I remember driving home alone in my car years ago and contemplating this question: How did I get to this place where I (and everyone else I know) feel out of breath from the daily race?

I found myself imagining how much simpler life must have been in Little House on the Prairie days.((READMORE))

Every 12 years in the northern India town of Allahabad, the Hindu faithful participate in what claims to be the largest religious gathering in the world. Nearly 70 million pilgrims converge on the spot where the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati Rivers come together.((READMORE))

On a rainy December day in December 1925, U.S. Army pilot Carl Crane was flying a congressman’s son back to Washington, DC, when he became disoriented in a thick expanse of clouds. He was 8,000 feet over Detroit.((READMORE))

One spring day years ago, I stood before a small group of men at our FamilyLife office in Little Rock. I had invited them to discuss with me the concept of Family Reformation in America, something we desperately needed and felt called to initiate on a major scale.((READMORE))

I am so grateful I had a mom and dad who received Christ as their Savior and were assured of being welcomed into heaven when they died. But I know it’s not that way for everyone.

Perhaps you are not sure if your parents have a real faith in Jesus.((READMORE))

One of the most difficult days I can remember was when I drove to meet my college-age daughter with the expressed purpose of encouraging her to break off a serious dating relationship.
I assure you, my decision was not impulsive but a result of prayer.((READMORE))

During the critical Civil War battle at Gettysburg, a key engagement occurred near the crest of a hill called Little Round Top. A Union regiment under the command of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was charged with defending this strategic position.((READMORE))

A friend wrote to tell me of an incident in his home, a scene uncomfortably familiar to many of us. He and his wife had experienced some conflict—nothing major, just enough to leave the air a bit tense as the breakfast rush ended and the kids disappeared for school.((READMORE))

When you enter a room—whether it’s a Sunday school class, a company meeting or maybe a lunch event—it’s usually not very hard to gauge the mood of the place. It’s warm, it’s cold, it’s engaging, it’s distant, it’s comfortable, it’s stuffy.((READMORE))

In their book Playstation Nation, Kurt and Olivia Bruner tell the story of a mom who finally had enough.
Enough video gaming.
She had already earned high marks for unpopularity by limiting her boys’ game time to one hour a day.((READMORE))

Barbara was driving into town from home one day when, topping a hill, she spotted a two-year-old boy standing there in his diaper—smack dab on the yellow line in the middle of the road. Without enough time to brake, she swerved wildly onto the shoulder, coming to a screeching stop a good distance past the child.((READMORE))

Men, this may not be an easy thing to admit with your wife sitting right next to you. But let’s be honest—you’ll likely relate to the story I’m about to tell.

I was seated in a car with another Christian leader—a good friend of mine.((READMORE))

A number of years ago, while our house was still bursting with teenagers, I mused on what life would be like when they were gone. Here is part of what I wrote:

Someday when the teens are gone, our car insurance payments will once again be smaller than our house payments.((READMORE))

As our children were born and my responsibilities as a mom increased, my spiritual disciplines and devotional life became a phenomenal source of failure for me.

As a single and then as a young married woman, I had been so faithful in experiencing daily, set-aside time with God.((READMORE))

Barbara and I know a little about building into our marriage when we are separated by travel. In fact, some of our most miserable disagreements have occurred around traveling. We’ve come to greatly admire those married couples who serve in the military and are separated for long periods of time because of deployments.((READMORE))

We all long for the perfect. The perfect home, perfect spouse, perfect body, perfect job, perfect church.

In 1976, our family moved from Dallas to Little Rock and bought a little yellow three-bedroom frame house with a porch and white shutters.((READMORE))

Many of us adopt the world’s view in how we raise our children: We believe that responsible parenting means making sure they go to the best schools, wear the best clothes and participate in numerous outside activities so that they’ll grow into successful adults with well-paying jobs.((READMORE))

After one of our many radio broadcasts in which I talked about the vital importance of praying together as a couple (I hope you’re hearing that strongly in this book, because it is so essential to the success of your marriage), a gentleman wrote me with a new way of looking at this.((READMORE))

Many of us marry with the illusion that the excitement and magic of new love will never fade away. Then, at some point in the first couple years of marriage, we wake up and realize that reality is a bit different.((READMORE))

Not everyone has fond memories of their relationship with their parents. Perhaps even now, the relationship you share with your parents is strained and distant. You may even find yourself avoiding them, weary of being hurt by the things they say or do .((READMORE))

Several years ago, I began a mentoring relationship with Bryan Carter, an African-American pastor in the Dallas area. One of the first things I challenged him to do was to write a tribute to his father to thank him for the things he had done right.((READMORE))

It’s been both fun and extremely touching in writing these devotions to go back through the mailbag and re-read some of the letters I’ve received over the years. I love hearing from those who have been inspired through our ministry to invest in their families.((READMORE))

As a teenager, I recall my dad pushing back from the dinner table and walking a few blocks to visit his mother. Sometimes I would go with him, though the visits were pretty boring. There was little more than the ticking and occasional chirping of the cuckoo clock and the creaking of Grandma Rainey’s rocking chair.((READMORE))

One story that stands out among those contributed to my book A Mother’s Legacy is Vonette Bright’s account of the “kissing club” that she and some other teenage girls tried to start, in hopes of getting kissed by some of the boys in school.((READMORE))

We see a lot of advertising slogans today. Companies are always looking for newer, snazzier ways to position their products and services. But one positive feature that can never be dreamed up in a brainstorming session is a statement such as “Serving You for More than 50 Years” or “Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence."((READMORE))

You should always consider your children your primary “disciples”—the main ones you’re responsible in leading to faith in Christ and keeping infused with biblical truth and spiritual guidance. But this can become a very difficult task, especially through the teenage years, when simply keeping up a conversation can present a challenge.((READMORE))

As Bob Lepine, my cohost on FamilyLife Today, was leaving for work one morning, he put his arm around his wife and prayed, “Lord, I ask that You would stretch Mary Ann today, that You would challenge her spiritually and cause her to grow in the image of Christ.((READMORE))

For more than 50 years I have enjoyed fishing. And ever since our honeymoon, when we went fishing together, I’ve been inviting Barbara to get into the sport with me. Finally she agreed to give it a try on a vacation out West.((READMORE))

From early on, Dennis and I let our children know that God had a special mission for their lives. We explained that He had gifted them with abilities, personality and other qualities that were tailor-made to help them accomplish His plan.((READMORE))

As my flying companion (from the story I began yesterday) and I began to talk, I asked about his relationship with God. He told me about a near-fatal accident he had once experienced. After rolling his truck several times, he was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.((READMORE))

As I settled into my seat on the small regional jet, I noticed that the man next to me was embroiled in an intense cell-phone conversation. Although he was doing his best to control his anger and keep his voice down, his conversation was unavoidable for me—and all the passengers within two rows of him.((READMORE))

One thing we painfully learn throughout life, either by direct experience or observation, is that rebellious children can come from any type of home. But even as they run from God and from us, and even in our anguish and frustration, we must hold them before God in prayer, trusting Him to lead them home.((READMORE))

Barbara and I admit that we’ve never experienced depression in its rawest, deepest form. Yes, we’ve had seasons of intense discouragement. We’ve had our share of valleys, crying out to God in the agony of our souls.((READMORE))

He coached his UCLA Bruins to 10 NCAA basketball titles—including seven in a row. At one point, his streak of consecutive victories stretched to 88 games, nearly double the amount—even today—of the next coach on the list.((READMORE))

It began as a short, one-night romantic getaway for Martin and Gracia Burnham. It turned into a year-long nightmare when armed Philippine rebels burst into their cabin and took them hostage. These humble, hardworking missionaries, whose hearts had been wedded to their work in the Philippines, now found themselves with a handful of other captives, trudging at gunpoint through the tropical jungles of this island nation.((READMORE))

As Easter approaches, don’t you often wonder why Christmas gets all the good press, while Easter is treated more like a very distant second cousin? After all, it’s a commemoration of the greatest news ever proclaimed in history: Christ is alive and we are forgiven! Easter arrives with so little fanfare, we almost forget it’s coming.((READMORE))

The hypothetical scenario I shared with you yesterday about the frustrations of family worship probably isn’t too far from what you’ve experienced. Just about all of us who have ventured to put the Bible front and center in our homes have had to crawl past situations very similar to that one.((READMORE))

Ever witnessed anything like this at your house before? After falling under deep conviction during the pastor’s sermon entitled “The Family Altar Will Save Your Family,” Dad cranks up his courage and announces, “Tonight after dinner, we will have family devotions.((READMORE))

I once asked Elisabeth Elliot, who for decades has been one of the most respected women in Christian culture, a very specific question: “If you had a group of wives who had all been married between 10 and 15 years—that difficult stretch when the honeymoon is long gone, when responsibilities are high, when the children are often plentiful and chaotic—what would be the best piece of marriage advice you could give them?"((READMORE))

People have often asked about our philosophy of disciplining children. I guarantee we were not flawless in carrying it out, but I do believe the Lord showed us a scriptural pattern of discipline that bore fruit in our family.((READMORE))

I’ve been doing daily radio since 1992, and I can recall only one time when I was weeping so hard I couldn’t speak. It was the day I interviewed Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyr.

At the age of 30, Charlie began experiencing the early symptoms of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.((READMORE))

As a particular three-month period of time approached, Barbara and I already knew it would be busier than usual. We had overcommitted and underestimated, which we’ve had a tendency to do. Everything would need to fall just right if we were to squeeze it all in without anybody suffering.((READMORE))

“It almost seems as though our family has moved out of this house and another family has moved in.” That’s how one couple described the transformation that God brought about in their marriage after they attended one of FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember marriage conferences.((READMORE))

I hope you’re already part of a church family—not as a spectator but as a committed, involved participant in a community of followers of Jesus Christ. But if you’re not, here are five things you should look for as you consider establishing yourself in a church.((READMORE))

Few things are more abhorrent to me than seeing women make sexual advances toward married men, either on television or in real life. We should recoil at this kind of behavior. But just because flirtation is often corrupt doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with making sexual advances toward one married man—the one you’re already married to.((READMORE))

As a man, I like equations and formulas. Their logic rings true: 2 + 2 = 4. You can always count on that.

But while equations and formulas work when you’re trying to figure out how much deck stain to purchase at a home-improvement store, they’re not always reliable when it comes to romancing your wife.((READMORE))

On the morning of our oldest daughter’s wedding, I sat on a picnic table near our backyard fire pit and wept. This was the very place where we’d shared hundreds of family experiences together over the years, but I knew my relationship with Ashley, who I called “My Princess,” was about to change—forever.((READMORE))

I think the human race has a problem with addictions. The well-known addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex and pornography have destroyed lives and families for generations. But there are other addictions, even within the Christian community, that are not as evil but are still addictions.((READMORE))

It’s always dangerous to make assumptions. I am reminded of the businesswoman who found herself with an extra hour of airport down time. She bought a magazine, a coffee and a small package of cookies, preparing to pass the time as best she could in the crowded waiting area.((READMORE))

Four children had left the nest, and we were down to just two at home. You would think we had the upper hand in this parenting thing. But as we discussed the different strains on our family and the constant tug-of-war between us and the influences of our culture, I looked at Barbara and said, “I think we are wearing down in the battle for our family.((READMORE))