Posted in life of grace, life skills on Feb 21st, 2012
Some people go through the painful parts of life and come out bitter and angry. Other people go through similar difficult circumstances: evil and unimaginable things like paralysis, rape, loss of loved ones…and come out wiser and gentler and courageous. What’s the difference? I don’t know exactly why some people wind up with the lingering [...]
Posted in life of grace on Jan 23rd, 2012
We’re doing a series on how we grow and change, and the first thing I want to get across is that it IS possible to change and grow. Although there are many people who are stuck unable to change, real change is possible… Those who say “people never really change” are usually talking about changing [...]
Posted in life of grace on Jan 12th, 2012
Everyone has a breaking point… the point where we fail and don’t know what to do, and are overwhelmed. We think it’s God’s job to keep us from getting there; but it’s really just the opposite! God WANTS you to get to the end of your rope. To throw your hands in the air and [...]
Posted in life of grace on Jan 4th, 2012
People think I want to obey so that I can get more of God’s favor… or because I don’t want to get punished. So when bad things happen, people naturally wonder if they’re being punished… And many people in the church want to do “just enough” so that they don’t get bad stuff from God. [...]
Posted in life of grace on Dec 28th, 2011
Here’s a really fascinating talk by Daniel Goldstein dealing with the problems we all face with self control and will power… Part of you wants to save money, but the other part wants to buy stuff now. Part of you wants to lose weight and stay on your diet, the other part wants a Shack [...]
Posted in life of grace on Dec 27th, 2011
Recent studies suggest that you should never tell children they’re “smart.” Instead you should complement them for “working hard” or “overcoming obstacles” and things like that… Because if you tell people they’re smart, they’ll avoid doing things they’re afraid they won’t be good at. Which is a problem, since the way you get good at [...]
Posted in life of grace on Dec 15th, 2011
There’s a part where Paul says he wants women in the church (but this applies to men too) to be modest in their outward appearance, adorning themselves with “good works” rather than the latest hairstyles and expensive clothing. I understand that we read that in the worst possible way – there have been plenty of fuddy [...]
Posted in life of grace on Dec 5th, 2011
Grace and I have been watching a DVD set, that talks about deciphering what a baby’s cry means. The author is a trained musician and opera singer who noticed that in the first three months babies made 5 distinct types of cries corresponding to their 5 different needs. You can read about it here. Being [...]
Posted in life of grace on Nov 29th, 2011
…until they DO. So ask your friends, what do you think, can people change or do people pretty much stay the same all their lives? Many younger people tend to think people can change, you can remake yourself into any kind of person. While lots of older people, who’ve seen people “change”, tend to believe [...]
Posted in life of grace, life skills, random thoughts on Oct 17th, 2011
You know who you are. You’re not really part of the cool crowd. You were never considered “the life of the party.” Your friends do dorky things like host LAN parties. When you go to Vegas, it’s usually with your relatives, and you go mainly for the food. You’re not angry. You’re not filled with [...]