Facing the Internal Opposition to Becoming Whole: 3 Things to Do
Time for a reality check. If you haven’t sensed it already you soon will; your journey to becoming whole will…
decision
Attention Is a Limited Resource. How Are You Doing With Yours?
*This is a guest blog post by my friend Zion Montgomery, licensed marriage and family therapist. She has a wealth…
Becoming Who Your Relationship Needs You to Be
What do you need to do in order to bring your best self to the people who matter most? What…
From Rupture to Repair: Working Towards Healing in Your Relationship
Every relationship experiences ruptures. Husband/wife, parent/child, good friends – we are all sinners, and that means some rupture in relationships…
5 Ways You May Be Afraid to Change and What to Do About It
A husband I’ll call George feels paralyzed. He knows things aren’t well in his soul or in his marriage, but…
Imagine the End: Relate Better Today, Regret Less Tomorrow
It’s a principle Jim Collins talked about years ago; begin with the end in mind. It changes what you do…
Stop People-Pleasing: Embracing Authenticity in Relationships and Parenting
Perhaps you’ve recognized that you need to stop people-pleasing. Other people are good at taking up all the mental real…
The Practice of Being Grateful For in a Difficult Season in 2023
The fourth Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. And that’s today! As good-for-the-soul as food, family,…
Five Warning Signs Your Marriage is Headed for an Affair
Breaking your marriage vows, especially for a follower of Jesus, doesn’t begin by waking up one morning and deciding to…
Deciding Whether to Leave or Not Leave Your Marriage
“Should I stay or should I go?” I hear that from married people all the time. Emotions, memories, trauma, disappointment,…
Good and Not so Good Reasons to Leave Your Church
Over the last few weeks I’ve heard from many of you who have experienced church hurt. Such wounds usually come…
Are Your Reasons for Marriage the Right Reasons?
Why did you get married in the first place, or why do you want to get married? And if you…
Seven Things I Do Every Day: Navigating My Midlife Lifestyle
For all you women out there trying to navigate your menopause and midlife season, I see you. I get you.…
Three Questions that will Get You What You Want in 2021
Some people make New Year’s Resolutions. Some people never do, because you have an 80% chance of not keeping them…
When Your Spouse Chooses Work Over Family
You may have appreciated your spouse’s initiative and work ethic at first. But now the energy and hours they devote…
Has Lockdown Hurt Your Marriage?
The different world we are living in today places more pressure on everyone, and on your marriage. Like a tube…
Three Things to Do if you’re Struggling with Sexual Stuff
It’s a problem. And maybe it’s a problem for you. Struggling with sexual stuff is hard. This topic cuts so…
25 Good Things to Think About
Thoughts control actions. Thoughts come before emotions. Thoughts impact how other people see you, and how you react to every situation you come across. Choosing what thoughts to think can go a long way toward making you well or sick, happy or sad, lonely or connected, desperate or satisfied.
If you feel challenged to know what to think about, here’s a list to get you started. When you find yourself rolling negative things around in your mind, choose one of these items instead. You can think about:
How to Escape Unnecessary Suffering
No human being escapes all suffering. While perhaps unkind, it would have been true for me to say over the…
The Antidote to Self-Doubt
What does the self-talk in your head sound like? What do you tell yourself? Perhaps like so many people you…
How to Move Closer to your Spouse
Knowing about God’s design for intimacy in marriage is great. But that goal can seem so impossible to approach. What…
What Forgiveness IS and ISN’T
At some point you will have to deal with the matter of forgiveness. For people who are Christians or who…
How I Push Through the Holiday Blues
Holidays are supposed to be “happy and bright,” right? But every year I hear from people for whom the holiday…
Your Change, Your Choice
The God who created you has treated you with amazing dignity by giving you the gift of choice. Your limited…
The Second Most Important Key to Transformation
No true transformation happens in your life without God’s action. I’m starting with the premise that Jesus came not only…
5 Ways to Keep Family Dysfunction from Ruining Christmas
Family is a big deal around Christmas. The memories you have of Christmases past – both good and bad –…
What to Do When You Don’t Feel Thankful on Thanksgiving
Today in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Family and friends gather to enjoy each other and remember our…
Love is not Wimpy
Say love and chances are your immediate mental picture is soft, squishy, and colored in pastels. If you’re over 40…
What it Takes to be a Faith Hero
When you think of what faith means and who demonstrated great faith, you probably think of Biblical heroes such as…
How to Love Your Wife like Christ
When Percy Sledge or Michael Bolton begin to sing “When a Man Loves a Woman” the ladies swoon and scream.…
The Stockdale Paradox and Spiritual Warfare
Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale was an officer in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. He became a fighter…
7 Things to Do the Day After Christmas
It’s the day after Christmas. The presents are unwrapped. The Christmas decorations may still be up. Christmas dinner leftovers are…
12 Things to do if you’re Lonely at Christmas
The Christmas holiday season is promoted as a time of togetherness. Families sometimes travel long distances to be with loved…
7 Steps to Freedom from Pornography and Compulsive Masturbation
How do you find freedom from compulsive sexual behavior? What does it look like? What does it take to get…
3 Keys to Help You Manage Emotions
Have you picked up the habit of expressing yourself with emoticons? They fill our text messages, Facebook status updates, and…
What to Do when you Don’t Know What to Do
Wouldn’t you love it if you could wake up in the morning and find a message from God written on…
Meeting Sexual Needs if You’re Single or Not Happily Married
You look at happily married couples with envy. It looks like they get to express themselves sexually any time they…
Five Must-Haves in a Potential Spouse
What should you be looking for in a potential spouse? Is it the financial stability? The chemistry? The sexual attraction?…
Can You Be a Little Bit Saved?
When my husband Al met his Maker some weeks ago his eternal destiny was already settled. The decisions about where…
What Does Women’s Health Have To Do With Your Faith?
She and I were waiting together in the green room at the church, preparing to make our respective presentations to…
Three Steps to Begin to Take Charge of Your Life
You’ve had a wakeup call of some kind. Somewhere in your soul there’s a glimmer of hope. Maybe it’s only…
The Healthiest Christmas Gift
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over. The malls are busier than during any other month of the year. You…
Christians, Christianity and War
“Christianity and war” seems like an oxymoron. But unless you’ve been in the jungle with no means of communication with…
Why I Hate Unnecessary Suffering
There were, and still are, many reasons I’m glad I became an OB-Gyn doctor. I love serving women in some…
Why You Must Find Your WHY
Brianna sat down to chat yesterday. Her second child is nine months old, and she and her husband are planning…
7 Ways to Help Your Marriage Thrive When One Spouse is Sick
Remember your vows? “In sickness and in health, ‘till death do us part.” Your marriage vows probably said something similar.…
How Would You Live If You Knew . . .
Most of us really don’t know. And perhaps that’s a good thing. We don’t know when the next life-altering event…
When Your Faith Conflicts With Government
As a Christian in the United States I and the other believers living here have been spoiled. We have enjoyed,…
3 Keys to Deal With Stress Better
The research on stress has continued to expand exponentially in the years since Hans Selye first described what he called…
Reasons to Have a Baby for Christians
Some couples assume that having children is just something you do when you get married, and don’t give much thought…
