Talking About the Holidays

Lots of emotions, obligations, and sometimes unreasonable expectations come with the holidays, and when it comes to understanding those things, mind reading doesn’t often work too well during this time of year…or anytime, for that matter. So it’s critical… Read More

The Adventure of Thankfulness

For the past few years I’ve been doing the “30 Days of Thankfulness” challenge, posting what I’m thankful for each day of November. Maybe next year you can join me in this adventure or at least the rest… Read More

Listen and Love

Many of us have never really learned to listen well. We’ve learned to be selective listeners—sifting information, ignoring details, and allowing ourselves to be distracted by everything around us. In today’s media-driven world, we’re often living on information… Read More

A Valentine’s Gift That Keeps on Giving

In our living room there is a symbol we used in our wedding ceremony. It’s a three-strand cord of red, white, and gold. For us, it symbolizes that the commitment we made to marriage wasn’t just between the… Read More

Water Your Marriage

I have a spider plant that just won’t stop making babies. I really don’t do much with the plant, but I faithfully water it, give it plenty of sunshine, and fertilize it once a month. So it happily… Read More

Micro-Seasons in Marriage

Ecclesiastes says “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. That includes those micro-seasons of marriage within every day, week, and year. So how do you manage those micro-seasons of marriage?… Read More

The Twelve Prayers of Christmas

Merry Christmas! Here’s a twist on the “12 Days of Christmas” song as my gift to you. For the first prayer of Christmas my good Lord gave to me: A prayer of peace for all of God’s world…. Read More

10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Five)

How can we apply the 9th and 10th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see. Commandment 9: Don’t lie This is a hard one because it involves, among other things, humility. Often we are expected to… Read More

10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Four)

How can we apply the 7th and 8th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see. Commandment 7: Don’t commit adultery Really? At first, it was a mystery for me to know how to apply this commandment… Read More

10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Three)

How can we apply the 5th and 6th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see. Commandment 5: Honor your mother and father In a culture that often dishonors parents, how can we teach honor to our… Read More