I feel a pressing need to repost an updated version of an article first published in February of 2022. Attacks on the family, especially those against the bodies and minds of our precious and vulnerable children, have escalated in ways few would have ever imagined, even two years ago. The immoral left has no limits… Continue reading Everyman’s Guide to Woke Terminology II
No other success can compensate for failure in the home." J. E. McCulloch After discovering I work with distressed couples, people sometimes ask me what I consider the leading cause of marital breakdown. Great question. I’m sure every counsellor or therapist has an opinion on this. Get ten of us in a room, and you’ll… Continue reading Who’s Orbiting Who?
When our youngest daughter was eight, she wanted a mouse. A white mouse. We already had a pretty good dog, but Leah wanted a mouse. My wife, Melissa, has an aversion to rodents, so you can probably guess who Leah approached to maximise her probability of success. As a management consultant in one of my… Continue reading I Can’t Talk!
June remains the most popular month of the year for weddings. To honour God’s amazing design for gender, marriage and healthy sexuality, I'm reposting an article from two and a half years ago, celebrating gender uniqueness. What better month to do that? Call me crazy, but one of the ways I like to express my… Continue reading Bigger Than Pronouns … Again
The left thrives by keeping Americans divided, dependent and angry." Daily Signal For some of my more sensitive or battle-weary readers, this piece will seem like a bit of a rant. As I mentioned in my original blog article, "The Road Ahead", anything that affects the family is fair game and important. Sadly, many life… Continue reading Everyman’s Guide to Woke Terminology
A lie stands on one leg, the truth on two."Benjamin Franklin Melissa and I have been lying to our kids for over twenty years. We had three of our four babies when we were living in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Our house was a hundred and twenty-five-year-old late Victorian with a slate Mansard roof. An historic landmark… Continue reading The Disappearing Pool
Many of God’s creatures will put up with a lot of adversity, but when precious offspring are threatened, some parents will defend their young to the death. Consequences for offenders can involve mauling, bites, missing eyes or ears, or even election loses. Mothers and fathers in Virginia (USA) rose up and sent a clear message… Continue reading Don’t Mess with our Kids!
I was spoiled by my family yesterday. The five of us (plus our Rough Collie) took a rigorous Father’s Day hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, followed by appetisers and beverages at a local brewery. After late afternoon showers and naps, we prepared supper together and kept the day’s celebration going. Heading… Continue reading More Than Neckties
With so many school-aged children at home these days due to the China virus, I’m hoping many parents will consider continuing to home school their precious sons and daughters after the health risks of the virus have receded. That’s my goal with this post. Melissa and I home schooled our children for seven years. We… Continue reading Keep on Home Schooling
(This is Part II of teaching children responsibility through consequences. This post will make more sense if you first read Part I entitled, “Dogs Can’t Talk”) At the end of our last episode, we left our hero standing on his suburban front lawn, waiting for “the shoe to drop”. Actually, there was no hero —… Continue reading Stewing in Juice
(Part one of a two-part article on responsibility and consequences) A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7b When I was eleven, I accidentally set fire to my parent’s house. Mum and dad had left for work, and I had an hour to kill before school. Normally that wasn’t a big deal, but on this… Continue reading Dogs Can’t Talk
Most families treasure their traditions. Some even pass them down from generation to generation. At our house, one of our traditions is designed to create tension and suspense in my wife, Melissa. Maybe even some anxiety. Whenever Melissa travels out of town, my son and daughters and I conspire to do something that Melissa would… Continue reading Coming Home
Call me crazy, but one of the ways I like to express my thankfulness to God is to write and speak gender-specifically. Not all “gender-inclusive” style books published within the past twenty years agree with my zeal for gender specificity, but that doesn’t dampen my resolve. I prefer words that celebrate the layers of differences… Continue reading Bigger Than Pronouns
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 107:1 In the autumn of 2002, my three-year-old son, Andrew, and I visited his sister, Elizabeth, while she slept peacefully in her cozy incubator in the neo-natal intensive care unit of Boston's New England Medical Center. As Andrew and… Continue reading Growing in Gratitude
(This article was originally published in April 2013. I’m hoping a whole new crop of fathers will find it helpful.) I have a thirteen-year-old son who plays competitive tennis. That makes me a "tennis dad". Lately, I don't think I'm doing so well in that role. I recall hearing a statistic that more than 90%… Continue reading Sporting Fathers
Peace in the Home 