Our family likes to celebrate life’s events with poetry, so when we came home from our newborn daughter’s baptism, our older children each recited a poem on either baptism or new babies. I was pleased to learn that my 8-year-old chose to memorize “Tied Down” by Edgar A. Guest, a favorite poem of mine, and one […]
[Dr. Morse’s Commencement Speech to Providence Academy High School, Delivered June 3, 2011 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.] Faculty and Students of Providence Academy; Class of 2011; parents, friends and benefactors: this is a wonderful and memorable day. For many of you, graduating from high school was always a foregone conclusion. So maybe you feel this day […]
For years, I have arduously avoided the one topic that most certainly will incite a reader riot. However, I find I can stay silent no longer. The issue? Spanking. As hard as I am trying to fulfill a promise made to myself made years ago while sitting in front of a blank computer screen fighting […]
Have you ever heard the saying “You can’t give what you don’t have?” It makes sense doesn’t it? I can’t give you a dollar if I don’t have a dollar right? But in terms of affection, love and relationships it makes even more sense. If your father was not affectionate, you may have trouble showing […]
It’s always painful to read a book that makes you feel like you have failed/are failing in every way that truly matters. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it. I felt that way after reading School of the Family by Chantal R. Howard. Howard has had an eventful life. Although still only in her twenties, […]
When I was in my late teens/early twenties, my friends and I used to talk about what our live would be like when we got married and had kids. A couple of my friends swore that they would not let parenthood change their lifestyles at all. I remember thinking this was a little naïve, but […]
Back in prehistoric times when my wife and I were busy doing our parenting, I paid very little attention to the many books that promised to tell me how to do the job really well. My loss, I suppose. Yet I can’t help thinking my omission may have reflected a healthy instinct. After all, if […]
As I pulled the minivan into our garage late one night my 14-year-old son came out to help me carry in the bins and boxes of materials I had used at a talk I gave that evening at church. I knew the real reason he was being so helpful: I had promised to bring home […]
My husband and I went to a Milwaukee Brewers game this past Saturday. Our two oldest sons had tickets they couldn’t use, so they offered them to us. We gratefully accepted. It was a great opportunity for a little getaway, and I hadn’t yet been to the new Milwaukee County Stadium (I know, it’s been […]
No means No. Duh! you might be thinking. What else could it mean? Well, for some men “no” translates to mean, “yes”. And for law enforcement officials, “no” could mean a charge of rape. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This all begins with Shannon Deitz’s book, Exposed: Inexcusable Me, Irreplaceable Him. It is a […]
I surprised our son one day. He was preparing for his Confirmation, and I felt it was important to have a heart-to-heart talk. I explained that while he will still need instruction in the Faith, that, in fact, it would become his responsibility to open his heart to the catechism and take it seriously. It was […]
For years, I guarded the kids’ Easter baskets like the soldiers outside of Christ’s tomb. I’d monitor them vigilantly – if I could have rolled a stone in front of them, I would have. I wanted the children to make the contents last and to really appreciate the treats inside rather than just wolfing them […]
Today two ideas collided. It didn’t hurt so much, but it did shake things up. Shaking up can be a very good thing. I remember a quote on our fridge from youth: “Sometimes God knocks us off balance so we’ll take a step forward.” So true. Socrates, Copernicus, St. Francis, Einstein, John Paul II… all examples […]
Having a large family brings many blessings. One that might surprise some people is the blessing of not having enough money. Most people would not understand how less could be more. After all, part of the reason large families became an endangered species is because so many couples stress about money when contemplating more children, […]
The crime alone was heinous enough. According to police in Cleveland, Texas, an 11-year-old girl there was gang raped six times last fall by a total of at least 19 assailants, some of them boys, some of them ex-cons more than twice her age. Her assailants documented their attacks using cell phone videos and photos […]
When my wife and I found out we were having our first baby, I was ecstatic. The coming of the new baby filled all my thoughts. I got to be a boring conversationalist, with only one topic to discuss. It was uncanny the connections I now saw (which had never been apparent to me before) […]
For the second time in a week I have run into the ugliest girls I ever met. I’m not being mean. It’s simply true — they’re hideous. Dubbed “Monster High Girls”, they are 10 inch or so fashion dolls and marketed to little children ages 6 to 12. They have been around since last summer, […]
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” I can only add: “Especially when it comes to pairing socks.” Oh, how the mighty fall. I thought I had everything ready. All the details were attended to and I thought I knew exactly how the next several hours would unfold: exactly […]
Our then 4-year-old daughter decided that she’d had enough. We’d heard the complaints about a small group of boys in her preschool class and their trucks for a while. I can’t remember now exactly what it was the boys were doing with those trucks, except that they were breaking preschool truck rules in a way […]
We and our 4 daughters, ages 13 down to 1, needed a home, and we needed it soon. Our 6-month lease was soon to expire, and our family was living a make-do lifestyle in an apartment. Everything about our living space spoke the language of “temporary” — some nearly-weightless plastic chairs; a white, wobbly table with […]
The other day I opened the front door and found my two kids engrossed in play, drawing chalk pictures on the front stoop. Oblivious to my presence, their conversation became louder and more strident, until at last Sarah stood up and faced her brother, fists on hips. “How many times do I have to TELL […]
I feel that for the most part it is a myth that women can have it all — at least at the same time. I have been the primary breadwinner in my household since my marriage 5+ years ago, working as an RN Case Manager at a health insurance company. My earning potential is more […]
I never cease to be amazed by what can be included in a high school “health” curriculum these days. I was recently looking at a health course for ninth graders, which included such topics as “contraception,” “decision-making” skills, “sexual orientations,” as well as “what to know about health care facilities, costs and sources of payment.” […]
For birthparents, adoptive parents and adoptees, adoption is almost never first choice. The choice of most birthparents would obviously be to avoid an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy. The first choice of most adoptive parents would be to achieve parenthood through the more traditional route, rather than to become parents after a long journey of scrutiny, paperwork, financial […]
