My daughter came home from school yesterday with an interesting story. Apparently her teacher had a gun. I’m not sure why she felt the need to share it with the class exactly, but nevertheless, she did. A few years ago, her teenaged son was a key witness in what sounded like a gang-related crime. As a result of his testimony there were death threats. The family lived in fear for two years. Mom slept with a gun by her side and dad had a baseball bat. After she finished her story, I looked over at my daughter and said, “Well, honey, a mama bear will go to great lengths to protect her cubs.” Mama bears…

I wanted to talk about virtue with you today. And so I’ve decided to share an excerpt from chapter 14 of my book, Messy Beautiful Love. It’s a little story, but it’s one of those lessons that always comes back to me when I want something but don’t feel like doing the grunt work it takes to get there. Marriage takes grunt work. That’s not all that poetic, is it? But neither is putting your pride aside or your distractions for the good of your family. Sometimes we feel the pain that comes with growing–the sting that comes with self-sacrifice–but we’re maturing nonetheless and that’s a good thing. virtue | noun conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles;uprightness; rectitude. www.dictionary.com ____________________________________________ She riseth…