We make wedding vows, promising to be a faithful spouse. So why don’t we make parenting vows, promising to be a faithful parent? We could tell our kids about the unending love and service they can expect from us, just as we did when marrying our spouse. Someone who does this is a Proverbs 31 [...]
Raising PG kids in an R world is like a tropical cruise as a young couple . . . well, you know, without the tropics and without the cruise. But at least you’re young. My wife and I could hardly wait as we boarded our first cruise. We had read all about it, but after [...]
Why in the world is it so hard to find a decent movie? They nearly all have characters following R-rated scripts with strong language, violence, and sex. So too, it’s getting harder and harder for your kids to find friends that aren’t filled with R-rated vices. It makes you wonder: How different would our world [...]
Oh, the joy of spoiling grandkids. You shower them in ways you never did with your own kids decades earlier. And then you brag about it! Spoiling, though, doesn’t have to be “stuff” you buy for them. It can be a legacy you build for them. Both are treats. Stuff can make them happy for [...]
Purpose is what you’re called to do ... Passion, what you’re compelled to do. What absolutely compels you? What grips your soul and won’t let go for decades? When God is both the author and the audience of what compels you, that’s God-honoring passion. God-honoring passion isn’t any ol’ passion. Any ol’ passion gratifies, but [...]
You are the greatest influence in your child’s life. No one can take Mom’s place. No one. The question isn’t if you shape your kids. . . it’s how are you shaping your kids? Are you creating in your kids a hunger and thirst for God? Granted, only they can choose to partake of the [...]
Every daddy of daughters knows the fear . . . some goober boy will steal his daughter’s heart. Never mind that every daddy started out as a goober that his father-in-law feared. As the saying goes, girls look for a husband who’s much like her daddy. Dad's example sets her expectations in a mate. I [...]
Falsely accused. Ever been there? Unable to fight back because you’ll look defensive, you’re left to sink or slink away. The pain can be devastating. That was me in December 1989. But I learned a lesson that changed my life (and maybe can change yours too). That lesson: Kill ‘em with kindness. My company sent [...]
“How dare you!” In a moment of outrage, we lash out, responding to outrageously hurtful comments. We’ve all been there. One of life’s biggest challenges isn’t how to get others to stop being hurtful; it’s how to respond in love. Like many teenagers, I had anger issues. The smallest offense sent me into a frenzy. [...]
Happily married 37 years. Joyfully, actually. So why do I still express my admiration to Anna? After all, she knows how I feel. Well, it’s for the same four reasons we should keep articulating appreciation for any loved one . . . four reasons I learned as a boy at, of all places, funerals. Eulogy [...]
