Family & Parenting

Here’s a tip for a great marriage: have a hearty relationship agreement. Relationship agreements were a funny plot line in the hit television show The Big Bang Theory. The lead character is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, a brilliant physicist who is so analytical that his personality and social habits are nearly robotic. In one episode, he […]

Dear Friends: Nearly 60 million people tuned into last night’s presidential debate in Philadelphia between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. But what I’m writing to you about today is about neither political candidates nor political parties. Not even the Election. I’m reaching out to you

Research shows an estimated 70% of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives. Trauma can range from divorce to abuse to a global pandemic – something we all experienced. Even everyday stress has a cumulative effect. Dr. Gregory Jantz is founder of The Center: A Place

Daniel was 13 years old when he wrote a letter to his parents that he had a “great life.” A few weeks later, he was dead. According to his letter, Daniel’s “great life” spiraled out of control right after he started junior high. Five classmates bullied him incessantly. And when Daniel tried to defend himself,

One busy weekday morning, author Kay Wyma was backing out of her driveway when a big truck came barreling down the road and forced her to the shoulder. Frustrated and annoyed, she took a deep breath, slowed her heart rate, and realized that she had a choice to make: she could wallow in her anger

I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say that most men have trouble opening up emotionally. Guys put up walls around their feelings for lots of reasons, but the consequence is always the same. They’re disconnected from deeper, more meaningful experiences with their spouse, children, and friends. Men don’t usually use the word “disconnected”

The next time your teenager doesn’t want to help out around the house, you’ve got an important decision to make. Do you want your child to live in a home or a hotel? You see, a home is where a family lives. It’s where moms and dads and sons and daughters all contribute together to

Busyness gets rewarded. At work. At church. At home. Some of us wear busyness as a badge of honor. We don’t want our kids to miss an opportunity, so we schedule them to the max. We’re busy from sunup to sundown and get by on coffee and energy drinks. We pledge to slow down when

Jean and I recognized early on in our parenting that our boys, Trent and Troy, needed to be parented differently. They were – and are – individuals. They each had their own personalities, needs, and interests. Sometimes that was a challenge to navigate. They did share one thing in common with each other – and

It’s easy – even for Christians – to develop a negative attitude about the world. We can feel concerned and discouraged about many things – corruption in government, injustice, poverty, war, abortion. Author Brant Hansen knows the struggle with anxiety all too well. His dad was a pastor whose hypocritical behavior and affair tore his