Preparing Sons for Marriage

Our Family Gets Bigger This Month!
  We're over-the-top delighted to announce that our family will be growing this month when our son Matthew exchanges vows with his college sweetheart Camille! Camille is a strong believer and a talented, sweet-spirited young woman from Nicholasville, Kentucky. She's a graduate of Berea College where she and Matthew met. They'll be moving to Chapel…
Finding a Mate: What Questions Should I Ask the Guy Interested in My Girl?
"All right, ladies, give me all your hard questions! A young man is interested in our daughter and my husband is going to meet with him. I want your list of questions you plan to ask someone in this situation! My husband's going to really let him have it!" - a mom in one of…
Teen Romance: This Could Get Serious (1)
Recently we wrote about how to effectively parent a pre-teen son with a crush. It's not a real, mature sort of Christian love, but a 11- or 12-year-old doesn't realize that … it's feels real to him! So we recommend you take it seriously enough to talk about relationships, not just laugh him off. An…
Q&A: How Are We Supposed to Interact With Our Son’s Girlfriend?
A reader asks, "How and when do you embrace the special girl in your adult son's life? My son is 20 and this is his first "girlfriend". They've been developing this relationship for 4 months and it seems serious. We have her over periodically but don't know when to take that next step." (more…)
What A Man’s Gotta Do
My wife, weak from the stomach flu, came out of the bathroom where she’d been hiding out—hiding by my request, I should say. “I’m so sorry,” she said, shakily. “I feel like I shouldn’t have left you out there to do that.” (more…)
When You Find That on Your Husband’s Phone
It's the conference season, so we're all over the place speaking and talking to people. It's an honor to hear their stories and to be invited into their lives. It's also heartbreaking, sometimes. We think the hardest part is talking to those whose marriages are in trouble. The grief is palpable. They look broken, injured,…
When Should You Get Your Kids Their Driver’s License?
When we were teenagers, we couldn't wait to get our driver's license. It was a step toward adulthood, and we were eager to have the independence that driving represented. All our friends felt the same way, and our parents encouraged it. Recently, though, we've been hearing something which frankly surprised us. We were listening to…
A Question About Fifty Shades of Grey
This morning a friend asked, "Do you think I should watch Fifty Shades of Grey with my teen and talk about it?"  We're not as strict on media as some are. We think there's some value in watching things you don't agree with and analyzing and discussing them with your teens. Sometimes, though, there's more…
Launching Family Business Greenhouse
People often ask us how they can start a family business like we did. The problem is that they need to start a family business like only they can!   One day we were visiting with some dear friends and talking about the need to help families who want the freedom and flexibility both our families…
Dating and Courtship: Should There Be Only One Suitor?
We were very surprised to find that many parents who are teaching courtship to their children are expecting (and telling their children!) that there will only be one suitor in their future. We see some real problems with this. Imagine this: Marc has a female friend he's known for years. Recently, he's begun to realize what…