Family Matters

How can I adjust my schedule so as to bring about a healthier equalization between the time I spend at work and the time I devote to the rest of life's activities and demands? I've really tried to do this, but it seems that something suffers no matter what I do. Besides, I don't think I've ever met anyone who has been able to put it all together. What does a "balanced" life look like in your opinion? How can I have that kind of life?

One of the most common tactics of the enemy is to undermine the word of God and to play havoc with our minds, casting doubt and fear wherever he can. As Christians, we need to be aware of this tactic and the know-how to stand firm against it. We want to expand on this thought in the next Family Matters.

Is it ever appropriate for a woman to question her husband's judgment or to oppose his decisions when she believes he's in the wrong? If so, how does this fit in with Ephesians 5:22, where Paul says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord?" Are there any biblical examples of wives who took this kind of stance?

How do I, as a student, prepare myself to be a godly wife and mother? I'm a single woman in my mid-twenties, pursuing a graduate degree in literature at university. While I enjoy my studies and view them as important in preparing me for a future career in teaching, there's another sense in which I regard all of this as "Plan B": my real desire, the most earnest prayer of my heart, is that the Lord will give me a godly Christian husband someday. Meanwhile, I'm spending most of my time in an environment that's filled with feminist ideas and far from helpful to my long-range family-oriented goals. How can I resist these feminist messages? And how do I prepare to be a wife and mother while at the same time preparing for a possible teaching career?

How do we locate a qualified marriage counselor? Do you have any recommendations? My spouse and I need help, but we don't know who to see or what to look for.

How can I hold on to my faith in God when things go wrong? As a Christian, I know that I'm supposed to "give thanks in all things" and look to the Lord for my daily needs. Yet I've been through some devastating experiences over the past year. How can I be thankful and trust God at a time like this?

It can be very difficult to know how to stand in the gap and care for a friend who is grieving the loss of a loved one. We often don’t know how to treat people who are grieving or in emotional pain, and so we shy away from the responsibility. If you want to be the kind of person who offers the right kind of sympathy and gives a friend in need the space to grieve well.

How should I respond to the discovery that an adult member of the extended family of a friend has been forcing one of the children to engage in sexual acts with him? I don't want to intrude in other people's business, but now that I'm in possession of this information I feel responsible to do something about it. Do you have any recommendations?

Did you know that most children find just as much, or even more, joy in the little things as they do in life's big events? So if you’re aiming to cultivate family togetherness with your kids, activities like eating a special breakfast, playing games, or singing silly songs in the car could turn out to be some of the most memorable highlights of your kids' childhood years.

How can our family make time to eat together when we're so busy? I'd really like to achieve this goal, but we face so many obstacles in making it happen, I'm almost afraid to try. Busy schedules are the rule in our household, and mine is no exception. By the time I get off work, battle rush hour traffic, and finally arrive at home, it's already 6:00 in the evening. At that point I know that if I make the effort to prepare a nutritious dinner, my family will be starving and the night will be half gone before I can get it on the table. How do I get around this challenge?