Family Life

Making Biblical Family Life Practical – Is There Such A Thing BIBLICALLY As Men’s Work, Women’s Work?
Tonight, on Making Biblical Family Life Practical, we're discussing work! Is There Such A Thing BIBLICALLY As Men's Work, Women's Work? Is our view of what we should do colored more by the Bible or the 1950s? What can each member of the family do to keep the wheels turning (or the laundry washing)? Tune in…
Boys and Valentine’s Day
Moms tend to be big fans of Valentine's Day. We love relationship stuff, chocolate, hearts, and flowers. Boys? Not so much. Chocolate is good, but the rest is kind of gooshy. So what do we do about Valentine's Day in a houseful of boys? If you've been around here for awhile, you know we love…
Finding a Mate: Not a Cookie Cutter Approach
Nearly thirty years ago, we had what was in many ways an unusual relationship compared to many of our friends. For us, it grew rather naturally from a friendship between two people who were rather analytical about things—even affairs of the heart. But we’re getting ahead of our story. When it comes to marriage or…
Finding a Mate: Don’t Shut the Door Too Soon!
Lately, I've been noticing a phenomenon among our acquaintances that really concerns me. Single ladies, we don't often address you on these pages, but this one's for you. Most of the young adults we know are very intentional about finding a mate in the right way. They are committed to waiting until they are ready…
Announcing Our New Radio Show – and an iPad Mini Giveaway!
We are thrilled to announce that we'll be hosting an hourlong weekly streaming radio show on the new Ultimate Radio Network! Our new show, Making Biblical Family Life Practical, will be the Hal & Melanie you guys know and love -- there will be lots of back and forth and humor, but also pointed, principled…
Real Men and Abortion
What does Raising Real Men have to do with abortion? Everything. Years ago we lived in a town with an abortion clinic and often stood outside offering to help the desperate women that came there. Although everyone had a different story, in many respects they boiled down to this: the baby's father didn't take responsibility.…
Another Piece of the Puzzle?
We've been talking lately about the growing number of late-twenty-somethings we know who would like to be married, but there isn't even a hint on the horizon. What's up?  One article we ran across last week thinks the culture is to blame. The author suggests that women just aren't women any more and men don't…
A Good Thing
When we were working on our workshop on purity for boys, we were surprised at some of the research we found that says that the average age of first (and hopefully only!) marriage has gone up drastically in the last generation. For men, the median age has gone up from 22 or 23 to 28…
For Better or For Worse
Marriage is supposed to last a lifetime, for better or for worse, but these days, when things get tough, people break up. The sad thing is that it's the innocent children who really suffer when parents don't get over their problems. I was reading today a very sweet story about a couple that divorced 48…