Pushing Past Hurts to Build Deep Relationships

Pushing Past Hurts to Build Deep Relationships

You’ve probably heard this quote by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” Many of us dream of having great relationships with a spouse, children, co-workers, neighbors, friends or extended family. Even self-professed...
Why We Lie

Why We Lie

Lying to others is deplorable. It erodes trust, the glue in any relationship. You don’t have to look to the political arena to see it either. Look at your workplace, in your home, and even in your own heart. But lying to ourselves (and to God) is worse than lying to...
Change Bad Habits with the Power of Replacement

Change Bad Habits with the Power of Replacement

Replacement is my new watchword. It’s my key to changing anything I don’t like about my life. This may seem simplistic and even intuitive but let’s see how well we measure up with this little quiz. The Vacuum of Habit If you answered true to any of these questions,...
Overcoming the Need to “Medicate” Emotional Pain

Overcoming the Need to “Medicate” Emotional Pain

It is human nature to flinch and flee from physical and emotional pain. And the torment from abandonment, rejection, verbal abuse, and shame can linger long after physical trauma has healed. But because those wounds are on the inside where no one can see them and...
Tales from a Reluctant Rush-Junky

Tales from a Reluctant Rush-Junky

So today marks my first official day as a “self-supporting” full-time writer. And—no joke—I’m a little petrified. I’ve fancied jumping off this cliff for a long time. I’d stand a few feet from the edge gazing up into the bright, clear sky, feeling God’s warmth and...
Being Addicted to a Clear Conscience

Being Addicted to a Clear Conscience

We have three ferrets that are the epitome of cute. Except the hairless one, but that’s another story. Our ferrets love small, dark places. They especially like the hidden recesses under a bed—my bed. They pretty much have free rein of the house so when it’s time to...

An Old Fish Swimming Upstream

I got to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the other night and I tell you, it turns our whole American obsession with youth on its head. It’s about a man who ages in reverse. He’s born old and grows young. That whole concept didn’t seem very appealing until a...

Parachutes, Pollyanna, and Jody Picoult

My husband is one of those people who can find something positive about gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. On the other hand, I can give you a list of the negatives starting with the five tools in my kitchen that I’ll have to use to dislodge the gunk (all of which I...