“A breach in the wall of the home or a crack in
the foundation of the family provides the devil an opening to destroy the
framework of both.”—Dr. Raymond Babrber
One-third (35 percent) of Americans today say they have been through a
breakup at least once in the past 10 years.
Americans under age
35 are twice as likely as those between 35 and 54, and nearly five times
as likely as those 55 and older, to have split with a significant other
in the past decade. In fact, 59 percent of respondents between the
ages of 18 and 34 say they have recently experienced a breakup.
Although
half of women (51 percent) say they initiated their most recent split, only 32 percent of men say their partner dumped them.
In 1978, Thomas Hansen of Boulder
Colorado, sued his parents for $350,000 on grounds of “malpractice of
parenting.” Mom and Dad had botched his upbringing so badly, he charged in his
suit, that he would need years of costly psychiatric treatment.
Source: The Modesto Bee and News-Herald, April 28, 1978
Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College
Salary.com conducted a survey in 2010 that attempted to place a monetary value on the work of a stay-at-home mom. They determined that if mothers were to be paid for their ten most common tasks in the home (laundry machine operator, janitor, van driver, computer operator, housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, chief executive officer, psychologist, and facilities manager) they would be paid $117,855.86. The largest piece of the pie came from overtime pay as a man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.
After the dedication of his baby brother in
church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His
father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally the boy replied, “That
pastor said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I want to stay
with you guys!”
Who can ever forget Winston Churchill’s immortal
words: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, and we shall fight in the
hills.” It sounds exactly like our family vacation.
Dwayne frantically turned to his wife and muffled the phone’s mouthpiece. With an ashen face he quietly repeated the last comment from the telephone conversation he was having with his parents. He whispered to Ashley, “Dad said we can go to their house for Thanksgiving or they can cut us out of their will. He says it’s our choice.”
Source: In Other Words
Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College
On a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to
go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.
In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back
door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the
water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an
alligator was swimming toward the shore.
The evidence is convincing that
the better our relationships are at home, the more effective we are in our
careers. If we’re having difficulty with a loved one, that difficulty will be
translated into reduced performance on the job. In studying the millionaires in
America (U.S. News and World Report), a picture of the “typical” millionaire is
an individual who has worked eight to ten hours a day for thirty years and is
still married to his or her high school or college sweetheart.
“The term Stockholm Syndrome first occurred
in 1973 at an attempted bank robbery in Stockholm,
Sweden. A man
tried to rob a bank, and the police caught him inside. He took three female
hostages and one male hostage and held them for 131 hours, during which time he
terrorized them. He fired his Russian automatic assault weapon at them. He
threatened to kill them on numerous occasions. He put nooses around their necks
and threatened to hang them. But he didn’t harm any of them.
During the fourteenth century Raynald III, was a duke in
what is now Belgium. As the result of a violent quarrel, Raynald’s
younger brother Edward successfully revolted against him. When Edward captured
Raynald he built a room around him featuring windows and a door and promised him that the day he left the room his title and property would be returned to him.
Debbie's family means everything to her. Her son and cute little
daughter play sports, take music lessons, and attend a private
school. Debbie spends every waking moment of every day caring for her
kids. Often she goes through an entire day without having time for her husband which makes him fell neglected. If he feels neglected how does God feel? She lives through
her children; they are like false gods in her life.
Janice is very proud of her home. She spends hours each day cleaning,
vacuuming, and dusting. It makes her feel good when visitors comment
what a beautiful home she has. But her children resent her compulsive
cleanliness. They never invite their friends to come over because
Janice is so paranoid about messing up the carpet. Janice has distorted
the home that God has provided as a place of shelter and comfort,
and has made it a shrine unto itself. She spends far more time working
on her home than she does on Bible study, prayer, etc.
Derek Redmond was a great runner, but he was an even greater finisher. Derek will be forever remembered for his staggering performance in the 400-meter men’s semifinals during the summer Olympics of 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.
A New York Times article on people who are sick of too many hours at work tells the story of Diane Knorr, a former dot—com executive: “The first time I got a call way after hours from a senior manager, I remember being really flattered and thinking, wow! I'm really getting up there now.” But gradually, her work and family life became a blur with hours that were hard to scale back. “If I leave at 5:00 and everyone else leaves at 6:30, I might look like the one who is not pulling his weight,” she said. In college, Mrs.
