April 15, 2010 — Despite saving us time, fast food may make us impatient and more likely to seek instant gratification, new research finds.

University of Toronto researchers Chen-Bo Zhong, PhD, and Sanford E. DeVoe, PhD, conducted a trio of experiments before coming to that conclusion in a report published in Psychological Science.

The first experiment found that exposure to fast-food symbols increases reading speed even when there’s no pressure to read fast. In the experiment, they randomly assigned 57 college students to look at the center of a computer screen but ignore the corners. Those in the fast-food group were exposed to fast-food logos, flashed in the corners too quickly for the conscious mind to register the images. Those in the comparison group looked at blank squares in the corners. Next, when they all read a passage, those exposed to the logos had a faster reading speed.

You can read the whole article here.

The basic premise of our book is that you don’t have to kiss dating goodbye, in fact, if you learn how to honor God, others, and yourself then you can actually have a great dating experience that prepares you very well for marriage!  We take a pro dating stance in our book and then help young adults learn how to set up the right boundaries to keep themselves safe and protected while dating.

Here’s the chapters:

1. Let’s Hear It for Dating
2. Making a List and Checking It Twice
3. It’s All in Your Personality
4. Dating 101
5. Sex and the City
6. Staying Safe While Dating
7. Keeping Emotional Boundaries
8. What If Mr. or Ms. Right Turns Out to Be All Wrong?

As you can see the book is very applicable and straightforward. I think the best feedback we’ve been given over the years is that people really appreciate our openness and honesty. Amy and I are very transparent in the book and do not take a position of talking down to young adults, but rather, we respect them and believe they can make healthy choices in their dating relationships if they are given the chance.

The reason behind wanting a new title is that the church, in general, wasn’t ready for a Christian book to have the word “naked” in the title.  I was a bit ahead of the curve on that one =]  The book still did extremely well, and has been in print since 2003.  But now we get a chance to spruce things up, expand and deliberate on what we’ve learned since initially writing the book and put a new cover on it as well.

So let us know what you think would be a great title for the book.  If a title is chosen, the winner can have the choice of whatever they want from our online store (one item only) and of course a signed copy of the new look book!

Michael and I are heart-broken over the lost lives in Haiti. I’m writing this article for accountability and prayer. Our family wants to care for the orphans and widows in Haiti. We are not sure what this looks like yet, but we know our first step is getting our paper work and training done to become a foster family.

I would like to challenge all of us to find a way to help Haiti that fits your family. We’ve opened our home to big sisters before, now we’re feeling the urgency from the Holy Spirit to DO SOMETHING. I hope we have the pleasure of being used by God in this way. We are looking for direction and are open to many possibilities. I think it’s hard to even ask for prayers for us when they are needed for survival in Haiti- but as you are praying for Haiti- pray for clear direction and movement of supplies and care. God is good – even in disaster! I pray we can live a life worthy of our calling.

There’s even a website for young people suffering the effects of a quarter-life crisis (http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com):

QLC FAQs
• Q: What is a quarterlife crisis?
• A: The quarterlife crisis, or QLC, is essentially a period of anxiety, uncertainty and inner turmoil that often accompanies the transition to adulthood.

• Q: Who coined the phrase “quarterlife crisis?”
• A: Abby Wilner, co-author of Quarterlife Crisis and Quarterlifer’s Companion, coined the phrase in 1997 after she graduated from college, moved back home, and couldn’t figure out what to do with her life.

• Q: What makes the QLC unique for twentysomethings today?
• A: Essentially, it is taking longer to become an adult today based on traditional markers such as financial independence and starting a family. The average American job hops 8 times before the age of 32, the average college graduate accrues $20,000 in education loan debt, and the average age to get married is now 27.

Here’s my advice for 20-somethings, grow up.  The site talks about how these young kids are feeling it is taking longer to grow up, who’s fault is that?  Maybe they should spend less time focusing on a quarter-life crisis and more time choosing to mature.  I do not want this to sound harsh, but since I’m feeling the need to write those words, I must be feeling like I’m being too harsh.  But the story really caught me off guard this morning.

It just feels like society is looking for labels and things to blame for our own choices in life.  We all need to take control over our lives and make the kind of decisions that improves our lives and the lives of others.  What do you think?

We want this book to rock your marriage. One of my initial titles was, The Greatest Advice No One Wants to Hear, but that title got eliminated because Amy and the publisher thought it was too negative. But the point is still true. This book has the chance to radically change your marriage for the better – if you allow it to!

All we wanted to do was get from the Subway station at Bowling Green to the free Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty.  As we headed across Battery Park we got held up by three guys as they began their show.  Their acrobats and dancing were incredible, but the finale was even better! That’s when the kids get involved, but you’ll have to check it out (if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, because they’re not you’re kids, just skip toward the end and you’ll see the final stunt):

One of the most important documents you may want to store and share in Google Health is an “advance directive.” An advance directive allows you to determine your end-of-life wishes so that your family and doctor can honor them if you get sick and are unable to communicate. The decision to sign an advance directive is an important and personal one, and Google Health now makes it a little bit easier. Google Health is now working with a leading advance directive provider, Caring Connections, that provides a free, downloadable form customized for all 50 states. To complete your form, download it, print it out, complete it, scan it, and upload it to Google Health. Once you’ve uploaded the signed form, Google Health makes it easy to share it with your caregiver.

Google health seems like a pretty cool service and I think it forces us to talk and think about the end of our life.  Since we industrialized and moved in to cities and suburbia, we have been moving death farther and farther away from us.  This is not a good idea.  Did you know that the parlor room in your house was given that name because it was where we used to hold funerals – yes – funerals in our homes!

We are so afraid of death that we really can mess things up for those we leave behind.  I’m going to use this service because I think my whole life is on Google anyways, so why not my death .

I had to turn on the lights in our family room and get this shot of our daughter Reagan asleep on the couch with our dog, Fergie. I am a bad dad for leaving my daughter on the couch, especially since my wife just repainted her room at our daughters request. She said her room needed to be updated to reflect more of a “tween” theme! Am I in trouble or what.

Only dads can get away with stuff like this! I think one of the great things about fathers is how we desire to goof off with our kids.  Never underestimate the power of having fun with your children.  I know that dads, especially those like me, can get a lot of flack for “always wanting to play” and not taking things very serious.  But think about all the memories created by goofy, fun dads. Raising our children takes a lot of work, sweat, tears, and prayer.  Sometimes we need to not taking life so seriously and just have fun together.

What do you think? Do dads need to be more serious? Let us know your thoughts =]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41X7dMrd5XI[/youtube]

Happy birthday my love!

I’ve been stewing over this predicament for quite some time, actuaglly since I upgraded my phone to the 3.0 and realized that I still couldn’t do video.  But then I had a flash of brilliance and listed my iPhone 3G White (16GB) on Craigslist.com.  iPhones on that site, like mine, were going for up to $500!  I listed my phone for $395 and waited for someone to purchase it.  That day finally came today!

I get all excited to meet him so I can sell my iPhone and get the new one.  I was even going to make $50 bucks on the transaction when I upgraded to the new iPhone 3GS!

So the guy calls me when he is on the freeway and literally staring at the mall here in The Woodlands.  I gave him directions on how to exit and where I was in the mall and waited with anticipation.  He never came.  I waited at least 45 minutes (when it should have only taken him about 5 minutes from where he called me at) and he never showed!  I called about three times and even texted him asking if everything was alright.  Nothing. Zip. Nada.

I finally left, but here’s the bad thing.  While I was waiting for him to show up, I went ahead and upgraded to the new iPhone 3GS!  Amy is going to be so happy to hear how this one blew up in my face.  I know I’ll get someone to buy it, it has only been listed for a couple of days and I’ve had several bites.  But it just stinks that the guy drove almost an hour from his house to pay me and bailed out at the last second.

Any suggestions on how I should get back at him? For fun, of course, and not revenge.

The second one he drew was this one (which he aptly named “Triangles of King Traders”):

All I can say is this, David is the only one in the world that I would even care about to ever receive a drawing from.  What a Father’s Day present!

So I figured I’d share it with all of you!

As women, how can we set ourselves up to be safe in public? I was out jogging today and I passed by about 10 or so construction workers and I thought… I’m vulnerable. I can run but I don’t think I can out run all of them. These thoughts came into my mind, hopefully they are helpful for you to think about:

1. Make eye contact with each man (or woman) and say good morning. The psychos out there use people as objects and don’t want to see you as real. By looking at these men in the eyes I want to communicate I am a person and I see you. I acknowledge you as a person, now you do the same and don’t look at me like an object.
2. I dress appropriately. It’s hot and I know my clothes will stick to me so I try to dress in colors that aren’t see through or too tight. I have to be honest, I like to look cute when I jog- but cute can still be appropriate. When in doubt about my attire, I ask Michael. He’s honest and not too picky.
3. I don’t look back- when I’m jogging I don’t look to see if the men behind me are watching me more than I’d like. I don’t want to give them more amo, like I like it. A man wouldn’t look back so I don’t either.
4. I don’t engage in long conversations in the gym. When I start talking about my passions and interests I’ve gone too far. Keep it friendly but simple.
5. I want my non verbals to communicate I honor myself and my marriage. I try to carry myself with unseen boundaries. You know when you feel like someone is busy and you shouldn’t really want interrupt- that’s them message I try to send.

These are just a few of my ideas. Does anyone else have more they would like to add?

I love CBS Sunday Morning News because they typically do creative and interesting stories and rarely paint a bleak picture of the people and planet we live on. However, on Sunday while doing a “remember her” profile story on Bea Arthur, CBS felt it was important to include a scene from an episode of Maude where Bea Arthur gets permission from her stage husband to have an abortion.

Apparently, Maude got pregnant at the age of 40, but did not want to be pregnant. So the show highlighted her “right” to have an abortion and took a very strong pro abortion stance. I hate abortion (and not the women who choose to have them) and the clip that CBS chose to show just highlighted one of the main reasons why I hate abortion.

The only reason the character Maude wanted to have an abortion was because it was inconvenient for her at 40-years old. She was married, healthy and perfectly able financially (not that the lack of any of these things would ever justify an abortion) to have the child. But she did not want to because it would be a hassle to her at her age.

This highlights the grotesque and selfish nature of abortion. Again, I have counseled young ladies who’ve been raped or molested and chose to have an abortion. I get that young women every day get tricked in to thinking that the abortion will be no big deal and that it will solve their problems. I truly grieve for women who go through an abortion because I’ve seen the other side – the side of hurt, shame, guilt and sorrow as a result of the decision.

But to highlight a scene where the woman simply feels like the child would be a hassle was irresponsible and displayed poor judgment by CBS producers. When are we going to realize that it never pays to be selfish. Satan was the first example of what self-centeredness can lead to, but yet we keep on keeping on when it comes to selfishness.

The world will be a better place when each one of us chooses to think of others (before ourselves) and act in a way that builds each other up rather than destroying each other.

Miss California USA Carrie Prejean may have her critics in Hollywood and the pageant industry, but she found a friendly crowd Thursday night when the audience at the 40th annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards gave her a standing ovation.

Prejean was runner-up in Miss USA Sunday, and some observers believe she lost the crown when she told the 12 judges — and a nationwide TV audience — that she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. She has received plenty of criticism but also lots of praise, and that continued at the Dove Awards.

Dove Awards officials didn’t announce Prejean, 21, would be part of the program at the Grand Ole Opry House until the day before the event, and many in attendance apparently were caught off-guard when she was introduced. The applause that is normally given a presenter grew into a standing ovation for what the audience and other conservative Christians consider her courageous act. Prejean introduced the band MercyMe.

via Baptist Press – Miss. Calif. gets standing ovation at show – News with a Christian Perspective.

A U.S. psychologist says from a developmental viewpoint, fierce competition is a step back in human development.

In an article published in the American Journal of Play, Dr. Peter Gray of Boston College suggests early hunters and gatherers made cooperative living possible by using play and humor to overcome innate tendencies toward aggression and dominance.

“Play and humor were not just means of adding fun to their lives,” Gray says in a statement. “They were means of maintaining the band’s existence — means of promoting actively the egalitarian attitude, intense sharing, and relative peacefulness for which hunter-gatherers are justly famous and upon which they depended for survival.”

Gray says the most important skill for social life is how to please other people while still fulfilling one’s own needs and desires.

To play well, and to keep others interested in continuing to play with you, you must be able to see the world from the other players’ points of view, he says.

Play still serves children, who even when playing pickup baseball or card games, have relatively little concern for winning, Gray says.

“It is the presence of adult supervisors and observers that pushes play in a competitive direction — and if it gets pushed too far in that direction it is no longer truly play.” Gray says.

URL: www.upi.com

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

via PsycPORT.com | Play, humor needed to overcome aggression.

The following are the first three pages of an image search result I did on Google to find a good Easter picture for my post about Easter.

Notice how there is literally only one photo in the first three pages worth of possible image matches that has anything to do with Christ! It may be too late, but we need to be vigilant about keeping Easter on Christ’s resurrection and not about eggs, bunnies, and presents.  Satan is so incredibly sly about getting companies and families to redefine important Christian events.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro — Man who lost family thanks community, says he doesn’t blame pilot.