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6 Ways to Keep Facebook from Harming Your Marriage
As we wrote about recently, I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I’m glad I restarted my account, as it is much easier to manage. I have noticed, though, a massive drop-off in the amount of traffic to our blog since the restart, but that’s okay. Facebook is a great tool, but far too many people (mis)use it in ways that are harming their homes. It has been reported recently that fully 33% of all divorces mention Facebook somewhere in the divorce filings. Certainly, there are ways to enjoy the good uses of Facebook without it leading to divorce, but it can be very easy to be trapped in a…
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Manoah & Being an Accommodating Parent
From the time our kids are very small, they are taught the life of Samson. He is depicted as the strongman of the Bible, and his feats of strength are truly remarkable. Even before he was born, Samson was chosen by God for a special purpose. He was to be a Nazirite from birth, which was unheard of, and he was not just to have a month-long Nazirite vow, but he was to live under the stipulations of the Nazirite. We know Samson’s ultimate downfall was his propensity toward ungodly women. As a man, he alone is guilty for his unwise decisions in that area. But I wonder if his…
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Where the Grass Doesn’t Grow : Why I Don’t Mind One Part of Our Yard Being Trampled
We are not too particular about our yard. I’ve never seeded my lawn, and I always mow in the same pattern, which I know isn’t perfect for the grass. That said, we do try to keep our yard trimmed and we do care if it is presentable. Well, most of it, that is. You see, there is a small area of our yard where I’m not sure we will ever have grass. The space is only about 5 or 6 feet wide, but it contains two areas of nothing but compacted dirt. Looking across our back yard, it stands out like a sore thumb. Brown patches with no growth right…
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Friday’s Family Friendly Finds {April 11, 2014 edition}
So, we haven’t posted since last week’s “finds.” We were involved in a Gospel Meeting in Jasper, Alabama with the 6th Avenue Church of Christ. We had a tremendous time there, and were so encouraged by those good folks. During the week, we were blessed to see 2 precious young people put Christ on in baptism, and there were 7 others who responded during the week seeking prayers of forgiveness and/or encouragement. Being around when people respond like that just never gets old! On to this week’s finds. This Week’s Finds Stop, Look, and Listen: The Teachings of a Tenacious Toddler [for the family] 15 Ways to Teach Kids How…
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Friday’s Family Friendly Finds {April 4, 2014 edition}
Before getting to this week’s finds, let me share with you that I’m not sure if we will have very many–if any–posts next week. I will be holding a Gospel Meeting during the week and I’m not sure if my schedule and access to the Internet will allow me to post. I may get in one or two posts, but we’ll just have to see. The Gospel Meeting, by the way, will be at the 6th Avenue church of Christ in Jasper, Alabama. If you’re in the area, I’ll be preaching at 9AM, 10AM, and 7PM on Sunday, then at 7PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. If you’re in…
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Why I Restarted on Facebook
I have been thinking about Facebook a lot lately, and I took a very odd series of steps over the past few days. To make a long story short, I have completely started over on Facebook. If you are still interested, let me give you the longer story. I have a very strong love/hate relationship with Facebook. It is a great way to keep up with folks, and it drives the most traffic to our blog–by far–of any site. However, I had grown weary of how Facebook has spiraled on me. I’m sure it will again, but I have been on the site since 2007 and it had gotten to…
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Politically Correct Fairy Tales
We love reading to our children. There are so many reasons this is true. One reason, though, is that we can choose to instill so many positive values in them through our selection of stories and literature. While a lot of books and stories are basically just “fun,” we try to expose them to positive, encouraging, and moral stories that we hope will build within them a desire to be the best they can be. And that’s why I’m thankful that many of the tales were written before the era of political correctness. In our “everyone is equal” and “no one loses” world, I can only imagine how certain fairy…
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Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, and “Conscious Uncoupling”
On the online celebrity newsletter Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin recently announced that their marriage was ending. That might not be too surprising, considering how often we hear of weddings and separations among the celebrity world. The way in which their split was announced, however, has raised some eyebrows. You see, they aren’t calling it a “divorce.” Instead, it is being called a “Conscious Uncoupling.” On the Goop newsletter, Paltrow and Martin provided a short statement to fans about this “conscious uncoupling,” and provided fans with some words of thanks. Following that, however, there was a rather lengthy essay by Drs. Habib Sadeghi and Sherry Sami about the concept…
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Dealing with Anorexia : Thoughts from One Who Prays
I will not use their names, but in the past few years, I have known two young ladies who have battled anorexia nervosa. This post is dedicated to those two girls, and is written by someone who wasn’t as close as he should have been, but who continues to pray for them as they battle. Please accept this post as trying to raise awareness and helping us all work together to do what we can to help those battling anorexia nervosa. We live in an image-obsessed society. The constant barrage of what is “perfect” is ever before our eyes. None of us measures up to the computer-enhanced, airbrushed, “perfect” image,…
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Friday’s Family Friendly Finds {March 28, 2014 edition}
Welcome to our weekly post where we share some articles for you to read over the weekend that should encourage you and your family. We hope you enjoy this weekly feature, and will help us by sharing articles and posts you find encouraging, either privately or in the comments. This Week’s Finds Maybe We Should Stop Entertaining Our Kids So Much [We are THAT Family] What You Really Need in Marriage [The Blazing Center] Teaching Our Children to Judge [for the family] Emotional Cues [Biblical Parenting] Trend Alert: 6 Messaging Apps That Let Teens Share (Iffy) Secrets [Common Sense Media] Our Week in Review These posts were not necessarily written…
