Life is filled with ups and downs, and we all struggle with the dips and unexpected turns. But I’ve spent my adult life feeling like my emotions respond to every situation with the equivalent of nuclear warfare. If a mountain can be made of a molehill, that is how I will react to the speed-bumps... Continue Reading →
I went to church last Sunday, eager to try out my renewed attitude. It didn’t take long for it to fade. Once more I listened as someone told how the church had enveloped him and his wife in a loving welcome on the first Sunday they attended. It stung. At the core I suppose I... Continue Reading →
I don’t like conflict or confrontation. I much prefer to retreat, hide, and hope things will blow over. Often the conflict in my life is of my own making because I don’t think before I speak. Still, if I can see that I am at fault, it is easier to take than when someone’s anger... Continue Reading →
I didn’t used to consider myself to be an ambitious person. I never had high aspirations for career achievement or wealth. But I realize that a change has occurred, and ambition has crept up on me. This is likely a result of improved mental and spiritual health. I now have a desire to do and... Continue Reading →
I am always evaluating people. My parents raised me to be discerning about people, so that I wouldn’t allow myself to be conned, fooled, or victimized. In my family, we refer to this discernment about people as ‘having a jerk alarm.’ Of course, I didn’t reach adulthood with a fully developed ability to recognize any... Continue Reading →
The whirlwind of life has stuck it’s finger down into my brain and swirled up my mind. This week, I have been full of excitement and nervous energy, and I can hardly think straight. It is difficult to focus on my Bible reading or to keep my train of thought when praying. At work, the... Continue Reading →
Over the past couple of years, I found myself praying for humility. It feels more dangerous than praying for patience. My fear and expectation is that God will use personal humiliation to teach me that I am not the little goddess my human nature thinks I am. I had a co-worker who would get after... Continue Reading →
I am an introspective kind of person, so in the past month, as I’ve struggled to ‘take every thought captive’ (2 Cor. 10:5) I have also tried to figure out why I am having a thought problem at all. It feels as though it cropped up randomly, during a time when I had been feeling... Continue Reading →
Last weekend, I filed my taxes. A strange fact about me: I love completing my taxes. This is probably a combination of the fact that they are simple and that I always end up getting some money back. But there is joy for me in completing my taxes that comes from a different source. Each year,... Continue Reading →
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