Who are your heroes? Who are the people you know who embody everything that is admirable and good? Who are the people who have most blessed your life with kindness, generosity, and warmth?
Heroes and holiness
My heroes include Rhea … Read more
Author: H. Wallace Goddard
Wally Goddard is a retired professor of Family Life having served in Arkansas and Alabama. He developed programs on personal well-being, marriage, and parenting. He is well known for his many creative family programs, including The Marriage Garden, The Parenting Journey, and Blueprint for Happiness. Wally has authored or co-authored several books including Between Parent and Child, The Soft-Spoken Parent, and Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage. He has been recognized by his colleagues with several awards including the Outstanding Family Life Educator Award. Wally and his wife, Nancy, have three adult children, fourteen grandchildren, and have cared for many foster children over the years. Wally describes Nancy as the finest human being he has ever known.
Sicknesses of Our Times
The fruits of the self-esteem movement may well be the fulfillment of prophecy
Old Scratch must be especially proud of some victories. Getting the wicked to sin is nothing, of course, but any time he can get God’s people to … Read more
Putting the Doctrine of the Atonement to Work in Family Life
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
There are a handful of doctrines that undergird the Atonement of Jesus Christ: Mercy. Love. … Read more
Meeting My Grandma
I had the blessing of growing up with three remarkable grandparents. But one grandparent died when I was a baby. I yearned to know her.
A Blessed Heritage
I was named after Grandpa Wallace. He was a prominent man in … Read more
Turning Darkness into Light
“Why do you talk so much these days about the problems you and Dad used to have?” queried the teen daughter.
Mom sighed. “Because it hurts so much to think about the good times we had that are now gone.”… Read more
Getting Counsel from My Dad
At a time when I was at a spiritual and professional crossroads, I desperately wanted counsel from my wise and compassionate dad. But he had died a year previous. I missed him terribly.
Fortunately I got even more desperate as … Read more
Blessed by Angels
A father died. His young adult daughter missed him terribly. She thought about him regularly.
Her sister chided her: “By missing Dad, grieving over him, and insisting on his attention to your life, you are keeping him from doing his … Read more
Finding a Way to Bless Rather than a Reason to Judge
Humans have a tendency to categorize. When we confront a new person, we promptly (and often unconsciously) start a process of sorting that person into categories. Educated or not? Religious or not? Nice or not? Attractive or not? Decent or … Read more
Relationship Parenting: How Can I Fix My Kids
Imagine that our bishop, in an attempt to encourage sacrament meeting attendance, began handing out candy bars after meeting. He also hinted that there would be steak dinners and late-model automobiles available for the regular attenders. Attendance might increase. Yet … Read more
Helping Children Become Themselves: How Can I Fix My Kids
Several years ago I was invited to be a discussant for a controversial presentation given on our university campus. The presenter represented extreme and simplistic views. One of the statements made by the presenter was, “We must keep our children … Read more