Dunson Adventures

Importance of Mothers   When I was a child, I dreamed about what I could do to make the world a better place. Nowhere in my dream was having a family. Whatever it was I would make a bunch of money and probably have several degrees. I saw a photo of children in Africa. There need was so great. There were humanitarians handing out aid and doctors providing life-saving vaccinations. I noticed there were several people in the photos who looked like they needed some dental care. That’s it I thought. I’ll go to the other side of the world and become a dentist. That’s how I can make the world a better place.   Fast forward 20 or so years. Yes, I’m living on the other side of the world. Am I a dentist? No. What do I do then? Well, I work for the US Embassy. What’s my profession? I am a mother of 5. I am a hardworking, dedicated, God-fearing, Christian Values living mother. This will be my life’s work and legacy. Mother.   “Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for...

The Eternal Family: A Plain and Precious Part of the Plan of Salvation The Family: A Proclamation to the World teaches us that, “The family is central to the creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of his children. . . . In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.” Why are families so important to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?   Life is all about family by divine design. We know this to be true and we embrace it. We celebrate it.   “In 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley reiterated the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning eternal marriages and families when he taught in the proclamation that the divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated...

Equal Partnership between Men and Women in Families So, who’s in charge anyway? Well in marriage The Family: A Proclamation to the World teaches us that, “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.” I love this concept and believe that it is biblically sound. The Lord provided Adam a helpmeet in Eden as stated in Genesis 2:18 .  “The significance of this phrase “help meet” is that the woman is a creation who is a fitting and proper companion for Adam because she is like him and corresponds to him. This concept is further solidified by the description of the creation of woman as being formed from the rib of Adam—a rib being a metaphor for a person corresponding to Adam. ...

The Family: A Proclamation to the World declares that “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God”, and that “husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other” How do we go about sharing that love for each other? I’ve only been married for 19 years so I feel like our marriage is still at the beginning of our lifelong journey together.   Here are 5 Foundational Processes from the Family proclamation that helps strengthen our marriages. I learned this from my textbook; Marriages and Families Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives Edited by Alan J. Hawkins David C. Dollahite Thomas W. Draper ·   Foundational Process #1: Personal Commitment to the Marriage Covenant. marriage is a purposeful, divinely created relationship, not merely a social custom, and that couples have God-given covenant obligations to one another. ·   Foundational Process #2: Love and Friendship. The proclamation mentions the responsibility ...

Grits? I’m from the South and I love a bowl of grits. Grits with butter. Grits with cheese. Grits with sugar. Shrimp and grits. I like every kind I have tried.  What does that have to do with my parenting class? Well the topic I wanted to talk to you about today is called grit and that got me a little bit hungry and homesick. What is Grit? “One researcher defines it as “a combination of passion and perseverance in the pursuit of a long-term goal” (see story of Angela Duckworth in Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2016, and cited in "The Virtue of Hard Things," by Emily Esfahani Smith). She offers a few examples: a cartoonist who submitted some 2,000 drawings to the New Yorker magazine before one was finally accepted; a below-average high school English student who became a best-selling novelist; a Super Bowl quarterback who, after a disappointing first semester in college, wanted to quit and come home, but his strong but loving father told him, “You can qu...

Let’s Talk about Sex Yes, that title is there for attention. No I don’t want to talk to you about sex. It’s an uncomfortable subject. But it’s one we need to talk about with our children. If we don’t talk to our children about sex their friends will or even worse they’ll look it up on the internet. “It is not just a talk about sexuality; it’s a conversation about our God-given feelings and our aspirations of what we can become as families.” (“How to Teach Children about Sexual Intimacy - Church News and Events,” 2015) “It’s important to start talking about it. You want to be sure your child is getting the facts and not getting information that isn’t appropriate or is misguided-whether from other kids or media. And if you are not talking about it, you are missing the invaluable opportunity to build a closer relationship with your child.” (Luff, 2004, p. 336) We need to address our standards. In the For Strength of Youth handbook there is a detailed section abou...

Spare the Rod As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I did not realize that the Church had a position on parenting and anger. I am a convert to the church and the one concern that my mother had when I had children is that I would have “wild Mormon kids”. I asked her what she was talking about and she said you know the one where the mother is sheepishly asking her child to do something and the child either yells back or ignores her altogether. That is one extreme of parenting. In contrast, you’ve heard the old adage, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Doesn’t that mean that you should beat your kids? I mean it’s in the Bible, right? Let’s take a look at what’s actually in the bible. In Proverbs 13:24 it says, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” (“Proverbs 13,” n.d.) I’m not going to lie even after reading this I was still a bit confused. So I dug a bit deeper and stumbled upon a g...