A number of weeks ago my wife and I arranged a meeting with the president of the local religious congregation we are serving. We were to meet at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon to plan some upcoming meetings with his presidency and other leaders of the congregation. We arrived at the church just before the appointed […]

This black and white sketch was drawn for us by Dev, a new friend in India. I love it. For Christians, it represents one of the most important events in history—the birth of the Christ child. But whether you are Christian or not the painting embodies the tender love of family—the sweet innocence and radiance […]

Most Indians are inventive, self-sufficient, and resourceful. I’ve been amazed by the creative ways so many find to make a living and provide for their families. And yet, not surprisingly, we’ve encountered some who beg for money or food. Most sad is watching little children in the streets who come up to cars and ask […]

Isn’t technology wonderful? When I was a boy if I wanted to change the channel on the TV, I had to get up and go the TV. Now, all we do is point a remote in the general direction of the TV, press a button and change the channel. It is easy. Then I began […]

Hello Friends! I’m excited to announce the launch of a new, state-of-the-art video training course on How to Raise Responsible, Emotionally Mature Children. As a thank-you for your subscription to my email newsletter, I am offering the video course (normally priced at $199) for a limited time, promotional price of only $29. If you enroll and complete this course, […]

My last blog was about doing hard things. Any success requires that we develop the discipline to do hard things rather than procrastinating, avoiding, or taking the path of least resistance. In this blog I want to talk about how to teach our children to do hard things. I’ve heard a consistent message from leaders […]

Back in the 1940s and ’50s, a medical doctor by the name of René Spitz conducted a number of experiments with orphaned children. In one study, babies were cared for by nurses who changed their diapers, fed them regularly, and made sure they were warm, but otherwise these infants received little or no interaction or […]

Here is a message from some good friends, Mark and Lisa Sabey, who have a son at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, location of last week’s tragic shooting. Friday, Dec. 13–Our son Daniel and his Arapahoe Singers group were dressed in their knickers, sweaters and winter scarves as they caroled through the high school halls. […]

 The holidays are not only a wonderful time of year but also stressful, as our normal routine is replaced with a spiraling array of demands–shopping, decorating, social and family gatherings, and so on. Most of us are excited as the holidays approach. But then they don’t always live up to what we hope, and we […]

In my last post I introduced four principles for creating positive relationships: empathy, honesty, responsibility and shared vision. I consider them the four cornerstones of a good healthy relationship, whether it be marriage, parent-child, boss-employee and so on. My goal is to grow in my ability to live these qualities in each of my relationships. […]