Quick self-check on whether you might be suffering from depression lately: Shutting down one’s personal life system Numb to much of what is going on in life Surrendered initiative….merely responding to the overtures of people around you Giving up trying new things Losing interest in growth “Feelings must be dealt with, never suppressed or disregarded… […]
A prayer for today, based on I Samuel 3:9 (MSG) “Speak, God, I’m Your servant, ready to listen.” 3:18 “He is God. Let Him do whatever He thinks best.” 3:21 “God continued to show up.” My Dear Father, Speak to me as only You can, in ways that I can hear You. Keep using my time […]
Spiritual Development Actions as a Parent Here’s a short practical list of some of the things I’m doing as a parent to pass the faith onto my kids.
“One of 3 things you can do with feelings: 1.) Ignore them. 2.) Psychologize youself against them/turn them off, or 3). Encourage other emotions that will speak louder and overcome the messages of former gauges.” –from When Men Think Private Thoughts Which of these 3 options do you usually default to? Ignoring feelings just leads […]
Ruth 3:9, “Take me under your protecting wing.” Ruth 3:18, “Sit back and relax…until we find out how things turn out…” (MSG) A prayer for today: “My dear Father, take me under Your protective wing, please, and shield me from what I can’t handle so that, at least emotionally, I can sit back and relax […]
“A man was not built by his Creator to live as a loser….” Living as a loser? When I think of what losers look like, their shoulders are hunched, their eyes are down at the ground, their pace is dragging, a frown is plastered on their faces, they are quick to react in anger or […]
“Intimacy is the ability that enables hearts to handshake.” –Cloud/Townsend When I went through my unwanted divorce several years ago, I did intense work on myself, deep introspection during the healing process, so that God would better me in the middle of all that pain. It also cemented some desires of what I wanted in […]
“Expect pain to be a regular part of life….. When we resort to protesting and denying pain, we actually are getting into an argument with God…When we give up protesting about pain/problems, we begin letting go of thtings that we can’t keep anyway. We learn what choices, paths, lessons, and opportunities are ours, and we […]
“Pray that I learn whatever it is God wants me to learn in this situation….His faith directed him to search for whatever lesson, change, or growth that was behind the loss….See problems as windows to the face of God, and stand at that window until God shows the light that illuminates our hearts….In the end, […]
This morning I was reminded of a hike I did about 4 years ago, since I was feeling mired down, wondering if I was making a difference in the world. I was encouraged by the principles that I learned that day. When I began the hike, I couldn’t find the unmarked trailhead. It was farther […]
