Topic(s): Marriage

Sure, holding hands with your spouse is romantic. But did you know it could be therapeutic? Neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin and University of Virginia found that married women under extreme stress who reach out and hold their husbands’ hands feel immediate relief. And not just any hand will do—their husband’s touch proved significantly more comforting than that of a stranger.

“The effect of this simple gesture of support is that the brain and body don’t have to work as hard in response to a threat,” says Dr. James A. Coan, the study’s lead author. “It’s deeply soothing.”

So the next time you’re feeling stressed over deadlines at work, finances, or kids, grab your mate’s hand. You’ll both feel better. —The New York Times (January 31, 2006)

“Two are better than one.” —Ecclesiastes 4:9

Do you have a grudge?

Topic(s): Humor

A woman went to court and told the judge she wanted a divorce. “Do you have any grounds?” the judge asked.

“Just two acres,” she said.

“That’s not it, lady. I mean do you have a grudge!”

“No, we park the car in front of the house.”

By now the judge was frustrated: “Does your husband beat you up!”

She replied. “No, I get up before he does.”

“Then why do you want a divorce?” the judge asked.

“Because,” she confessed, “we just don’t seem to be able to communicate.”

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” —James 1:19

No Matter What

Topic(s): Father, Love

A fascinating story comes out of the 1989 earthquake, which almost flattened Armenia. This deadly tremor killed over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of all the confusion of the earthquake, a father rushed to his son’s school. When he arrived there, he discovered the building was flat as a pancake.

Standing there looking at what was left of the school, the father remembered a promise he made to his son: “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” Tears began to fill his eyes. It looked like a hopeless situation, but he could not take his mind off his promise.

Remembering that his son’s classroom was in the back right corner of the building, the father rushed there and started digging through the rubble. As he was digging, other grieving parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: “My son!” “My daughter!” They tried to pull him off of what was left of the school saying: “It’s too late!” “They’re dead!” “You can’t help!” “Go home!” Even a police officer and a firefighter told him he should go home.

To everyone who tried to stop him he said, “Are you going to help me now?” They did not answer him, and he continued digging for his son, stone by stone.

He needed to know for himself: “Is my boy alive or is he dead?” This man dug for eight hours and then twelve and then twenty-four and then thirty-six.

Finally in the thirty-eighth hour, as he pulled back a boulder, he heard his son’s voice. He screamed his son’s name, “ARMAND!” and a voice answered him, “Dad? It’s me, Dad!”

Then the boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told ’em that if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised that, Dad. ‘No matter what,’ you said, ‘I’ll always be there for you!’ And here you are, Dad. You kept your promise!” —Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul

“I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.” —Proverbs 4:3

A Clean Face, a Clean Heart

Topic(s): Priorities

For a parent to require a child to wash his face and keep his body clean and not require him to learn and obey the Bible, is to teach him that the body is worth more than the soul and that a clean body is worth more than a pure heart and clean spirit. For a parent to require a child to learn spelling and reading and not require him to study the Bible is to teach him that it is much more important to be qualified to live in this world than to be fitted to live in heaven. There is no evading this simple truth. —David Lipscomb, deceased, The Key Word, Volume 40, Number 13

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” —Colossians 3:2

“I Play for the Minnesota Twins!”

Topic(s): Humor

A group of expectant fathers were in a waiting room while their wives were in the process of delivering babies. A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins.

“That’s quite a coincidence,” he responded, “I play for the Minnesota Twins!” A few minutes later a nurse announced to another that he was the father of triplets.

“That’s amazing,” he exclaimed, “I work for the 3M company.” At that point, a third man slipped off his chair. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill.

“No,” he responded, “I happen to work for the 7UP company.”

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” —Ecclesiastes 3:1–4