Blog
And the Winner Is…
Creating Safety in Relationships: Part 4 Tug-of-War When I was in elementary school, I loved track and field days. I was never much of a runner but I always loved participating in the tug-of-war event. I enjoyed the excitement of digging my heels in to the dirt and pulling with all my might to see… Read More
Putting the Pieces Together
Creating Safety in Relationships: Part 3 My mom and dad recently picked up the hobby of doing a puzzle per week together. They frequently go to the local thrift store and purchase slightly used puzzles at a fraction of the cost of new ones. Of course, it is always a gamble as to whether the… Read More
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Creating Safety in Relationships: Part 2 When I was a kid, I was told that God gave me two ears and one mouth for a reason. This probably had something to do with the fact that I enjoyed talking, a lot. To be fair, I had a lot of great ideas that needed to be… Read More
The Tortoise and the Hair Trigger
Creating Safety in Relationships: Part 1 The Tortoise Safety is built on trust and stability. When a family dynamic does not support trust and stability, emotional safety cannot be present. Enter the tortoise. When a tortoise gets scared, what does it do? It retreats into the safety of its shell. This shell is hard and… Read More
Wrestling with Failure
I recently attended a local wrestling tournament and I overheard an interaction between a dad and a son that warmed my heart. There was a young boy there that did not compete as well as he would have liked. The child was in tears and clearly distraught. His dad responded in the absolutely best way… Read More
Turning the Page
It’s Your Story Last week was a wonderful experience for me: conversations with Terry Brooks, lunch with Brent Weeks, awesome networking with speculative fiction authors from all genres, cosplay, and lots of Starbucks. My wife is a speculative fiction author and I had the exciting experience of accompanying her to the Realm Makers Conference in… Read More
Be Good…
Umm, what does that mean? What are your goals for your children? When I ask this question to the parents I work with, I get a variety of responses. I have come to believe that most of us really want our kids to become self-sufficient and productive members of society that are benevolent and… Read More
Lead By Example: Don’t Poke the Lizard
A psychological and biblical approach to parenting. I am sure that we have all heard many viewpoints regarding parenting, and everyone seems to have an opinion. However, one thing rings true over and over again: angry parenting is ineffective parenting. I mean, think about it. If you are anything like me, you have yelled at… Read More
Mansplaining
A Killer of Communication So, what do women want in communication? Mansplaining is not it. We have to recognize that all people have a desire to have a voice. We have to recognize that all people want their thoughts and feelings acknowledged and validated. One of the most common struggles that men have in communication… Read More
Sex Starts in the Kitchen
Rekindling the Fire Would you like to know more about having hot, steamy, passionate, monogamous sex with your spouse? I have worked with couples for years now and I have come to realize that intimacy issues are some of the biggest challenges in relationships. Have you ever wondered why that is? We are programmed for… Read More
Everyone’s A Critic
Overcoming Critical Parenting Okay, time for some self-disclosure. I am the father of 3 lovely children. They really are great kids and I truly am blessed. However, they are still kids. Let me set the stage. My 3 kids are age 8, 6, and 3. All of them have chores to do because we want… Read More
The Wedge
Rifts in relationships I have always really enjoyed science. When I was in elementary school, I had the opportunity to participate in a program called Invent America. It was kind of like a science fair, but specifically focused on creating new, innovative ideas for making life easier. This often seems like the goal for people,… Read More