I want an exceptional family. My dream family never fights, no one throws a tantrum, and they all sit at the dinner table happily eating their vegetables. My dream family also sits quietly in church with hands folded, listening intently to the pastor.
My real family is loud, opinionated, and chaotic.
Evie, the three year old, is [...]

I’m a sucker for the Olympics.  I’m not sure why, but for several weeks every two years my evenings consist of my wife and I sitting on the couch and watching an evening full of events.  Like every Olympic year, NBC rolls out a whole shlew of stories featuring athletes and their emotional struggles that [...]

An Atlanta family has received a lot of publicity for their decision to sell their big home, buy a smaller one and use the profits to help those in need.  The Salwen family says it all started when their 14-year-old daughter Hannah became upset with the unequal chances for people based on their wealth.  By [...]

“What are you staring at?” a disheveled mom at the grocery story hissed at me.
Before I could answer, she spun around, and demanded that the clerk apologize—again—for accidentally bumping her cart with her newborn inside.
“I said I was really sorry,” the cashier replied meekly. “It was an accident.”
The angry mom turned her rage back [...]

Leading up to this year’s Super Bowl, there was some controversy about a pro-life ad from Focus on the Family.  The commercial featured Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow and his mom Pam, who  talked about her decision not to have an abortion (without actually saying the word abortion).   Pro-choice groups criticized CBS for accepting [...]

“We’ve decided to adopt from China?” I’d announce.
“Really! Why?” was usually the standard answer. Then came, “You know there are lots of babies who need good homes right here in the United States.”
I knew. And I’d seen some of their faces on adoption websites. It was gut-wrenching to read about them. The more I investigated [...]

“How much did she cost?”  the cashier at the grocery store asked, pointing to my daughter.
I nervously shifted Evie, on my hip and swiped my credit card. My husband and I had just gotten home from Beijing, China, with our new daughter and I wasn’t prepared for prying questions from strangers.
“How much did you pay [...]

In 2009, I began to use Twitter and Google Reader in a more concerted way. One of the things I have discovered by using these two tools is how many good writers there are out there. There are way more good writers who could write wonderfully helpful books than there will be a market or [...]

I’ve written here before about why I believe family focused talk in churches is alienating and excluding Christian singles and childless couples. I was thinking more on the topic recently, and thinking about how family focus also devalues other kinds of important relationships.
For example, I’ve lived with the same roommate for the last 2 years. [...]

(Guest Blogger: Dave Trout.  Dave is the host of the nationally syndicated program ‘Under the Radar’ which features the best in under-appreciated Christian music.  He also writes a weekly column called ‘The Gourmet Music Report.’  In this post, he’s taking a little break from music to talk about culture.)
Should a pastor friend of mine have [...]