Category: Marriage

  • A Lesson in Humility

    A Lesson in Humility

    I recently had knee surgery.  Knee replacement surgery, to be specific. Prior to surgery, I prepared myself.  I studied the procedure, picked up my prescription medications, made my appointments for physical therapy, and reviewed what to expect in the weeks and months following surgery. I thought I was prepared.  But I wasn’t! The pain was…

  • Lessons on Marriage from the Devil

    Can we learn anything from Satan other than the consequences of excessive pride? I think so. Consider these fundamentals: So, knowing that Satan hates humanity and marriage, are there insights we can learn about marriage by studying what the Devil despises? In a recent article at Aleteia.org, titled Exorcist says there are 3 ways Satan likes…

  • Must Love Dogs?

    I had an epiphany this week. Every woman I have married came with a dog. Dating these women didn’t come with a “Must Love Dogs” conditional statement, but the implication was clear enough — you marry me, you get the dog too. They saw it as a bonus. I just smiled and considered it a…

  • The Case for Gentleness

    When I hear the word gentle or gentleness, the first thing that comes to mind are the words we used to encourage our eight-year-old son holding his newborn sister for the first time. “Be gentle.” Or the words we encourage a child petting a dog — “Be gentle.” The problem with gentleness is that it…

  • Raising Parents

    Recently, a colleague sought prayer for discerning the role he and his wife should play regarding their aging parents. The request sparked a number of memories and suggestions as to what they could be doing now. Though my parents have been gone for over a decade, the memories of their last years still linger. Fond…

  • Ethical Ways of Viewing Porn?

    Ethical Ways of Viewing Porn?

    Is it possible to sugarcoat evil?  To normalize the reprehensible? To rationalize doing immoral things?  Apparently, in today’s culture, the answer is “yes.” Axis is a Christian-based media organization aimed at helping parents navigate the cultural changes that impact teens.  They have a periodic email called “Culture Translation” that sums up current cultural trends. It’s…

  • Dollars and Sense — Part 4

    Dollars and Sense — Part 4

    After Part 1 of this series on Dollars and Sense, a friend reminded me how in the late 1970s my late wife and I helped him and his wife use the envelope system to set up their budget and account for every penny they spent.  They credit that advice to helping them get out and…

  • Dollars and Sense – Part 2

    Dollars and Sense – Part 2

    As a husband and father, I sought to have an attitude of “Always a Student.”  Lifelong learning wasn’t just a hobby; it was a vocation, a necessary tool to survive the ups and downs of life. I explained that mindset in more detail in my blog post  Constantly Improve Your Position, dated August 16, 2018.…

  • Dollars and Sense — Part 1

    Dollars and Sense — Part 1

    What’s the best financial advice you ever got? We live in a time when financial freedom is a dream rather than a reality for most Americans.  Debt has become a way of life, a reluctant but inevitable cost of fulfilling wants and desires.  We have fallen under the beguiling spell that we can borrow our…

  • What A Caddie Taught Me About Encouragement

    What A Caddie Taught Me About Encouragement

    This past week I was invited to play a round of golf at East Lake Golf Club in Decatur, Georgia.  East Lake is no ordinary club.  It’s the site of the Tour Championship, the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. More importantly, it was also the home course for golfing…