Just to start off...:)

Hi:)! My name is Marni and this is the FIRST time I have ever blogged:), The reason I am starting now is that it is required for my family relations class... Haha at first I was not very excited since blogging is something that I've never done before. I am rather self conscious about what I write if I know other people can read it and so I wasn't terribly comfortable with the idea of posting my thoughts to the world! But I will say that my professor's enthusiasm for this project and his deep desire to promote and protect the family have been very moving! It has given me a boost of confidence I guess you could say, and the desire to share what I have learned is growing!

One of the first things we talked about in this class is that we are trying to find the FACTS. There are so many opinions and bogus ideas supported by skewed research and its SO easy to hear something even just once and accept it as truth or complete garbage simply because it makes sense to you. But in this class we are striving to learn the skill to pause and take a step back when hearing, reading, or learning about something new and not jumping to conclusions solely based on our personal opinions and bias's. I greatly appreciate and respect my professor's desire to do this work with a sense of dignity. In learning about these topics that can be highly controversial, he very lovingly stated that we do not want to speak ill of ANY group of people, whether we agree with them or not. We believe that we are all children of God and we are all very special in God's eyes. Now having said that, we still believe in defending truth and fighting for what we believe is right, but in this course we are learning to do that in a more fact based way. My professor strongly encouraged us to never criticize or demean someone or something even if their beliefs are complete opposite from ours. But if there seems to be something that they claim that doesn't add up or make sense to you, research it! Find out where these "facts" came from, make sure that there are sources with solid evidence to support the said claims. Do all of that before you open your mouth and just throw out hateful opinions.  Truth speaks for itself (in time). I found that to be really powerful!

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning how to do that:)! I want to be informed and be able to make good judgments and not rash opinionated biased statements:)! This will be a great learning experience:)!