For decades, sociologists have been telling us how important it is for children to feel loved and cared for. Proof of that concept came in the 1990s after a political revolution in Romania. Over 170,000 abandoned infants, toddlers, and teenagers were housed in a network of government-run institutions known as “child gulags.” The children were provided with food, but very few received loving touch or attention. Most of the children never knew what it was like to love or to be loved.
Stay on the Path
A man who knows that well is Tim Leatherman, the inventor of the Leatherman Tool. That’s a pair of pliers with additional tools stored in the handles, like screwdrivers, a saw, wire cutters, and a bottle opener. It’s like a Swiss Army knife that converts into a tool belt.
Tim came up with the idea during a vacation to Europe in 1975. Travelling on a budget, he rented the cheapest car he could afford. It broke down repeatedly throughout the trip.
Behind the Cardboard Sign
What does a hero look like to you? Would you recognize one just by looking?
In comic books, heroes are easy to spot. They wear a mask or a cape and have superhuman abilities. In the real world, heroes often carry a badge and are trained to save lives. Then there are heroes like Darin Barton.
Darin was standing on a highway overpass in Denver, Colorado when a semi-trailer barreling out of control plowed into stalled traffic below him.
Look Back to Move Forward
The great Winston Churchill once said, “Those who are unable to look back are unable to look forward.” For America to move into the future with our liberty intact, we must look backward and remember the principles of freedom upon which our country was built.
Looking backward is how Abraham Lincoln led America through the Civil War, one of our country’s darkest, most divisive, and bloodiest time periods. To keep the nation pointed in the right direction, Lincoln continually reminded the country of our noble beginnings.
Parenting Teens Toward Adulthood
At what age would you say that children become adults? Sixteen? Eighteen? Twenty-one?
Answers among parents likely vary widely. Psychologist, author, and expert in adolescent and family relationships, Dr. Ken Wilgus, encourages parents to think of their teenagers as adults in training. Teens, he says, are not big children; they are young adults. Treating them as such is a process Dr. Wilgus calls “Progressive Emancipation.”
Around age 13, childhood comes to its natural end. That doesn’t mean your job as a parent is over, but your job changes.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
If you’re a parent and want your household to function smoothly, you’re going to need some rules. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to know where the lines should be drawn. If you struggle with that, try this: don’t sweat the small stuff.
An idea that helped my wife Jean and me to draw boundaries when our boys were younger was to think of their behavioral problems in terms of “levels.” Eating a cookie before dinner, for example, would be a Level One offense.
Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged
Choosing someone you want to spend the rest of your life with is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. It requires a lot of wisdom.
When a couple dates, they tend to overlook their mate’s bad habits because they’re so caught up in the euphoria of their relationship. Even worse, they think, “That behavior will change once we’re married.”
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that your spouse will change in the ways you hope they will.
True American Greatness
It’s becoming controversial to take pride in America. Some say that a nation stained with injustice isn’t a nation worth celebrating. I would agree with that … if our country didn’t also correct our mistakes. And we do. The objective of a perfect society will never be obtained, so what counts is the direction we move.
Our Founders knew that building America would be a stumbling journey forward, toward our highest principles. And they gave us the greatest possible Constitutional framework with which to do it.
Strengthen Your Marriage with a Meet Up
I know a lot of couples who have happy marriages. They all share one thing in common: they make deliberate decisions to nurture their relationship, to connect, and to communicate with their spouse regularly.
Not surprisingly, the unhappiest couples aren’t intentional with each other, often because they don’t know how to be.
If that describes your relationship, we’re here to help.
Authors and relationship experts Bill and Pam Farrel are with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Strengthen Your Marriage with a Meet Up” to encourage husbands and wives to invest in their relationship through “marriage meet ups” – regular meetings together that provide the couple an opportunity to connect, reflect, and plan – intentionally.
Children are a Blessing – Not a Burden
The columnist Don Feder recently highlighted a Michigan State University poll that concluded, “1 in 5 adults in the Wolverine State do not want children and therefore are child free.”
Feder pointed out that even using the term “child free” connotates something akin to a disease.
Findings from the Pew Research Center paint an even darker picture when it comes to couples’ desire for children. Over 44% of people between the ages of 18 and 49 who don’t have children said it was “not too or not at all likely” they would ever have children – an increase of 7% since 2018.
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