Hope & Faith

Since there's conflict in every romantic relationship, learning to fight fair just might be the most important lesson any couple can master. You know, there's a real difference between healthy and unhealthy combat in marriage. And everything depends on the way disagreements are handled.

You know, one of the most enjoyable things about having an international radio program is the thousands of cards and letters that I get from listeners. And I particularly love those that come from children. One of those letters came in recently from a nine-year-old girl named Christina. She sent me a poem that she had written and dedicated it to her to her grandmother. Let me share it with you.

In this day when one in five couples is infertile, more and more families are looking to adoption as the alternative of choice. For those who have taken this step or are presently contemplating it, there's the issue of how to tell the child he or she is adopted. Well, let me offer four suggestions that I hope will be helpful.

It's common to hear people say today that being a homemaker is boring and that the mothers who stay at home to raise children are accepting an unchallenging way of life. Well, compared with what, I might ask? The truth is, almost any occupation you can name—from a telephone operator to a medical pathologist to an attorney or dentist—involves long hours of tedious activity.

One of the unfortunate characteristics of life in the modern world, is the high level of anxiety that so many people experience today.

We're gonna be celebrating Mother's Day here in the United States, and that gives me an occasion to tip my hat to those special women whom we honor every year at this time. There is no assignment on earth that requires the array of skills and understanding needed by a mom in fulfilling her everyday duties. She must be a resident psychologist, physician, theologian, educator, nurse, chef, taxi driver, fire marshal and occasional police officer.

Around this time of year, many people find themselves feeling mildly depressed, even after a happy and exciting holiday with friends and family. Some people wonder if this means they have a serious emotional problem, but most of the time there's nothing to worry about.

It's been said that values are not taught to children—they're caught by them. Children absorb what their mothers and fathers believe by watching them in everyday situations.

A grand old hymn combined with classical music.

There was a time when uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters were available to give parents a helping hand with child rearing. But more typically today, the extended family is spread all over the continent and might not even be trusted anyway. Even grandparents are sometimes unavailable because they're just as busy as their kids.

In It Ain't Over, the first film in the ED'S STORY series, Ed Dobson reminds us that life isn't over yet and that we don't have to feel overwhelmed by the struggles we're facing today. Difficult news can sometimes make us feel like our lives are over. Ed shows us that we don't know the future, and that things may turn out quite differently from what we expect.

Forgive and forget. It sure is a lot easier to say than to do. When our spouses do something to wound us deeply, can we ever truly forgive them? And if we do forgive them, can we ever forget the pain that they've caused us?

The Daily Pulse (Tuesday, July 23, 2013): Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NIV)

Have you noticed that family members are experts at trying to control one another? Deep within the human spirit is the desire for raw power. We want to run our lives and everyone else's if we can. In fact, I've listed sixteen techniques that people commonly use to manipulate those around them—including...

"Smithsonian" magazine once featured a master stone carver from England named Simon Verity, a man who honed his craft by restoring 13th century cathedrals in Great Britain. As the authors watched him work, they noticed something very interesting.

I'm sure you've heard the old story about the father who said that giving his daughter to the man she loved was like giving a Stradivarius to a gorilla. I think all dads feel that way about their little girls, and maybe for some very good reasons. Sometimes, it seems today, that courtesy and respect have been replaced by hostility toward women.

Have you noticed that children will occasionally disobey their parents for the express purpose of testing just how much they can get away with? This game, called "Challenge the Chief," can be played with surprising skill, even by very young children.

In marriage as in courtship, there's a simple rule of thumb for intimacy: take your time. Some interesting research has been done recently on the emotional bonding between husbands and wives. According to Dr. Donald Joy, a couple bonds most closely when they move slowly and systematically through the various stages of intimacy during their courtship and early marriage.

The idea of authority in dealing with children has fallen into disrepute in recent years. And it's no wonder. The moment you even use the word authority, there are people who mistakenly think you are referring to harshness and anger. They picture a father who rules with an iron fist, and when he speaks, everybody jumps because they're afraid not to.

In the typical family today, is Dad thought of as a hero or a bum? Believe it or not, the answer may depend on what Mom thinks. This maternal influence was beautifully described in a book called, FATHERS AND SONS, by Lewis Yablonsky. He told about growing up in a Yiddish home, and sitting around the dinner table listening to his mother say things like,...