#045: How to Motivate Your Child (Podcast)
Most kids have to be told more than once to do things. They have to be constantly reminded over and over to clean their room, or to be nice to their siblings, or finish their homework. After all of this, it’s no wonder parents are exhausted! This big problem that all parents face in some […]
Avoid These 4 Holiday Mistakes That Hurt Families
Our “Happy Holidays” are not just going to be happy simply because they’re holidays or because we hope them to be happy. We have to make our holidays happy by the way we approach them. But that’s easier said than done, right? Life is really about relationships more than anything else. And mistakes in our […]
Ask for Nothing and Get Everything for Christmas
This year, I don’t want anything for Christmas.
I’ve said that to my wife, Susan, and our kids many times over the years. But, of course, they graciously got me something nice anyway. But if I was really firm about it, they might grant my request. You see, if I ask them to get me nothing for Christmas, I may truly get everything for Christmas.
#044: Our Crazy Adoption Story, Part 2 (Podcast)
In a lot of ways, the Merrill family is like any other family. We’ve had our triumphs and our tragedies, our good times and our hard times. But there are two huge ways in which our family is unlike any other and their names are Hannah and Grant. Ten years ago, we chose to expand […]
Are You Blind to Your Amazing Blessings?
Someone once said that “the eyes are useless when the mind is blind.” If that is true, I think I’ve approached a lot of Thanksgivings with a dim view of my many real blessings. I don’t always have the awe and wonder that I should. I should be in awe of the simple amazing blessings in […]
3 Ways to Influence Your Child’s Career Choice
I’ve really enjoyed doing interviews on the FOX & friends show on FOX NEWS a number of times over the last few months. On one show, they asked me to respond to a new study from the journal, Psychological Science, which suggested that when men do chores in the home it influences daughters to move into a […]
#043: What to Do When You’re Not in the Mood (Podcast)
When we talk about what a good marriage takes, we like to focus on the basics. We talk about loving our spouse, caring for our spouse, and spending time with our spouse. And while those things are certainly important, there’s a huge part of marriage that we tend to leave out…and that’s sex! On today’s […]
How to Deal with Your Spouse’s Bad Habits
He left the toilet seat up…again. She interrupted me mid-sentence…again. She hounded me about that to-do item…again. He left his clothes in a heap on the bedroom floor…again. Those annoying habits can be frustrating, especially when we’ve asked our spouse to stop doing them so many times. Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic […]
9 Things You Should Never Say to Your Husband
A few years ago, I posted a list of 10 Things Husbands Want to Hear from Their Wives, and it was so popular that we followed that up last year with another post of 10 More Things Husbands Want to Hear from Their Wives. And since I recently shared with the men the 9 Things You […]
