I wrote yesterday regarding tired and exhausted families. This is something I am very concerned about. In particular, our children often pay the price for such a lifestyle (several mentioned this in their comments yesterday). Our lifestyles are often fast, furious, and exhausting. We are like speed boats, moving quickly but not traveling very deeply. … Continue reading Does This Family Look Familiar? (Part 2)
Tag: Family
Does This Family Look Familiar? (Part 1)
Several years ago, I sat at a table in the faculty dining room at Baylor University. At the table with me was a man who had served as the academic dean and eventually as the president of a seminary. He was now "semi-retired." Most weekends, he preached at a church somewhere in the country. I… Continue reading Does This Family Look Familiar? (Part 1)
The Neglected Curriculum
Dr. Paul Faulkner, one of my former professors, taught at Abilene Christian University for many years. He taught Marriage and Family Therapy and a number of other related courses. On several different occasions, I heard him speak of the "neglected curriculum." Paul believed that there were certain gaps in the education and home life of… Continue reading The Neglected Curriculum
Before You Marry (3)
Recently, I began posting a series entitled, "Before You Marry." (Part one here and part two here.) Most of these thoughts come from years of watching people and having literally hundreds of conversations with people prior to marriage. Some of these thoughts also come from the watching and observing people in their marriages. I feel… Continue reading Before You Marry (3)
Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 4)
(You can read part one here, part two here, and part three here.) Just a few weeks ago, we were at Mitchell’s Fish Market in Sandestin, Florida, celebrating our thirtieth anniversary. Now did I ever enjoy that! Celebrations are that way, aren’t they? You just enjoy them. I do continue to think about what I… Continue reading Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 4)
Give Children the Very Best
What does it mean to give children the very best? I don’t think it means providing them with expensive clothes, a top-of-the-line automobile, or giving them whatever they want. Some parents seem to have the view that goes something like this: If my child wants it and we have the money, then why not? Yet… Continue reading Give Children the Very Best
Giving Children What Money Can’t Buy
Money just can’t buy some things. Yet, so often some parents will try to buy for their children something to substitute for what can not be bought. For example, children need the attention of their parents. A parent may come home from work with a new toy or trinket for their daughter. Yet, that… Continue reading Giving Children What Money Can’t Buy
Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 3)
We had two small children. My wife, Charlotte, stayed at home with them. I was working with a church that was a wonderful place to be but in many ways was consuming me. (I don’t mean for this statement to be a reflection on that church. Rather, it had more to do with my inexperience… Continue reading Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 3)
Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 2)
(This is the second post in this series. You can get to Part 1 here.) We had been married several years and then began to have children. We had two children, both girls. (We were living in Alabama at the time.) This particular time of our lives — when the children were both small —… Continue reading Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 2)
Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 1)
In August, my wife Charlotte and I will have been married thirty years. Now that seems unbelievable. In many respects, it seems like yesterday that we got married. Yet, it has been three decades. I want to reflect on this in several posts. I am going to do this in an interview format. You and… Continue reading Marriage: What I’ve Learned at 30 Years (Part 1)