Thriving Families

I had read and learned about a lot of interesting and fascinating research about emotional and physical intimacy this week. Today, I would like to pull information from a scholarly journal, “Sexuality”, from Lauer, Chapter 4. One of the most important ways to connect with our spouse through marriage is by emotional and physical intimacy. This can be a very challenging concept and topic for newly married couples to get used to, because it is a whole new environment and new way of living that they’ve never experienced together before. There are many challenges that the couple may face when they are newly married that they must now work out together. It can be awkward for both the spouses to be openly intimate with each other. Physically, it may be uncomfortable for either spouse and it may take some time to adjust to being vulnerable with showing off their body to their spouse. Unseen challenges may arise in their physical intimacy, including health problems, physical discomfort or pai...

If adjusting to first being married is so difficult, why would people decide to get married in the first place? Finances, making decisions, setting boundaries, finding routines, and the newness of being married are all big adjustments that are very difficult for newlywed couples. Cohabitating before getting married is becoming much more common than it ever has before. People are able to experience the same pleasures of being married without the expenses, the same level of commitment, the risk of divorce, and many other factors that would come with marriage commitments. What research has shown, however, is that there are many positive benefits that come from being married that one could not experience from cohabitating before being married. For example, couples that get married before cohabitating are more likely to make healthier decisions, compromise, set boundaries that strengthens the couple’s relationship, and have a better and more fulfilled sex life. Setting a marital commitment ...

 It is safe to assume that most people want a good, healthy marriage. There have been studies that have shown trends that ‘typically’ provide healthy marriages. Providing this information, I am not suggesting that this is the only way we can have a good marriage or that there aren’t any exceptions to these rules. Generally speaking, however, studies have found that these characteristics have correlated with many healthy couple’s marriages. I would like to share the 3 ‘T’s’ that help when dating and finding a romantic partner. They are: Togetherness, Talk, and Time. First, let’s dive a little further into ‘togetherness’. The important thing to know about this is that togetherness is a shared activity between you and your partner. This can be a first date, second date, or fiftieth date. It seems pretty self-explanatory why this would be important. However, many people in this generation, especially teens and young adults, are simply ‘hanging-out’ rather than actually going on dates...

  Gender is fascinating. Studies have shown that men and women differ in personality, and strengths and weaknesses. Men and women are both needed. Gordon B. Hinkley has said: "In His grand design, when God first created man, He created duality of the sexes. The ennobling expression of that duality is found in marriage. One individual is complementary to the other. As Paul stated, 'Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord' (1 Corinthians 11:11). There is no other arrangement that meets the divine purposes of the Almighty. Man and woman are His creations. Their duality is His design. Their complementary relationships and functions are fundamental to His purposes. One is incomplete without the other." Overall, men and women differ in behaviors and attitudes. In fact, gender differences were observed and recorded in a video by John Stossel. What they have found is that, typically, women were more nurturing, cooperative, communic...