Do You Want to Change Your Habits?
A five year-old child was sitting alone in a room with a marshmallow placed a few inches in front of her. She was told that she could eat it immediately, but if she waited just fifteen minutes, she would be rewarded with an additional marshmallow. Six hundred other children were invited onto the campus of […]
Never Give Up
One of the greatest heartbreaks a parent can experience is to be estranged from an adult child … which usually means losing contact with beloved grandchildren as well. That’s what happened to Karen when she offended her daughter, Debra, with a few careless words during her granddaughter’s soccer game three years ago. A frozen silence […]
My Wife’s Punch List Was Driving Our Son Crazy
During the last months of my son’s senior year in high school, Jeff had a lot of conflict with his mother. As a result I was doing more mediation at home than I was through my conciliation ministry. Night after night the three of us applied principles of confession, forgiveness and negotiation. And the next […]
The World’s Best GPS
How much do you trust God? Really? Do you trust him as much as a blind teenage racer trusts her seeing-eye dog? Sami Stoner lost her eyesight just as she entered the eighth grade. She had to face the fact that she would never get a driver’s license, never again do her own makeup, and […]
A Better Way to Handle Abuse
Sexual abuse in the church does not have to end in broken lives, agonizing lawsuits and divided congregations. As illustrated by the real-life abuse case described later in this post, when people follow God’s ways and words, these terrible incidents can result in healing, justice and healthier churches. When victims of abuse first come forward, […]
Inside Out
Do you sometimes find it difficult to understand your emotions … much less those of your teenager, spouse, coworkers or friends? Well, Disney and Pixar have just given you a vehicle to explore this issue at a whole new level. Their newest film, Inside Out, provides an entertaining and thought-provoking way to begin a discussion […]
Have You Ever Been This Kind?
When was the last time you did something that was so amazingly kind that others will remember your actions the rest of their lives? If it’s been awhile, I encourage you to take two minutes to watch a video clip of some young men who refused to play basketball against another team … as an […]
Manipulative Double Messages
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] One of the most effective ways to undermine a relationship is to use double-messages to manipulate other people. This all-too-common process was perfectly illustrated in a recent edition of […]
RW in McFarland, U.S.A.
If you’d like to see some vivid examples of relational wisdom, be sure to see Disney’s latest release, McFarland, U.S.A. The movie is based on the true story of a 1987 cross country team from a predominantly Mexican-American high school in McFarland, California. Kevin Costner stars as coach Jim White, who has lost job after […]
A Wise Son Makes a Glad Father
One of the many joys I had last year was seeing my 20-year-old son teaching relational wisdom to business managers and top high school students. RW in the Workplace In November, Jeff and I flew to California, where we had the privilege of presenting a Discovering RW Seminar to twenty-five managers and their spouses at […]