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Communication – The Thermometer of Your Marriage

Fall in South Florida is challenging for those of us who long for the splendor of the leaves while dreaming of a crackling fire and meaningful conversations. The temperature and humidity are often smothering, so we lower the degree on our AC and light a candle to set the mood. Our health is often measured by our body temperature. When it rises above 97.8 we begin to exhibit symptoms associated with an illness, go to a physician and often begin some type of medication to treat the symptoms and the disease. When it drops below 97.8 we begin to exhibit […]

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Why is “Thank You” So Important?

Understanding “Thank You” is one of the most missing elements in our culture.  “Thank you” is also one of the most important lessons a parent should teach a child. Post Katrina a group of displaced, homeless people in Louisiana had been given “homes,” albeit trailers, to live in for the past year (emphasis on the word “given”). They had also received food supplies. In any other culture, they would be left to fend for themselves.  Praise God America is a country that has a plan. Even after all the help they had received, they wanted to file suit against the […]

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Who Do Your Kids Look Up To?

Every fall as we pass 9/11 and are in the thick of storm season, I sit and process the amazing sacrifice our first responders and their families make. I can’t imagine weathering a storm knowing that your father/spouse is at the station preparing to go protect and serve the community. What a truly heroic act. Then it makes me stop and think about my kids and who they look up to…  Who do your kids look up to? Who are their heroes? Is it even important to think about who our children look up to? Only to the extent that we as […]

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The Power of Us: Expressing Appreciation

In the previous issue of the Good News, we shared a very common story of Zack and Ally, a couple living the Marriage Selfie life; appearances say they are amazingly happy in their marriage and successful in life. Sadly, social media has allowed us and sometimes pressures us to create “fake news” images and stories of relationship wellness and fulfillment, pictures of what we long and hope for versus the reality of where many of us live. I recently had a man share that his wife posted a picture of their family vacation that looked like they were blissfully happy. […]

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Keys to Healing Strained Relationships

Here are a few strategies to help you and I restore or at least redefine our strained relationships. Most people are weak when it comes to reconciling with another person. Most people are strong when it comes to ignoring problems in relationships. As a result, friendships take a nose dive, churches split, and marriages and families suffer. So what can we do to overcome this? 1.Reconciling with another person over an offense doesn’t necessarily mean the relationship will continue as if the offense never happened; this may be too high of an expectation too soon. New boundaries or different expectations […]

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“Unbroken” Sequel to Hit Theaters this September

“Unbroken: Path to Redemption” is a continuation of the story of Olympian and World War II hero, Louis Zamperini, which is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The first part of Hillenbrand’s book was featured back in 2014 with the Angelina Jolie directed “Unbroken,” which was nominated for three Academy Awards. Although initially well-received by fans and box office sales, some viewers were disappointed that the 2014 film seemed to end without including what the Zamperini family would consider the most important part: faith. This new film, slated to be released […]

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Selfie Marriage

The silence was thick Sunday morning as Zack pulled his 2018 BMW into a parking space at church. There was nothing to say to Ally, despite having just returned from a luxury Mediterranean cruise. The kids escaped to the safety of their friends’ company. Zack dutifully stepped out and retrieved their Bibles from the floor of the back seat. “Better take out the old bulletin so nobody knows I haven’t touched my Bible since the last time we were here,” thought Zack. Neither had Ally, even though she acted like some deep biblical scholar. Ha! If they only knew the […]

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Opening the Football Playbook

Football season is upon us. Whether you are a fanatic or “football-resistant” the fact is undeniable.  Here in South Florida we don’t have a lot of things that alert us to fall time. This may be the reason we all go crazy for our pumpkin lattes and fall decorations.  We don’t have the crisp air or the changing leaves. We may have a lift in the humidity but that is about it. One thing that we do have here is football. On Fridays, high school bands can be heard all over alerting us to the clash of the gridiron. And […]

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Grandparents Taking on The Role of Parents

You know when you get a new car, all of a sudden you start to see the same make and model everywhere? Well, that is happening to me with all things grandparent as I look forward to becoming a granddad this summer. A segment from the NBC news special, “One Nation Overdosed” caught my attention as it focused on grandparents faced with the reality of raising their grandchildren. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2012, there were 2.7 million grandparents who had the primary responsibility to care for their grandchildren who lived with them. The number of grandparent-headed households […]

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Loves Me Loves Me Not

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3 KJV). Lashes from one who should love us lacerate like sharp fangs. Rejection curls its snarling lips, extends its cavernous jaws and clamps down in the way a rabid wolf rips apart its prey. Sometimes the bite is a sarcastic slur; often it bears the mark of death in its grip. Joseph’s brothers knew how to bite so did a few of King David’s sons. Jacob […]

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