As this semester comes to a close...

it occurred to me that one of the best ways to let someone know what MY family values are is to just tell them. These are MY family values. You may agree with them, you may not, but as of right now I am still allowed to express MY views. I don't have hatred for anyone who does not share my views, in fact I have friends who don't, that just means we agree to disagree. We can still love and support one another.

I believe that men and women are created differently for a reason. I believe we individually possess traits and attributes that compliment one another. It's not a contest to see which gender is better, when we all strive to be our best selves everyone wins. Especially our children...

I believe that marriage is ordained by God between one man and one woman. I believe the best case scenario when raising a child is that both mom and dad are involved. (Yes I know we don't live in a society where that is always available or likely. Men can be pigs. Women can be unreasonable. I get that...)

I believe that families are the closest thing to heaven. Whatever our background, we can always improve to make our family a place of love and support.

I believe my role as mother and my husband's role as father have different components. I'm really tired of society telling me that I can have it all and do it all by myself. I am very capable and I know that - however, I don't want to do it all by myself. That's why I have a helpmeet in my spouse. We don't always agree on everything and that's OK. I feel like the only thing I am giving up by working with my spouse to make our marriage and family something eternal is stress. When I don't have to be the only one to make our household run, I feel less stress so there is more of me to share with others.

I believe that my values are not unique. I know there are others who share them. The leaders of our faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has counseled that we should let others know how we feel about our families. I am finding it increasingly difficult to do that as society changes and social media is now the way we receive our information. It seems that people can no longer disagree without names being called (on either side). Even writing this is a bit uncomfortable for me. Not because I am not convicted in my beliefs, but because in our day of social media intolerance seems to be the norm.

My hope to not offend, but for you, the reader, to know what I believe. It may be different from your personal views. That's OK. It doesn't make either of us wrong. It makes us different. The last time I checked it is OK to be different.

My family gives me great joy. My hope is that everyone can have joy.