Some 70+ year-olds are happy. Some have been married 50 years. But few people are both happy and married that long. Anyone who stays happily married for 50 years deserves all the honor we can give them. And we would be wise to watch what they do and apply it to our own marriages.
Read MoreI can't count the number of times that I have heard from frustrated wives who complain that their husband's number one social and stress-relieving activity is playing online video games. They feel that they come second to their husband's Halo friends. With this next generation of young married men who cut their teeth on X-Box, I'm afraid we're going to see this more and more.
Read More"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing...badly."
We can dream about the "right" way to teach our kids and to pray with them and to share spiritual truth, but usually our dreams involve great big plans that we never get around to doing. So we end up doing nothing.
Read MoreThis brief video is an honest perspective of fatherhood from comedian Louis C.K. I am certain it will resonate with many dads, especially in light of Father's Day tomorrow. It's well worth the 2 minutes it will take you to watch it.
Read MoreWith regards to our kids, our temptation is to parent them as if they were little versions of ourselves. Our assumption is that we think and feel a certain way so they must feel and think like us. That is rarely true.
Read MoreI wish I could go back in time and coach myself as a young dad. Back
then, other men may have given me advice, but I don’t think I listened.
However, if I traveled back in time to give a few life lessons to myself, I’m
confident I would listen to me. Here are some of the things I would say...
From Jenifer: "When Landon was little I nearly shut down the "Wild at Heart" outdoorsy call God had on him. I had Lindsey first so the two of us girls just sort of set a pattern of wanting to tell Landon not to get dirty, to not wiggle so much, to do things our way. I truly didn't REALLY understand and appreciate the differences between little girls and boys."
Read MoreDepending on the age of your kids, a father/son movie night might be in order this weekend. After Earth might be the ideal launch pad for some great discussions about what a dad can do to instill confidence in his son. It may also give dad the chance to express how difficult it can be to let go and to trust God to complete His work in his children.
Read MoreThere's a very funny video making the rounds that brings up the age old question that every man must face. When my wife is sharing her problems, do I just listen or do I try to fix it? The video illustrates that the answer is often that we need to do both.
Read MoreWith all the pain and suffering in Oklahoma, we can see the body of Christ taking action with swiftness and in ways that our federal government can never seem to do. It was even noted by Harry Smith on NBC news yesterday. Check out this short clip...
Read MoreIf a team of marketing wizards were looking to highlight my best features in my roles as husband and father, what words would they use? What adjectives would they honestly use to describe me?
Read MoreI want to give a disclaimer to all the guys out there: I'm not all interested in hanging out on Pinterest for hours at a stretch, clicking on cute shoes, hairstyle looks, and home decorating ideas. Do not revoke my man card. However, given the site's popularity, I thought it was worth using as a means to highlight posts from INFO for Families.
Read MoreThose in Hollywood are the storytellers of our generation and popular movies are their primary medium. Their impact on our kids can be evaluated by how many millions of dollars they rake in on opening weekend. While most of the movies out there are mindless entertainment, sometimes we encounter a film that presents something far deeper. The Great Gatsby is one of those films.
Read MoreShould divorce be hard or easy? Should it be painful or painless? Should the legal steps become more complicated or should our lawmakers streamline the process?
The one thing that parents should be required (by law) to carefully examine when considering divorce is the impact that it will have on their kids. While most parents believe that a divorce will bring peace to their lives (and thus a better life for their children), this is rarely the case. The kids almost always get the bum end of the deal.
Read MoreAt the core of each of our souls can be found our sinful nature and our selfish heart holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” It is the truly sinful part of us that says, “I want my way” and asks, “What is in it for me?” While we are all prone to be selfish, this capacity must be slowly put to death if a marriage is to thrive.
Read MoreI try very hard to make sure most of what you find here at INFO is original content. But sometimes, I come across something so good that I have to share it. The email post I got from Jimmy Evans of Marriage Today is one such post. He wrote this morning about seeing the challenges of your marriage in light of the larger story that God is telling with your family. Take a few minutes to read what Jimmy wrote...especially if you are feeling like giving up.
Read MoreMoms are the "go-to" parent for most things. While dads have plenty to offer and can oftentimes provide the exact same help/information/resource that moms can, dads usually get a pass. Even as a 44 year old adult, I feel this every time I call home and my dad answers the phone. He's awesome in every way, but he is usually very quick to say, "Here's your mother." It's almost as if I have trained him to defer to her.
Read MoreIt's official. The world is going to hell in a hand-basket. (I don't really know what a hand-basket is, but I'm pretty sure it's an easy and expeditious way to get to hell.) Our teenagers, who were already being pushed to grow up too soon, are now being offered yet another means to flaunt their sexuality.
Read MoreImagine a giant line graph of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average. It tells a pretty wonderful story. It has a beautiful "up and to the right" look that screams success and growth. When you look at it from far away, you think, "I like the way that thing is going. I want to be a part of that!"
But if you get up close to the graph and see the daily and weekly ups and downs of the market, it looks like a roller coaster. A scary one. It is inconsistent and unreliable. You never know what each day will bring.
Read MoreGenerations of parents have had the same conversations with their kids. Whether it was 1910 or 2010, most every parent has felt the need to talk to their offspring about manners, character, and the birds & the bees. They have lectured on “doing your best” and “fulfilling your potential.” They have probably discussed grand issues of God and faith and the afterlife. While our culture has changed, these conversations have remained essentially the same.
But there is a conversation that our generation must have with our kids that no generation before us has had to consider. We are the guinea pigs and there is no role-model to follow.
We have to talk to our kids about their digital footprint.
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