Good communication depends on keeping our emotional reactivity in check. It’s so easy to get off track at the very beginning of a disagreement. Here’s something to practice that will help you with this. (By the way, if you’re running into a lot of trouble with communication this book is full of practical help).

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John 9 tells the wonderful story of Jesus giving a man his sight. It wasn’t restored because the man had been blind from birth. He was given sight for the first time. That’s cause for celebration! Yet that is not what happened. And it becomes the backdrop to a larger conversation about seeing.

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(Written Wednesday, August 25, 2021) . . . Monday, while waiting to take Linnea to school, I read a tweet from Father Thomas McKenzie saying it was his first day of sabbatical and the first order of business was taking his daughter to school in New Mexico. He said they were hoping to make it to Shamrock,

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Is there another holiday that carries such a mix of happiness and joy and sorrow and sadness? I am grateful for the mother God gave me. She was a godly woman who, when her health no longer allowed her to actively serve in the church—she had taught Sunday school of all ages,

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I’m old enough to remember when the coronavirus started. 

COVID-19 really is stretching on, isn’t it? When it first began I felt the same anxiety many others were feeling, but the shelter-in-place didn’t seem difficult to me. I’m very much an introvert. I am a professional counselor and I love meeting with people,

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One thing I often say to marriage clients in their first session is that it can help us in our relationships if we are willing to be surprised by what we see in ourselves, what we learn about ourselves during or outside of a session. I sometimes use the example of myself during a couple of encounters with Susanne years ago.

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Recently, my family and I went to a showing of a documentary called Screenagers at a local church. It was a good documentary that followed a couple who was trying to decide whether or not to get a smartphone for their 12 year-old daughter. It featured interviews with scientists and psychologists and facts from studies to demonstrate the bad effects our phones are having on our brains,

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Last week I had a session with my counselor (yes, counselors sometimes go to counseling) and then I headed toward home. I had a little time before I needed to pick my daughter up from school (an early release day) and I needed to get gas in the van and a prescription from CVS.

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I was thinking recently about how it is only an understanding of God’s immense love for us that will keep us from the idols and addictions that trouble us. Think about it on a human level. The threat of getting caught may keep someone from cheating on their wife yet others know they might get caught.

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Review-Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle; Michael John Cusick

I wrote this review nearly seven years ago. I like this book every bit as much as I did then. If you’re struggling with sex addiction it’s a great place to start in order to find healing.

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