Family by God&#039;s Design

Are You Naked and Unafraid?

Healthy marriages provide an opportunity for us to return to the Garden of Eden and stand like Adam and Eve: naked and unafraid. I don’t mean just physically naked. I mean completely open and exposed to our partner—emotional, spiritually, and mentally naked before our partner and still unafraid. That is a vulnerable position; but, in...

Grace

acceptance admiration intimacy love trust

February 13, 2017

Make Date Night Spectacular

Remember the movie Date Night (2010) with Steve Carrell and Tina Fey? It was a fun movie about a couple (Steve Carrell and Tina Fey) who went on a date to escape the bored routine of their life and spark up their romance. In their attempt to have a glamorous night out, they get mixed...

Celebration

intimacy marriage relationships time

February 11, 2017

When Your Children Get Angry

All kids get angry. I hate to say it, but it’s true. No matter how hard you try, your children will get angry. It can feel frightening and overwhelming when your children have an angry outburst. But, anger is not all bad. Anger is an emotion and all emotions have a purpose. When our children...

Family Shepherds

emotional health emotions parenting problem-solve

February 6, 2017

Old School Time to Nurture Your Marriage

I hardly remember the day (even though it was not so long ago) when we had no cell phones or even pagers. Remember what it was like to have only one phone in the house…and that one attached to the wall? What did married couples do to stay in touch? How did married couples know...

Celebration Honor

communication connection intimacy marriage

February 4, 2017

2 comments

7 Lessons to Strengthen Our Daughters

Our daughters hear all the mixed messages society shouts out about femininity and the role of women. What they ultimately believe will be greatly influenced by their family. Even more, I believe fathers have a great responsibility to influence their daughter’s perception of what it means to be female and how to express their femininity...

Family Shepherds

daughter parent child relationship parenting

January 30, 2017

4 Traits of Great Fathers

While studying for a Sunday School lesson recently, I ran across some very interesting words to describe the role of fathers. Paul used them to describe his own care for the Thessalonians. He said, “You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you...

Family Shepherds

discipline encouragement example father parent child relationship parenting time

January 28, 2017

Strengthen Your Marriage…Old School

Sometimes the best way to get something done is to go “old school on it.” Throw out the newfangled gadgets and just go old school. Drop the gizmos, the 140 letter limit, the memes, and the gif’s…just go old school. In fact, I think going old school could really strengthen your marriage. For instance, go...

Celebration Honor

admiration adoration communication intimacy marriage

January 23, 2017

The 4 Guys You Take on Every Date

I recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of high school boys about dating. I love speaking to young people about relationship. I was asked to speak to this group about dating and chose to tell them about the four guys they date when they go out with girl. As you can imagine,...

Family Shepherds Honor

love respect support

January 21, 2017

Great Marriages Have CARP

Many people in the area I live (Western PA) know about the carp at Pymatuning, “where ducks walk on carp.” Over 300,000 people a year throw chunks of bread into the water and watch the carp literally swim on top of one another to eat it. So many carp clamber over one another that ducks...