DATE:
Good family life is crafted, not found. Dates are most effective strategies for mate selection. Good dates give us the opportunity to get to know each other better. Definition of date: paired off, paid for, planned.

RELATIONSHIP ATTACHMENT MODEL:
You should KNOW the person before you can TRUST them. Then you can slowly begin to RELY on them and start COMMIT, the last part of the model is TOUCH.

WHAT WORKS?

• Dating
• Courtship
• Engagement
• Marriage

MARRIAGE

People can marry for different reasons and they can have different kinds of love in their marriage: 

PASSIONATE(all about emotions), COMPANIONATE (friends-similarities), EROS (includes sexual and romantic), STORGE (parent-child relationships), AGAPE (like a charity).

BORN THAT WAY?

Gay marriage is not bad because God forbids it. God forbids it because it is harmful for us as a society, and as individuals.Genetic cause of sexuality is not proven. Homosexuality may represent a developmental error. Many think that nature and nurture are both playing important roles. People who were sexually abused, who didn't have very close relationship with their father and mother was too involved in their lives and those who were malasted think there is something wrong with them, therefore, they begin to believe they are homosexual. It's not a question of a sex but of an intimacy.

Last week we talked about social classes and impact they have on families. We watched a few videos about family and social classes online and one of the things that stood out to me is what was said in one of the videos: we all want to belong and be part of a cool group. Nobody wants to be a loser, and everybody wants to be successful and accepted by others and society. All of us want to make it to the top but some of us don't like admitting it. People who have more money, are more educated, can better provide for their needs and the needs of their family, can have more fun, travel, get education. People who get education can then get better jobs and get paid even more. It opens up new opportunities for them but if they have it as the most important priority in their life, they might loose the sight of what is most important (health, relationships, purpose of life, eternal life).

This week we learnt about genogram, not only how to create it but how it can also help us in our own families. It can help us to see the good patterns, habits and relationships in our families as well as bad habits, weaker relationships which helps us to see and realize why we are the way we are.

It can also help us with our future families and break the habits and patterns we don't want to see in the future with our own families as well as keep the good traditions and build on good experiences that we have experienced in our families.

Last week I had the opportunity to learn more about myths and trends about family:

• Do half of the marriages end up in divorce?

 No, this is only one of the myths about family. It is not true. There is a hope for a happy marriage even in today's society. If you have a fairly good education, good income, come from an intact family, have a religious affilitation  and marry after age 25 without having a baby before marrying, "your chances of divorce are very low indeed."

• Premarital Sex, Births of married women, Numbers of people living alone, Cohabitation, Delayed Marriages, Employed Mothers - are increasing

• Birth Rates - are decreasing. In my home country, Slovakia, the rate delined to 1.2! It is alarming. But I don't really blame people not having children. The situation in the world is very unstable. There is no sense of security for young people and government is not helping. But we should still have a hope and faith things will work out for those who still believe in family values and want to have a happy marriage and raise their children.

• Divorce - Marriages that once would have continued in a state of mutual misery now break up.

• Raising Children -  If children have no heroes they will follow after clowns. Some parents seldom think about their children's future. If, they think of what their children will DO, not what they will BE.