Fidgeting with her hair, the nervous teen told me her parents would “kill her” if they found out she was pregnant. Her boyfriend didn’t want a baby. They’d broken up the night before. I expressed sympathy. The girl burst into tears. Then she said what most people say when they cry in front of others. “I’m sorry!” We’re not very good at grief and sorrow in our culture. We’re embarrassed at our tears. We apologize for allowing our feelings to show. Somehow, we’ve adopted a strange paradigm: it’s not okay to hurt --it’s only okay to be okay. So we hide our feelings and except Continue Reading

Maybe you're a lot like me. You consider yourself pro-life, but many good causes compete for your attention, and you only have so much time, energy, and money to give. Still, you know that preborn children are precious to the heart of God. What if I told you there's an effective, do-able way that you can help? For this week's post, please click over to pregnancyhelpnews.com, the newsletter for Heartbeat International. I've got a story for you, and some encouraging thoughts. Thanks for stopping in, and see you at pregnancyhelpnews.com!   Continue Reading

Yup, I’m about to go there … “To trick-or-treat, or not to trick-or-treat, that is the question…” To answer this controversial question, let’s look at holidays in general. Why do we celebrate certain occasions? American holidays like Memorial Day and Mother’s Day spring from historical events and the desire to honor people. Other holidays go back further to distant lands and cultures. Christmas, birthdays and Halloween all have roots in ancient pagan practices. Christians began subtracting certain elements and adding others as a way of redeeming those occasions. We’ve done Continue Reading

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, what do you think of when you hear the word "love?" Is it romance and knights on white horses and living happily ever after?     Or, as the teapot in "Beauty and the Beast" put it,  "Flowers and chocolates and promises you don't intend to keep?"   There's nothing wrong with red roses and passionate feelings, but our culture has lost sight of the bigger picture when it comes to love.   To regain some perspective, it's wise for us to look to older couples who have walked the walk for a few decades.   Last weekend, Continue Reading