God Loves You and Has a Plan for Your Life

God loves you has a plan for your life. This is life-changing truth # 1! Why is it # 1, the most important fact of your life? Think about the impact that believing that truth can have on your life. If you believe there is a God who is the Creator and ultimate authority of this world, then it matters what you believe He thinks about you. This can make all the difference in your life!  We were created by God to live in relationships with Him and others. For […]

Distracted

I pulled in behind a large SUV and got out my member and debit cards to be ready for my turn to pump gas. Nothing was happening at the pump in front of me, so I assumed the person might have finished and would be leaving soon. I waited patiently a couple more minutes, and it dawned on me that the driver had not even begun to do what they had supposedly come there to do, to pump gas. A minute or so later, the person got out, and with […]

How Emotionally Mature Are You?

How emotionally mature are you? What if someone treated you the way you treat others? Would you feel happy, angry, disappointed, important or encouraged? Have you had someone hurt you by their careless remark or act?  Have you considered that your words and actions have a powerful effect on others? This is especially true with your child. To a large degree your child’s sense of himself comes from his interpretation of your words and actions toward him. No one can be perfect, we all make mistakes. However, being mindful of […]

Do You Really Want to Build Trust?

Do you  really want to build trust in your marriage? If so, you need to see how things you do or do not do everyday affect your spouse’s ability to trust you. Marriage has multiple demands that go beyond maintaining and growing the relationship with your spouse. Work, child rearing, financial management, and such things as maintaining where you live play a part in how trust is built or destroyed in your marriage. With effort a deficit of trust in any of these areas can be overcome in time. However, […]

Trust Your Spouse?

There is no way to overstate the importance of trust in marriage. Trust is to your marriage what your heart is to your body. Trust is absolutely indispensable to a healthy marriage. Therefore, our character and the things we do to earn trust are vital if we are to have a good marriage. What I have just said implies at least two important things about trust. First, trust is a basic need in your marriage. Being able to depend on each other to respect your deepest feelings and needs builds […]

The Trust Factor: Marriage (part one)

Trust is vital in marriage. I recently heard of a situation where a young wife had discovered her husband was having an affair. When she confronted him about his unfaithfulness and the marriage vows he took he replied, “That’s just a piece of paper.” The “piece of paper” he was referencing was, of course, the marriage license. There are several things wrong with a scenario like this. First, adultery is wrong. It is a breach of trust between a man and a woman who have agreed to be faithful to […]

The Healthy Love Choice

Loving your child in a healthy way is not such an easy thing to do. It is not that your child doesn’t need or deserve such love but healthy love requires a high degree of personal discipline and maturity. Good parenting can’t be done by lazy people. Undisciplined parents cannot raise disciplined children. Unfortunately, some adults are incapable of healthy love because they are stuck in their own childhood needs. They have not grown up and cannot give a mature, grown-up kind of love. This is why I believe the […]