Do your relationship a huge favor. Stop and think. Put yourself in your spouse’s shoes.

Outside storms can be horrible and life changing for a while. But the inside storms – those are the ones that change us for the rest of our lives. We either get bitter, or we allow the storm to make us better. 

What has happened in the hearts of people in the USA? What has happened to civility?

Fighting fair. Not a spouse’s favorite saying when they are currently in the middle of “Who’s Gonna Win This Time” with their dreaded enemy of the moment.

Sweet lovable babies will grow quickly into messy toddlers, who will become energetic kids, then mouthy teens, and finally independent young adults. But it does take time and patience. Lots of patience.

If you have ever watched the old movie “Conagher,” a Western based on a rough 'n' tough cowboy with a gigantic sense of right and wrong, then you might well remember the story line’s leading lady. An attractive young widow with two children, left in a lonely shack out in the boonies after the supposed death of her husband. 

So, to the hurting, our words may seem rather artificial. The one who is hurting can sense whether you know what they are going through. But that is all we can do, offer our uneducated sympathy and our help. Our Creator knows all this.

Alex suddenly realized he was starving – according to his standards. Of course, that standard set low, as his stomach pretty much governed his life. Forty-five minutes without something going into his mouth seemed like forever to that growing teenager. 

Grandma was a healthy, strapping woman who believed in her grandkids having their learning abilities attached to their behinds, and believed a healthy strong spanking would drive the needed information home.

You just might recognize yourself in one of these mirrors. Most likely we all can. But recognizing ourself is a good first step to healing our self.

It is vital that you learn to recognize your negative thoughts, and then forcibly replace them with a totally different way of thinking about what you fear. Deliberately take control, before you cause an ending that didn’t have to happen. 

I realize that a life without any enemies whatsoever is a bit unrealistic. But a life where you decide to try to not hold grudges or create enemies – that’s not unrealistic. That’s goal-worthy. 

If all of us choose to raise our kids without any morals and discipline, just because we have that right, then in just a few generations we will have grunting, rooting-in-the-mud pig leaders of our families and our good ol’ USA.

Something else you need to know. God didn’t have to forgive; He chooses to forgive. But He put this strict requirement on His forgiveness – you have to ask.

You think that bold firefighters hold no fear in their bones when they rush into a red-hot cauldron of fire that was once a high-rise building? That police officers have no fear inside as they run toward an active crime scene? That parents don’t spend some sleep-deprived nights, dreading the marching onslaught of the notorious "teen years?"