Family, is it Important?

"The family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World

The world seems to see the family as less and less important. Go watch the news or the movies and tv shows. It seems that almost everything in the media has become more and more anti-family. I watched a documentary this week called "Demographic Winter". They were discussing how the world seems to think we're going to overpopulate and not have enough room in the world. When people hear this their first thought tends to be that they need to stop having kids. However, this documentary talked about how we're setting ourselves up for depopulation. This idea that we shouldn't have too many kids is actually going to cause a lot of problems in the world. The documentary lists several consequences of this frame of mind. The loss of family could harm the economy, the housing market, even the workplace! I mean, think about it! Our world seems to rotate around the family, and if we are anti-family our world could fall apart.

The main concern mentioned in the documentary was our fertility rate. Researchers have decided that the optimum fertility rate is 2.80. If the rate is above that, then you have an increase in population. If the rate is below 2.8, then you are heading toward depopulation. Now, in 1965 the fertility rate of the US was 2.91 live births per 1000 women. 51 years later, in 2016, that rate had dropped to 1.80. Now, I don't know about you, but that's really concerning!

In fact, countries are beginning to feel very concerned about how little children couples are having. Take China for example. Up until about 2013 they had followed a strict one-child policy. Remember that they also preferred to have sons, because that was more honorable. Now China has realized that it needs a higher birth rate, and soon. Otherwise they are on the brink of depopulation. Even worse, they're having trouble getting families to expand after so many years of only one child, usually a son. And because they've only had sons, it's very hard for them to find a wife to settle down with and have more children. And it's not just China that's having problems with birth and fertility rates. Other countries in Europe and Russia have begun to offer cash incentives to couples if they have children.

Now, I don't say these things to scare you. I say them to warn you and to teach you. The point of this rambling post is to help you be aware of the things the family is facing. Satan is really working hard because he knows that the family is the Plan. He has managed to get in people's heads and justify cohabitation, or sex before marriage. To me, the problems and scary statistics discussed in the documentary really helped me see just how important the family is. I mean, if Satan is working this hard to destroy something that sometimes seems trivial, then it must be very important.

I think about my family, and how important they are to me. I recently lost my Grandpa Lowry, and that was tough. I didn't know him well, but I always knew that he was proud of me, and he was important to me. This morning at his funeral I was reminded just how much I love my family, and what a blessing they are to me. I feel so blessed to have an automatic support group that rallies together in times of trial. I recently read or heard somewhere that people don't value their extended families as much as they used to. Why? My aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins are my best friends. Some of my favorite memories come from spending time with my extended family. They mean the world to me, and it blows my mind that others just don't enjoy that in the same way.

Basically, the point is that yes, the family is important. It's so important that Heavenly Father sent us to Earth in family units. Even before earth life we lived in family units. Our Father in Heaven has always valued the family because we are His family. We are his literal sons and daughters, and He desires for us to see what a blessing families really are. So I hope you'll use this information to defend the family and teach others just how important the family is.

Demographic Winter Part 1
Demographic Winter Part 2