M. Scott Peck began his book The Road Less Traveled with this truth: “Life is difficult.”1M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978), 15. Writing this reality or reading it is one thing; accepting it is another. Are you wrestling […]
Author: Colleen Swindoll Thompson
“Believe”: Sometimes Found in Stars over the Porch
My close friend just found out her son was sexually assaulted. In the last 10 years, her son has been diagnosed with the following: intellectual disability; developmental disorders; severe Tourette’s syndrome; learning, behavior, and life skill disorders; and the accompanying challenges related to anxiety and emotions. Believing in God’s goodness was tough for her. Adding […]
Attitude Check
In the last blog post of 2009 I encouraged you (and myself) to toss out the idea of “New Year’s Resolutions” and instead cultivate four areas of character development. The first character trait was directed towards our attitudes. I determine to exhibit a persistent ATTITUDE of praise and to write down three examples each day. […]
Where Did January Go?
Do you ever wish to find more than just bills in your mailbox? For many of us, “the great bill pile” stacks up on our kitchen tables while we sit by hoping “the mail fairy” shows up and whisks it all away. Frankly, I wish the mail fairy would swing by my mailbox before I […]
Changing Our Minds, Changing Our Lives
The opening line of the sermon was: “What you believe about life affects everything about how you live your life.” The congregation quieted and heard once again: “What you believe about life affects everything about how you live your life.” Sometimes we believe happiness will eventually show up, or we might suppose, “If I do […]
Teenagers Can Be Terrific Teachers
Teenagers are a unique group of people. They can text 4,000 words a second but can’t speak in complete sentences. They remember 8,000 e-mail addresses but claim memory loss on trash day. They sustain electric energy during all-night social events but become comatose at two-hour family functions. I have four teenagers. Four teenagers whose hormones […]
Becoming Real
While driving to work today, my attitude wasn’t so great. More often than not, I’m a bit like Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh, but today I felt like Eeyore. I know in my head that stress and demands exhaust my spirit, but the journey from my head to my heart is a long one. On days like […]
Thick Glass
One of the realities of raising a neurologically disabled child is what I call “thick glass.” Thick glass is the clear yet mostly impenetrable divider between a parent’s unconditional love for his or her child and the child’s seeming total lack of response—that disheartening vacant look. Parents grieve behind thick glass, ever longing to touch […]
2010—Something Better
Okay, let’s be honest about New Year’s resolutions. You write down the same resolutions every year, don’t you? I even bet some of these common resolutions made your list for 2010, as they did for 2008 and 2009. Lose weight. Manage debt. Save money. Get a better job. Get fit. Reduce stress. Take a trip. […]
Depression: Part of the Journey
How many of you feel comfortable talking about depression? Better yet, do you share your convictions when someone else is vulnerable about being depressed? Let me start off by stating that depression can be a severe struggle for parents raising special-needs children. Depression can be indescribable, grievous, and debilitating. It’s not easy to talk about! […]
Here’s a Gift for You
My son Jonathan’s disabilities diagnosis came on December 3, 1999. At that time, Thanksgiving was behind us, but Christmas was coming fast. What would I buy a child whose only interest was (and still is) anything spinning (including him): fans, water, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines? I cried in every toy aisle that year, thinking, […]
Am I Really That Important?
Some years ago, Chuck Swindoll desired to encourage the members of the Insight for Living board of directors, to express to them that their contribution to the ministry was significant. He quoted from an advertisement published in the Wall Street Journal. I offer it to you here because, from time to time, we all need […]