What’s Urgent versus What’s Important
Why the best shortcut to healing is doing it right.
Sometimes life just hits us like a ton of bricks. In a recent blog post titled “Triumph or Torture: Where Are You Headed?” I wrote about the importance of keeping our bodies fit. Because we only get one body in this life, it’s pretty essential to pay attention to our physical health . . . […]
Triumph or Torture: Where Are You Headed?
You know you’re getting old when a portable massage table and standing desk replace killer shoes and cute clothes on your gift wish list. I’m there. When something falls to the floor, I don’t just pick it up quickly. I hunker down and hunt for anything that needs attention because getting to and from there is now […]
Timeless Reminders When the Going Gets Rough
(And what in the world was I thinking?)
I have a thing for power tools and making stuff. Who knew? I’ve made a desk and table with my son, and wainscoted the kids’ rooms . . . and most projects have gone, um, relatively well. Some have been total disasters, to be honest. I tend to overlook the details and skip a few […]
An Easier Method of Communication
How to Talk to Individuals with Autism
[guestpost]This is a guest post by my middle child, Austin.[ref]Adapted from Austin Dane’s blog, “How to Talk to Individuals with Autism,” posted September 2, 2016, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/siblings-with-autism. Copyright © 2016 by Austin Dane, 2016. Used by permission.[/ref] Austin is incredibly insightful, gifted, and hilarious; but his strongest quality is a tender heart for those who are […]
Trash or Treasure
It’s Time to Tackle the Truth
The weathered wooden trellises were trashed . . . or so they thought. I found some timeworn trellises stacked in a pile my folks planned to toss out. I have a thing about refurbishing or renewing stuff that appears dumpy or dilapidated, and giving it new life. If it’s family stuff, all the better. Around […]
Cleavers, Christ, and Cutting Out Life’s Misadventures
It really was not what we had planned for a quiet Sunday afternoon on Father’s Day . . . but so it goes. Shortly before summer, my youngest son, Jon, got to pick out his very own dog . . . sort of. With all of his siblings now out of the house, Jon wanted companionship, […]
What to Do When You’re a Massive Mess
You would have thought Sherman was being taken to slaughter. Sherman is our German Shepherd, who weighs as much as I do and has all the energy of a toddler on a sugar rush. It was snowing outside, which was perfect because Sherman goes nuts chasing snowflakes in the snow, and I needed to get some […]
How to Live for What Lasts
Sometimes it helps to have a quality-of-life check.
I couldn’t believe the day had come. As we drove away from my son’s college apartment building, its soft yellow paint began to blur as tears welled up in my eyes. I was suddenly filled with a flood of memories, most of them fixed to what I wished I would have done better as a […]
Triggers, Traps, and Truth Bombs
This past summer, all my best thinking led to some tearful conversations with my grown son and daughter. Apparently there was a disconnect . . . and it wasn’t on their end, it was on mine. It all started in May. My stepson finalized wedding plans and got married. My son came home from college […]
Reading the Fine Print of Your Faith
Sometimes I think I’ve bitten off a bit more than I can chew when it comes to my Christian faith. When I gave my life to Christ, I knew that I needed God’s promises of unconditional love and forgiveness like I need air. The Bible lays out so many great promises—eternal life, abundant joy, strength […]
Alternatives to Grace
I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free. (Isaiah 44:22 NLT) If I choose not to risk, if I go the “safe” route and determine not to promote either salvation by […]
How to Press On When the Road Is Rocky
I thought the whole “reframing” process was great . . . until I slammed into one of life’s unexpected, monumental mountains of hardship and lost all footing. Shortly before launching the Reframing Ministries Department of Insight for Living Ministries, I spoke to a group on how to “reframe” their tough circumstances. I felt like a […]