A friend and reader recently wrote: "Marriage question– Is it offensive and/or helpful in the union to allow your partner alone time, which could be anything from prayer to seeing friends to going out to eat without you?"

Peter and I have a regular date night, during which we ...

From Mark Galli's new book, God Wins, on the nature of asking questions of God (He begins with the contrast between Mary and Zechariah in Luke):

Mary's question is about God. Zechariah's question is about himself.Mary's question assumes God will do something good and great, and ...

The controversy over Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person who Ever Lived is fading, but a new article in the Christian Century ("Betting on a Generous God" by Peter W. Marty) brought it up for me again. I've written before about ...

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Rachel Simon's new novel, The Story of Beautiful Girl. She and I then corresponded via Twitter, and on Wednesday night we had a lovely conversation in which I had the chance to ask her some of the questions that you all suggested. In particular, I ...

When it comes to nature and nurture, the important point is that we choose neither one. We are each constructed from a genetic blueprint, and then born into a world of circumstances that we cannot control in our most-formative years. The complex interactions of genes and environment ...

Penny and William are now sharing a room. We thought we had concocted a plan that would allow for a smooth transition. We let William have a "sleepover" with Penny for a few weekend nights over the course of a month. Everything went well–they lay in their beds and fell asleep ...

A moving story from the LA Times of a South Korean pastor who cares for dozens of abandoned babies with disabilities: "South Korean Pastor Tends Unwanted Flock."

"New Study Implicates Environmental Factors in Autism," from the New York Times. A new study of twins released online ...

For a long time, I thought church should be a place where I could invite my friends who don't believe in Jesus. Actually, I should be more specific. I thought Sunday morning church services should be places where I could invite my friends who don't believe in Jesus. I don't ...

In case we needed another reason to love our neighbors as ourselves, it turns out that it might just come in handy. As this NPR story reports, "A researcher's data suggest that ambulances, firetrucks and government aid aren't the principal ways most people survive during and ...

...they liked it!

I've been grateful already for the responses from various people who have endorsed my book, the first official review of A Good and Perfect Gift comes out next week in Publisher's Weekly. Among other things, they write:

Becker (Penelope Ayers: A Memoir), a Princeton ...

Happy Fourth of July!

I learned that we can travel for thirteen hours in our Swagger Wagon without hurting one another, especially during a three hour nap:

I learned that, much as Peter and I love Chipotle, our kids prefer different fare (although they did greatly enjoy the techno music in the background): ...

Okay, that's about the most narcissistic title for a blog post I can imagine–sorry! But some of you might have noticed that I haven't responded to any comments in the past week, and I didn't post anything on Tuesday or Wednesday. Because we took a family vacation (check back ...

I have a new post for her.meneutics called "The Lost Girls of India and China" that reports on the ongoing problem of "gendercide," or abortion based upon the sex of the fetus. The post begins:

Across most cultures and throughout time, parents have wanted boys more than they ...

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Rachel Simon's new novel, The Story of Beautiful Girl. As I wrote earlier, the book is a lovely story that travels a road of despair and delight, weaving together themes related to disability and faith. I loved it.

But it gets better. Rachel Simon ...