I recently read an article by Dr. James Dobson, in which he talks about the opportunities we miss in our Western cultural mindset of retirement. He talked about a retirement center “where the residents spent most of their time playing cards, pickleball, shuffleboard, and drinking heavily at parties. For them, life was like being on…
I recently met with a client who is experiencing some struggles in his marriage. While the struggles aren’t easy, he doesn’t see them as insurmountable because he states with confidence that he and his wife are, and always have been, best friends. Some couples started out as friends before dating, while others began dating, getting…
Discovering what you are here to do can be a challenge. From the time that we were young children, we had adults asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up. We might have responded with statements such as, “I want to be a fireman,” or “I want to be an astronaut.” When…
I see many couples in my office who are in the middle of the tornado. By that I mean, they have school age children at home; they both work full-time; then they have to take one kid to gymnastics and the other one to soccer practice. The weekend comes and there are soccer games to…
So, many times when individuals examine or contemplate their “Purpose,” they envision some great calling with astounding results. Things like: discovering a cure for cancer, preaching the Gospel to millions – like Billy Graham, writing best selling novels that thrill readers around the world, or founding an organization to help those in need – such…
I see couples on a daily basis and most often they are individually very different from each other. One person is quiet while the other is more outgoing; one is spontaneous while the other plans out everything; or each are on opposite sides of the introvert/extrovert scale. People tend to marry people who are at…
You may be thinking, “I don’t know that I met anybody during COVID, except for the person giving the vaccine, because we were all locked down at home.” Then you may have had a chance to meet a really important person – the person you could meet on introspection – yourself. From the beginning of…
For the past year, I have been on a declutter quest. You see, I have lived in our current house for over 25 years – the longest I have lived in one place. And living in the same place for this long, I have accumulated stuff. Things I haven’t used in years but always tend…
Now you may be thinking, “I’ve heard of faith, faithfulness, faithlessness, godly faith, various religious faiths, a wide range of denominational faiths – but I have never heard of Jenga faith.” Well, you probably haven’t heard of it because I made it up. Actually, it was my son who made the following observation. So, many…
For many step-parents, the answer to this question would be a resounding “No!” I have heard comments such as, “I was such great friends with his kids before we got married. I don’t know what happened.” Or “My partner and I had discussed this issue prior to marriage and thought we had a handle on…