This past weekend, I savored uninterrupted conversations with dear friends and shared life in the most delightful of ways. Together, five friends and I chatted with someone we greatly admire, snapped myriad photos of picture-perfect, centuries-old houses and storefronts in Colonial Williamsburg, and ate sliced fruit out of bowls made from the orange rind. You [...]

Written by relationships columnist Corey Allan of Simple Marriage. Here’s one of the biggest pieces of relationship advice presented in books and websites: To have a great marriage you must learn how to compromise. So that we’re all on the same page, the dictionary defines compromise as: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute [...]

Written by contributor Sandy Coughlin of Reluctant Entertainer. It’s Eleanor Roosevelt who said that she tried to do something risky every day. Maybe something new, uncomfortable, or different. Maybe that something “new” is hosting your first Easter dinner in your home this year, and you’re scared to death. I was fortunate because while I was [...]

One of the hardest things about the culture where I lived in the Middle East was the definition of cleanliness. See, no matter how clean I thought our home was (not that it was ever spotless, with two preschoolers underfoot), it paled in comparison to my average neighbor. See, my local friends—when they cleaned, they [...]

Written by fatherhood contributor Shaun Groves. In my nineteen years at home with mom and dad I never saw them argue. If my parents fought at all it must have happened behind closed doors. So when Becky and I had our first fight, while we were still dating, I said and did whatever would make [...]

Written by relationships columnist Corey Allan of Simple Marriage. Communication is a factor in every relationship. In fact, it’s so important that in a committed relationship you cannot not communicate. Everything you do, or don’t do, communicates. When you believe this, your goal shifts—you want to handle the messages from others and clearly say what [...]

Written by Sandy Coughlin of Reluctant Entertainer. Warmer connections come when we’re willing to take a chance. If you’ve been following my 31 Days of Warm Connections series, I’m sharing today about friendships. I have friendships that go back almost 50 years—some 40, 30, 20, 10, as well as more recent friends. I’ve always told [...]