Some people are fortunate to be born into great families. I’m one of those guys.

In my case, my dad was a guy by the name of Loring Hardy. He went by Bud. You would do the same with a name like Loring. In 1953, he married Donna Schultz, a cute brunette that had captured his attention. During that time they listened as the rumor mill had Donna pregnant by Bud. Thirteen months later, little Dickie Hardy came along! They smiled! They followed up by giving me two wonderful sisters, Nancy and Sheri.

My father was not a pastor, but he was one of the most ministry-dedicated businessmen I have known. Whenever Dad’s work would occasionally move our family to a new city we would start looking for a church home immediately. When we found it, we would never look back.

We are men. Give us our gadgets and new technology! We want the high-speed Internet (wireless, of course). We want the laser pointer for presentations, Bible on CD-ROM, and the newspaper on PDA. We want the cell phone, hand-held computer, and if sonic screwdrivers existed, we'd put one on our Christmas list. But when we want to cook, we want to go old school.

I love the story of Joshua! He goes from being Moses' Administrative Assistant—they don't like to be called secretaries anymore and don’t call them one or they'll shred your messages—to becoming the new leader of Israel and immediately being thrust into the most important time in Israel's history: entering the Promised Land. In today’s culture Joshua would have easily been on the cover of Forbes magazine. He was the hot new CEO who not only could get it done in the board room, but he could get it done on the battlefield.

Have you ever gone through a day and become so exhausted that all you wanted to do was flop down on the sofa and zone out in front of the TV? I recently experienced such a day. I went thru a busy and stressful day and just needed some time to relax and turn off my brain for the rest of the night.

I sat down and flipped the TV to a popular Tuesday night show. However, the last thing that happened from watching the show was that my mind stopped working. It began working overtime as I was drawn into the story line.

How often do you hear about another divorce of a couple you thought had what it takes? It seems like you hear of them weekly. Certainly it makes you ask “what makes a marriage last?” There isn't a magic bullet that will ensure your marriage survives the test of time, but there are certain steps to help you out. As I think back on the married couples that have impressed me most, they share several characteristics.