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It’s All In The Attitude
When you live with someone long enough, informality sets in and our true personality comes to the forefront. Before, when we were dating, we were all smiles and full of niceties. But now, that niceness disappears in a flash when the stress of daily living intrudes. And usually, our spouse gets the worst of our speech and attitude. I'm sure we can all use a refresher lesson in kindness and humility. Especially when we’ve messed up.
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LESSONS FROM A COFFEE POT
I was wounded. I had been nursing the caustic unkind words for days. I retreated further into my cracked shell, licking my wounds to attempt to avoid further pain. It wasn’t the first time this happened. I bore plenty of old scars to prove it. I stewed over the conversation. As my anger festered, I debated disconnecting from this painful relationship.
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CONFLICT RESOLUTION
When it comes to conflict resolution, nothing frustrates me more than the proverbial ostrich. It’s precarious having a relationship with someone who insists on being one. If you pull too hard, they run away. If you don’t push hard enough, they stay stuck. Conflict is messy stuff. How can it be easier? Ostrich-like behavior is a method of control used to manipulate others. This highly skilled behavior uses diversion, blame-shifting and a whole library of maneuvering strategies—all to get away from that uncomfortable pain of working through an issue. Yes, conflict is painful.
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RELIGION WITHOUT BORDERS
In my book “Unequally Yoked: Staying Committed to Jesus and Your Unbelieving Spouse” I discuss the importance of creating a bridge of understanding between viewpoint differences. You can easily do this by asking your friend questions about what they believe and why they believe it.
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MAKING CONNECTIONS THROUGH PROVERBS
When looking for ways to start a meaningful conversation about faith, look for points of commonality. In this article, I show how the much of the book of Proverbs is actually ingrained in our Judaic-Christian democratic culture.
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The Relevance of Palm Sunday
Read John 12: 12-13 Yesterday, being Palm Sunday I was initially struck by Jesus’ humble entrance into the city. Then today, as I was reading this passage again, I had another revelation. This same crowd that celebrated the arrival of the Messiah one day openly denounced him and sent him to the cross a few days later. Does this bear any relevance to my life today? As I stood in the church service with arms uplifted singing songs that celebrated our Savior, I realized I was one person in a crowd that were all doing the same thing. Later as I reflected, I asked myself, “was I singing because…
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The Sword on a Donkey
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matthew 21:9-11 NIV Jerusalem today is a bustling commercial city. The old and the new merge together in a chaotic symphony of sights, smells and sounds. The streets are crowded, filled with vendors hawking their wares, tourists searching for the perfect souvenirs and local residents purchasing their daily bread. The…
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LOVE IS…
I Corinthians 13 is still the best resource for understanding love. We need to read this more often and learn how to apply it to our daily lives.
