Marriage & Parenting

5 Things You Should Always Say to Your Spouse

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I read an article recently about the five things you should never say to your spouse.  It wasn’t very good, but it did get me thinking about what things you should say.

1. “Yes.”
First, a word of caution.  Men, this is not meant as a license to blurt out “yes!” when your wife asks if she looks fat in those pants.  Ladies, if your husband is trying in vain to find his keys and mutters, “I’m such an idiot,” that is not the time for an enthusiastic “yes!”

But in most other scenarios, “yes” is a great response. Here are a very few examples:
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Christianity, Culture, Marriage & Parenting

Christmas Can Be So Much More

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I’m all for Santa, stockings, cookies and milk by the fireplace, presents, a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments, and all the other traditions that make Christmas a magical time for children.

BUT

If you are a Christian, Christmas can be so much more.

My two-and-a-half year old son and I were at Target a couple days ago and when we went to check out, he said, “there’s Santa!”  I could understand his confusion, as the Target employee was wearing red and, frankly, looked a lot like Santa.
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Christianity, Culture

Duck Dynasty Star Shot Down By A&E

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The news of Phil Robertson’s suspension is all over the internet.  The twitterverse is abuzz.  Lost in many of the stories and tweets is the full text of his relevant comments to GQ, so let’s start with those:

“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
. . .
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Christianity

“Love Yourself” – Really?

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Most people are familiar with Jesus’ proclamation of the greatest commandment:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ~ Matthew 22:34-40

I heard a Christian pastor give his explanation of the second part of this commandment; he said that it is essential that you love yourself.  He said that you can’t love your neighbor if you don’t first love yourself. I’ve heard this theory on more than one occasion and it always strikes me as ridiculous. Here is my take on it.
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Christianity, Culture, Law

Court Tells Florist: “Tolerance” Will Not Tolerate Your Religious Belief

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The Washington Attorney General is exerting the weight of his office on a 70-year-old grandmother. Amazingly, that grandmother is still standing. But she could lose everything she owns, all because she is unwilling to abandon her religious convictions and create unique artistic expression that violates her beliefs.

The parties:
Barronelle Stutzman is a mother of eight, a grandmother of 23, and a floral artist. She is the owner of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts, a corporation founded in 1989 and previously operated by her mother, before Barronelle purchased the company 12 years ago.
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Marriage & Parenting, Random

The Hidden Danger of Milk

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Every parent should be aware of this threat, and carefully consider whether to give your child milk.

—

Boy wakes up and finds a mess.
Pants are soaked and bed is wet.

Mother hears cries of distress,
enters and is less than impressed.

Bed and boy are stripped, reclothed.
Fabric piled, still damp and cold.

While at the laundy, to him she says,
“no more milk before bed.”

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[Response to Weekly Writing Challenge: Fifty]
Admittedly, I came a bit late to the party on this challenge, but felt compelled to write one anyway.

Marriage & Parenting

Advice on Love from The Princess Bride

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I blogged about The Princess Bride a few weeks ago in my post, 5 Things You Should Always Say to Your Spouse.  After that post, I realized that The Princess Bride has more to say about love and relationships.  Here are a few things that we can learn about love from Westley and Buttercup.

As you wish
1. Act out your love.

Performing acts of service for your spouse is a great way to say “I love you.”  Westley lived out this principle and earned Buttercup’s abiding love.   Incidentally, the book (by William Goldman) tells us exactly what Westley was saying to Buttercup through his act of love:
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Culture

Mozilla: Champion of Equality…Some Restrictions Apply

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Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich–the guy who created JavaScript–resigned yesterday as CEO from the Mozilla Corporation and from the board of the nonprofit foundation that wholly owns the company.

Here are some of the reasons he did not resign:

Incidentally, the various company founders and/or CEOs who did the things described above retained their positions.
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Music

Something More Powerful Than Cancer

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To say that cancer has “touched” us all fails to adequately describe the grabbing, twisting, tearing hands it lays upon our coworkers, our friends, our family.

To say we’ve all been “affected” by cancer doesn’t begin to express the gut-wrenching, heartrending devastation that cancer can leave in its wake.

I wrote this song for a friend that was diagnosed with cancer because I wanted my friend to remember, and I wanted to remind myself, that there is something bigger than cancer.  And because sometimes the fear that seeks to invade our soul is a much more deadly threat than anything that might attack our body.
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Culture

Breaking Up with Valentine’s Day

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You know that pit in your stomach when you know you have to end a relationship but you are dreading the moment?

Will the other person yell at you, cry incessantly, sit silently without uttering a word . . . .  I suppose if you dated a certain popular songwriter, you’d also have to wonder if she will be penning a song about your relationship in the months to come.  There is also the nagging question: “Am I doing the right thing?”

When I sat across from Valentine (“Val”) a few weeks ago at a quaint little French bistro, I had none of these concerns.  I had outgrown her, and not only did she have a right to hear why, she needed to know why.  The conversation went something like this:
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Culture

No One Is Watching Your Facebook Movie

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Lately my Facebook news feed is inundated with posts that say “Here’s my Facebook movie. Find yours at https://facebook.com/lookback/.”

I confess, I watched the first one that popped up, because I wanted to see generally what they looked like.  And then I watched mine.   That was sufficient.

Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand the appeal of watching a compilation of  milestone events in your life, and to the extent those milestone events occurred on (or were captured by) Facebook, that’s great.  But what I don’t understand is why any of us would be under the delusion that others would feel the same intense longing to watch a video recap of our Facebook experience.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know.

Christianity, Culture, Politics

Save Saeed – If He Was Your Spouse, Would He Be Worth It?

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My predictions:

  1. This will be the most important thing you read today.
  2. Most of you are not likely to do anything about it.

I’m pretty confident about #1.  I’m really hoping I’m wrong about #2.

Here is my question.  If your spouse was being held in a foreign country, regularly beaten, in horrible conditions, deprived of essential medication, and at constant risk of death due to disease, malnutrition, or murder, would you be sufficiently motivated to advocate for his/her release? What if it was your close friend’s spouse, or a neighbor, or a co-worker?
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thoughts from a bearded lawyer