Summer is over and school is back in session! (Although here in the South, we’re still in the high 90’s and feeling nowhere near fall-like!) And our teens, like it or not, are back in the routine of middle or high school. Backpacks have been broken in, lunchboxes/headphones/power cords/permission slips have already been lost (and…
I live in the South, and Southerners take their college football very seriously. This time of year, it seems every car either boasts an SEC flag, or (from all the gleeful transplants living here) one from a rival conference. Allegiances are proclaimed on every jersey and T-shirt and Sunday sermon. Our own family are diehard…
As I’m sure is the case with all of you, Jeff and I have been struggling these last few days with the heartbreak coming out of El Paso and Dayton. We have spent significant amounts of time in both communities, for many speaking trips and a major research trip to El Paso last year for…
Dear Shaunti: I just got married to a great guy who has always loved my inquisitive, problem-solving nature. Or at least he used to. Lately, he has been getting more and more annoyed with it. He shuts down so easily. Or if I ask a simple question he acts as if it is the ultimate…
The most recent political campaign really did a number on civil political conversation—among friends, Facebook “friends,” family members, and even between husbands and wives. Many of us couldn’t wait for the election to be over, so some of the division and rancor could stop. But instead of a return to civil public discourse since the…
Recently, a man at one of my conferences spoke up about a marital issue that had been bubbling up for a few months. He works long hours in a high-stress job, and his wife texted or called him several times a day to talk about small matters such as dinner plans or what happened on…
