Rejoice in Him

Claire, Elisabeth, Ginger, Julie, and Rick share thoughts from the heart to the heart

Category

Relationships

How to Share Hard Truth in a Soft Way

If someone comes up to you and says, “I’m going to be brutally honest with you…”, how does that make you feel? Probably like you have to brace yourself, prepare to be offended in some way, and perhaps become defensive… Continue Reading →

Cease Striving– Including At Christmastime!

“Be still…” – Ps. 46:10– In other words– “CEASE STRIVING!” ~Yes, it’s less than a week before Christmas. ~Yes, there’s Christmas cards to write and send, parties to plan and go to, choir rehearsals, last minute house-cleaning and decoration, helping… Continue Reading →

Give Thanks For All Our Relationships

Thanksgiving—a holiday that’s really meant to be a lifestyle and ongoing attitude. A holiday that’s getting squeezed out, as merchants and marketers ring in the Christmas shopping tradition the moment the last “Trick or Treat!” has been called out. One… Continue Reading →

How to have compassion instead of anger

What is your response when you face opposition? Our natural response is a tendency to defend ourselves. Oftentimes the greater the attack, then the greater the antipathy we have toward the other person. The Apostle Paul presented a strategy that… Continue Reading →

From One Generation to the Next

For as long as I can remember, I’ve known and said the “Shema”—“Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echod.” Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it right—it’s in Hebrew! It means “Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is… Continue Reading →

Winning Teams

At the Y last week, my husband and I went to the basketball area (small, only one basket), hoping to find it free. It was—yay! Right after putting our backpacks down and looking for a ball, 2 young-teen boys and… Continue Reading →

How To Overcome Unconscious Bias

With the 21st anniversary of 9/11 just behind us, it’s easy to fall into an “us versus them” mentality. “Us” meaning anyone who looks, seems, talks, believes, and acts like we do, and “them” meaning anyone different who we consider… Continue Reading →

On Empathy and “You Too”

Last year my body decided to introduce me to a new kind of pain I’d never met before.  The older we get, the more of these we meet, even though we’d rather not make their acquaintance! They also often have… Continue Reading →

On Travel and Relationships

As I sit here 10 days after returning from our last trip and a week after coming down with Covid, I have plenty of time to reflect on it all—an entire month of going, coming, and preparing to go again…. Continue Reading →

Is It Worth the Battle?

What do you do when someone gets in YOUR space and refuses to budge?! That’s what I wondered when our dog Trooper decided MY FAVORITE CHAIR was more comfortable for HIM than his other, usual, resting spots! I understood– it… Continue Reading →

How to Deal With Disappointment

When someone lets you down, let the Lord pick you up! People disappoint us by… Not keeping their promises—Have you ever had someone promise to do something or be somewhere for you and then not done it or not shown… Continue Reading →

How to Keep From Saying Stupid Things

We say fewer stupid things when we say less! That seems obvious, yet how many of us put it into practice? For some of us, especially extroverts, there’s so much we want and feel we need to say, it’s hard… Continue Reading →

It’s What’s On the Inside That Counts

“What are these people’s stories?  How did they end up here?”, I wondered, when I first met some of the residents at a homeless shelter a group of us volunteered at for a week.  Some of them fit the stereotype—“grungy”,… Continue Reading →

Be Careful What You Eat!

“There is a way that seems right to a [person] but its end is the way to death.”  Prov.14:12 Last week our family visited a sea turtle conservation center, where they bring rescued sea turtles for rehabilitation and treatment to… Continue Reading →

Don’t Come On Too Strong

Have you ever met someone that “comes on too strong”? We can interpret “strong” in many ways—aggressive, opinionated, overbearing, talkative, friendly, enthusiastic, etc. While some of these are obviously negative, some traits can be positive, such as friendly and engaging…. Continue Reading →

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