The average home has tens of thousands of dollars in debt, causing post holiday financial stresses that hurt marriages. If you want to sink your financial ship, start by completely ignoring your current obligations and keep adding on. No need to draw a line in the sand that says “we stop borrowing now.” You can also sink your ship by just getting another credit card and go shopping. Of course, no one wants to fail...

Sound familiar? For many of us, it’s easier to give than to receive. We just aren’t comfortable accepting gifts or gestures of appreciation. So, to deflect the attention, we say things like, “You didn’t have to do that…” or “You shouldn’t have spent so much money on me.” And even though our intentions might be humble ones, our actions belittle the generosity of the giver. So the next time you’re on the receiving...

When you care for a military family, and include them in your holiday plans, that’s one way to serve your country. Sharing your holiday meal with a military family who has someone overseas would be a blessing… for both the family and their deployed soldier. Or consider hosting a single soldier who’s based at a military installation near you… someone who may be lonely, and a long way from home.  Remember the...

Born in an obscure village to a peasant woman. He worked as a carpenter until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.  He never wrote a book or held office.  He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While still a young man, popular opinion turned against him… he was nailed to a cross, died, but rose again. Twenty centuries later, he is still the central figure for much...

The gifts have to be wrapped just so. The decorations have to be hung on the tree like this. The Christmas cookies must have this color icing. Sound familiar? The holidays can bring on a lot of extra pressure – if you let them. To avoid that intensity, be flexible. If traditions turn out a little differently this year, it’s ok. If the kids don’t hang the ornaments on the tree just right…let it go. And the cookies...

The glittering displays of Christmas lights bring out the kid in all of us.  This year, make taking in the lights a family adventure.  Map out a list of decorated houses you want to see, put together some snacks, and then pile everyone in the car one evening and take a drive to see all the Christmas lights.  Take your time, drive slowly. Talk about which house you like best.  Pause to take some family pictures. ...

Each year, I somehow manage to let the pressure of making Christmas great fall on my wife, Susan—from buying and wrapping presents, to decorating the tree, to setting out the stockings—she’s the one that makes it happen.  That’s why, this year for the sake of my marriage, I am pledging to be a better elf.  First, I pledge not to fall asleep on the couch when my wife needs my help setting up.  Which leads to my...