life come with a money reward. We do them because we have to, so we can live in a clean house, and because it is our job as a family to help each other.











Working together is great because you are not only accomplishing something, but you are together. When you are together, you learn to use team work, patience, and how to create and maintain friendships.

Not Always The Easy Thing To Do 

Teaching kids how to cook, do dishes, or clean up after themselves is not an easy task, but it has to be done. The other day I asked my two year old to throw something in the garbage and put something in the sink. Her face LIT UP when she came back and told me that she did it all by herself. Giving kids work (no matter how small it may be) gives them confidence that they can complete things on their own. It is not easy having her help me bake cookies or do dishes because I can get it done faster if she doesn't help, but she loves it and I am teaching her that work is a valuable asset to possess.



Sometimes we have to remember that it is not the action that matters, but rather the principle or the lesson behind the action. Kids need to know that they are a part of the family and they are required to help. Work shows them that they are needed and essential in the family.


Final Thought

"Daily rituals of cooking, packing lunches, washing dishes, making beds, folding laundry, weeding gardens, sweeping floors, and countless other prosaic tasks are the invisible glue that can bind families together. Instead of asking how to make such work go away, parents should ask how to use it to increase love and joy in their families" (Hawkins,223). 

HOW TO:

Defend the Sanctity of Human Life

Human life is sacred and should not be taken lightly. Each baby is a miracle and deserves to live a long and happy life. It is not the baby's fault if the parents are irresponsible; the child cannot prevent being created. The ability to create life is sacred and it is a gift that was meant to bring joy. 

I am a firm believer in the sanctity of life. I do not believe in abortion unless the mother or child's life is in danger. There are other extreme or rare cases of rape or incest in which the mother may be so traumatized by the event that a pregnancy is more than she can bear. Only a small percentage of abortions come from these extreme situations. Most abortions occur from irresponsible sex, in which people are abusing their procreative powers. They selfishly decide that they don't want to be parents or take care of a child, so they choose to kill their own child.

Mother Theresa says it best when she says, 

"Many people are deeply concerned with the children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger. Many people are also concerned about all the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions who are being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today-abortion, which brings people to such blindness. 

She goes on to say,

 "By abortion, the mother kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion leads to abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion" (Hawkins, 294). 

I could not say it any better than that. Abortion is an extremely selfish and cruel act in which the parents take no responsibility for their actions. I can understand not being ready or wanting a child, but to end the child's life is murder. There are so many people waiting to adopt babies all around the world and to think that some people are purposely killing their children because they don't want them is disgusting. If you really don't want children, then don't have sex or use one of the many birth control aids.

This little girl wrote a speech about abortion and I thought it was perfect for this section. Even though she is so young, she fully understands the affects of abortion and how wrong it is. 

Final Thought

I firmly believe that human life is sacred. I believe that children are a blessing whether they are planned or not. I believe that adoption is a wonderful gift and wish that adoption was the avenue used instead of abortion or children raising children. I believe that abortion is wrong and that no matter how much time passes or even if you have children in the future, the decision to end a life, will weigh upon you for the rest of your life.