We Were So Young

Other than the lenses of my glasses being roughly the size of grapefruit, Megan and I took a decent engagement picture back in the day (pardon the ugly streaks – I was still trying to figure out the scanner technology that had just come out).
This pic is from October of 1996 (I had popped the [...]

Cleaning the World, One Door at a Time

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It’s a beautiful weekend here in the Lou, and we’re taking full advantage of it…by staying in the house and doing some Fall cleaning. Between the bookstore and assorted weekend plans, it’s been so long since [...]

The Heart of the Matter

As the comments keep multiplying on my previous post on gay marriage, I thought it best to condense some of the discussion to get at what seems to be the heart of the matter. I’ve enjoyed hearing from each of you (many of you are apparently new readers – welcome), and I’ve entered into a [...]

On Gay Marriage

In light of the activist action of California’s Supreme Court late last week, here are some things to keep in mind with regard to the question of homosexuality and gay marriage:

According to a 2005 study by The Kinsey Institute, 90% of men aged 18-44 considered themselves to be heterosexual, 2.3% as homosexual, 1.8% as bisexual, [...]

Happy Mother’s Day

I know most women get nervous about Proverbs 31:10-31 because of the “all-or-nothing” evaluation that often accompanies it, either in its presentation or in its processing. But today on Mother’s Day, could we read the Scripture for what it means? Proverbs 31 isn’t intended as a list to live up to but as a life [...]

Who Needs Curriculum When You’ve Got New York?

Last Monday, I started a unit with my ethics classes on the seventh commandment (”You shall not commit adultery”). For those watching the news cycle of late, you know that last Monday was the beginning of the whole Eliot Spitzer downfall and, as of yesterday, the disclosure of sexual dalliances by his replacement, David Patterson.
The [...]

Does Vegas Have a Line on This?

I can’t decide if Bill Clinton is trying to save the nation or his marriage by working so hard to get Hillary elected. Anybody got odds on them lasting if she loses?

December and You

Here are the lyrics to the song I wrote for Megan to walk down the aisle to ten years ago today:
Beauty unlike any snowfall I’ll ever see
Lovely as winter could ever aspire to be
For you are the essence of holiday
No Christmas cards or carols say
Remember December like you do
And here now, tomorrow, and all my [...]

Marriage and Family Paper (part 3)

In my genogram, I charted six generations – approximately 150 years – of my family, from my great-great-grandparents (mid-1800s) to my children (early 2000s). For my purposes here, the first and last generations have been included for little more than historic reasons, as space restrictions in representing the former and age limitations in understanding the [...]

Marriage and Family Paper (part 2)

In beginning this undertaking, I start with me, as I am a physical amassing of many of the emotional, relational, and spiritual accumulations of my family. Who am I, and what questions do the answers raise as to how I have become (for lack of a better word) “me”?
In general, I am a strange combination [...]

Marriage and Family Paper (part 1)

I just finished my family genogram (and a ten-page paper explaining it) for my Marriage and Family class. For this assignment, I was to analyze my family not simply in a recollection of historical facts, but by a thorough analysis of dynamics and functioning that have been influenced by history. This weekend, I thought I’d [...]

Marrying (or Divorcing?) for Love

More interesting reading on marriage, this time from Counseling and Therapy for Couples (2nd edition) by Lynn L. Long and Mark E. Young. This textbook was written by two college professors on “couples” counseling, not “marriage” counseling, as “the old standby term, ‘marriage counseling,’ is fast fading from the therapist’s lexicon because, today, many people [...]

Leaving, Cleaving

I (very) briefly researched the topic of twenty-somethings and whether, when, and how they tend to leave or cleave in marriage, as living at home and marrying later seems all the rage among twenty- and even thirty-somethings in our 21st century American culture.
From my own observation, it seems 30 is the new 20. Traditional expectations [...]

That’s It?

Overheard this afternoon, just after naptime:
Katie (4 1/2): “Mommy, why did you marry Daddy?”
Megan: “Because he asked me to.”
That’s it? That’s all? Guess it’s a good thing I was first (and fastest) in line.

Wuv, Mawiage

One class I’m definitely going to enjoy this semester is Marriage and Family Counseling with Dr. Dan Zink. While there’s a fair amount of reading, it’s manageable (not to mention highly applicable…ahem), and I thought I might let you in a little bit of the processing I’m doing in the midst of my prep for [...]