Dr. Brad Wilcox is a friend and the highly respected Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. He’s also an Associate Professor of Sociology.

For years, Brad and his colleagues have been studying the positive impact of marriage on the culture. His work is not manipulated to prove a point. He’s a scientist who studies and analyzes data and draws conclusions based upon facts. In one of his most revealing articles, he makes an interesting statement, but one that also confirms what Christians believe about God’s institution of marriage:

The long-term fortunes of the modern economy rise and fall with the family.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage November 14, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain,” wrote the late Dale Carnegie, “but it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”  Let me ask you: What is the spirit like in your home and around your table?

The origin of the following story is unknown, but the moral is clear – and convicting.

BURNED BISCUITS

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage November 8, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

We were married on August 24, 1986, a sun drenched day in Santa Ana, California. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years, a full quarter-century!

I first met Jean Stephens in 1985 at a wedding in California. People often say that weddings are great places to meet people (for good reason!), but at the time I wasn’t interested in finding a girlfriend. Honest! I had recently returned from a year in Japan and graduated from college.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage August 25, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

You’ve heard the adage, “Happy wife, happy life,” but how about this one:

The happier your marriage, the better your chance of surviving and recovering from heart surgery.

It’s true.

According to a new study out of the University of Rochester, the better a person’s marriage, the more likely they are to live longer after heart surgery than those who are single or unhappy in marriage.

“I can only imagine that people who have a good marriage are pretty happy people,” said a Boston cardiac surgeon, Robert Hagberg.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage August 23, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura