You may think I’m weird, but I don’t really care if I don’t get flowers on Valentine’s Day. Or candy. Or diamonds. Or even a dinner out. Yes, I realize I’m taking a big risk in admitting this. After all, greeting card companies—and florists and restaurants and jewelers and chocolate factories (Sorry Willie Wonka) may [...]

Yesterday, I introduced the topic of submission, namely wives submitting to our husbands. To be completely honest, while I agree with the idea in principle, I haven’t always lived it out in practicality. (Show me a wife who claims she has, and I’ll bring the polygraph!) But as I’ve continued to learn about submission through [...]

Back in 1987, I stunned co-workers with the declaration that I wouldn’t choose to do what a fellow employee and friend so desperately wanted—namely, gallivant around Paris with her admittedly promiscuous, partying brother. My reasons? Her husband had taken a vehement stand against the trip, and I believed that women should trust their husbands to [...]

For the past three days, we’ve focused on praying for our children, tweens and teens. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but today I want to turn our gaze toward the guy who helped us get all those kids in the first place–our husbands. Day in and day out, they face so many challenges–work, [...]

Last night, my husband, Bret, and I spent time preparing to speak at a marriage class at our church. ReEngage, which started at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, began a pilot program at LakePointe Church about a year ago and kicked off the class full-force in February. Three weeks ago we finished our 16-week commitment, [...]

Happy Labor Day! In honor of the national holiday, we’re going to focus on labor. No, not the kind that refers to hard work—which makes me think of manual labor in the hot sun—but the kind that means having to work hard to bear children. In my own weird, warped way, I think of the [...]

After my then-fiance, Bret, and I reserved our church for our upcoming wedding, we were required to go to a counseling session with one of the pastors, register for a newlywed class, and go through a brochure testing our compatibility. Having known one another for only three months (yes, it’s true—and no, I wouldn’t recommend [...]

My husband’s college roommate and his family have been staying with us for a few days. They’re relocating to the Dallas area from central Texas, and they needed a home base while they interviewed for jobs and found a house to rent. In spite of the uncertainty of their current circumstances, they’re grounded and contented. [...]

At a singles retreat many years ago, I heard a young singles’ pastor compare men and women in this way: Men are like a chest of drawers. They compartmentalize the areas of their lives like drawers in a dresser. Men have a WORK drawer, a SEX drawer, a FAMILY drawer, a SPORTS drawer. To get [...]

QUESTION: Dear Leslie, My son will be old enough to start kindergarten soon. I’ve been going back and forth on whether to homeschool him for a few years or start him in public or private school. Do you have any insights?   Wants to Make an Informed Decision   ANSWER:   Dear Wants to,   [...]