Changing Face of Marriage

I think that my family through my extend family is very much like the domestic church. Christ is very present in our lives. The cons are that faith and Christ are less evident in people's relationships and lives. The pros may be that people can truly be with who they want to be with including the LGBTQIA. Hopefully after sixteen years of education I can make smart decisions about who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I do feel compelled to establish the domestic church in my own home with a husband I love.

The Pope and the Church

The next Pope needs to address women as priests, man as married priests, gay marriage, abortion, HIV/AIDS, and contraception. The future of the Church needs to connect better with the youth of the community because we are the future and if they do not bring with back into the faith, there will be a new "lost generation". A woman in the Church is nothing really, we cannot do anything special and that needs to change quickly. I would allow priests to be either male or female and allow them to have a spouse because that will humanize the Church and bring it back into the hands of the people. In its current state there is no room for democracy in the Church. If that was to happen some of the old blood would need to be replaced. The Holy Spirit is there to guide the high members of the Church to make the correct decisions with the grace of God.

Dating: What's the Point?

I think that dating is a necessary perhaps sometimes being evil, but always important. I think that if you do not date that you are more likely to get a divorce than people who have dated and fought and really dealt with each other for sometime before making the ultimate commitment. I think the majority of my peers and "contemporaries" do not always date to find their life partner but because it is something to do. Although between the two I would always prefer to date before I commit to a marriage. The "hook-up" culture in schools is some what of an epidemic or a vicious circle that people participate in to fit in and everyone eventually gets involved with it at some point. When our generation cannot hide behind a screen they tend to hide behind anything they can find including drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, or even a desperate desire to just fit in. We as a group of people need to step out from behind our screens without the help of anything else and have a conversation together, in person, face to face.

Gender and Dating Relationships

I think that much of society is not necessarily tradition but lack of change. The man has always proposed why she the woman do that now. People hate change, we are creatures of habit and that means following old out-dated "traditions".
I agree with the comment there is no talk about a man being the provided and maybe the woman staying at home with the children. It is just expected because as creatures of habit, that is the way it has always been.
As for my family my dad proposed to my mom and for many years after their first child my mom stayed home with her kids. My dad has always been the number one provider. Although I don't think they did it this way based on tradition they also didn't break this path.

America the Beautiful

In the beginning Gerren was a happy fifteen year old girl who just loved to model. But by the end of her career at eighteen Gerren was unhappy and insecure about her body. Her mother helped her get out of the business and love yourself again. 

American society has made it hard for young women to be happy with themselves. I personally accept myself as a beautiful young women who is happy with herself and always will be, no matter what other people or society says is important.

Becoming Me

Vocation and success to me had always been what I will become and how good I am at it. But now I see that it is what I already am and how much I love to be me. My vocation can be religious or not but it must be me. I need to do something that reveals my true self.
I agree that it takes a long time to become yourself. Because in a way you are always you but it also requires many heart-to-hearts with yourself to be happy being you. This journey takes a long time because it is called life. Life is not meant to be short but when it is, that person is often already completed their journey and God knows it. Life is a journey because it takes experience and mistakes, falling and getting back up to become who we are. Through life we solidify ourselves to the world showing it that this is me, Emma Thompson and I am going to be myself whoever that is.

My Mission Statement

When I was little I wanted to be a bird, well specifically an Eagle. I am not sure where my infatuation with Eagles started but for as long as I can remember I carried around a little plastic bendy Eagle pretending to fly with it. I thought that if I was an Eagle that I could go where ever I wanted, whenever I wanted and that no one could touch me. Well now that I am ten years older not much has changed. I do want to be an independent explorer. I still want to go where ever I want whenever I want. I want to see and experience the world that I have read about in so many books. I want to step outside my comfort zone and change the boundaries of awesome. I want to redefine my life. I want to inspire others. I want to find happiness in everything I do. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I want to take one of those pictures. When I am gone I hope that I have written a book, published a picture in National Geographic, produced a movie, found love, and made a family to share me life with everyday. I want to suck every drop of marrow out of life.

Identity

     My great uncle Jack has contributed to my identity through our time together. I only had a brief time with him that I can remember. I can remember my mom making me go to see him every week and always dreading the visit. Until one day when he started to tell me about his past. My uncle was a child of the Depression, fought through World War II and faced the discrimination of being homosexual in America. The most important thing that my uncle taught me during our visits is that "nothing worth having comes easily" and "never give up on someone because they may really need you."

     My faith has shaped my identity through my belief in God and my trust for Him. It has lead me to try new things and reach out to others that I would not usually interact with. This year I have made many new friends through my openness.
     My cousin, Katie have helped create my identity through her everyday support. She is my savior. When ever I need her, she is there for me encouraging and reassuring me that no matter if I fall on my face or win the biggest award she will be there to pick me up or cheer me on. And knowing that feels like the greatest thing in the world.
     A quote from The Great Gatsby truly displays how I want to continue living my life always continuing to mold and form my identity because "to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning-- so we beat on. Boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." My identity is always evolving and growing with me through the people I meet and the choices I make. I cannot wait to surpass my potential because the road I take will be the one never been travelled. . .