Family Matters

Is it wrong for a married person to have a friend of the opposite sex? While my spouse was away on a week-long missions trip, I enlisted a male friend from work to come over and help me care for our eighteen-month-old daughter. In the process, we ended up watching movies together or working on office-related projects after my daughter went to bed. When my husband came home, he was very unhappy about this and expressed fear that I might be involved in an affair. He seems to think it's impossible for two adults of the opposite sex to have a non-sexual relationship. He's even asked that I never spend time with this co-worker again. I'm cooperating with his request, but I can't help feeling resentful of his unfounded suspicions. What do you think?

How can we stop our four-year-old from stealing? It seems like everywhere we go – church, stores, museums, friends' houses – he walks out with something that doesn't belong to him. I have a feeling that he's just being irresponsible-that he puts things in his pocket and then forgets about them. My husband and I have talked to him several times about why this behavior is wrong. We've told him what the Bible has to say about stealing. We've even tried punishing him. But he keeps doing it. What should we do now?

Do you have any ideas for helping a pre-teen child who is seriously overweight? He loves food and gets extremely disappointed when we turn down his requests for snacks and treats. He also becomes depressed after several days of healthy eating. How can we reverse this trend?

Do you think it's a good idea for husbands and wives to have regular activities apart from each other with their friends of the same sex? My husband feels a deep need to get together with his guy friends a couple of times each month, but I'd rather spend most of my time with him. I get out with some girlfriends a couple times a year, and this seems to be more than sufficient for me. What are your thoughts?

Is there anything I can do to help my expectant wife deal with the severe mood swings she's been experiencing? She's about three-quarters of the way through her pregnancy, and lately she's been terribly depressed. It's beginning to take a real toll on our relationship. I've heard a lot about post-partum depression, but is it normal for a woman to be feeling blue before the arrival of a baby?

What can we do to encourage our adult son to grow up? He's made some very poor choices in terms of lifestyle, jobs, living arrangements, and friends. After raising him in the Christian faith, we're deeply disappointed. At the same time we can't help feeling guilty and wondering where we went wrong. Is there anything we can do to reverse the situation without overstepping appropriate boundaries?

Have you ever heard the parent say that the job of parenting is the walk in the park, probably not, because even those who are parenting a compliant, easy-going child can find it challenging at times? And so when we hear from a Mom whose at the end of her rope because she’s parenting a strong-willed child, we try to offer as much encouragement and support as possible. We are speaking more about this in this episode.

Should I consider remarrying my ex-spouse for the sake of our child? We are both Christians, but we recently got divorced. Over the past few weeks I've become increasingly concerned about the impact of this family breakup upon our preschooler. What do you think I should do?

Should children be allowed to have smart phones or mobile devices? Our oldest has started driving and all of our kids are constantly on the move. My spouse thinks they need phones in order to stay better connected with us. Do you think this is a good idea?

There are so many different views and ideas on what is best for our children when it comes to education. Some families who have been serving God as missionaries have to make difficult decisions based on where they’ve been sent on a mission.