I’m not talking to you! Ever been given the silent treatment? It usually comes from hurt or offense—someone cuts you off, refuses to communicate, and pretends you don’t exist. This behavior signals emotional immaturity and relational dysfunction. Healthy relationships are marked by good communication; poor ones by negative patterns or avoidance. This applies not only to …
Some people love the movie The Princess Bride. It’s not something I’d personally watch again, but it does have one particularly memorable monologue. Forced to wed the bad guy, the heroine stands before a hapless priest—unable to pronounce his Rs or Ls—who begins the ceremony with his famous speech: “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder …
Early in the morning, as I was exercising in the basement, I heard a strange sound—something lightly tapping against a window. Initially, I assumed it was a squirrel attempting to steal birdseed from the feeder outside the kitchen window. But then, something caught my eye. I stopped exercising and slowly approached the little culprit. Outside …
The Rocky Mountains of Colorado are home to intriguing wildlife including elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn antelope, black bears, and mountain lions. Another is the mule deer, so named for its exceptionally large ears that feature a unique cupped structure optimized for collecting sound. Their ears can be independently rotated almost 180 degrees, …
My sister recently asked us to care for her birds while she’s on a road trip. We now have her two lovely—and very vocal—canaries next to the window in our family room. I sent a friend a recording of a particularly long series of loud and varied songs yesterday. And the reply? “Quick! Throw a …
“Do you really need that much dental floss?” I heard one guy describe as his knee-jerk reaction to his wife casually pulling out almost two feet of floss from the dispenser. In his mind, he was calculating how fast that 43.7 yards of Glide would go, at $5.59 plus tax. I get it. True confession: …
Our youngest grandson loves bath time! When he’s fussy, squirmy, and unhappy, neither his toys nor cuddles seem to soothe him. But the moment he slips into his baby tub, everything changes. His face lights up with smiles as he kicks, splashes, and plays with his bath toys, as though all his cares have been …
God highlighted a quality to me this morning that we all admire, but typically hope to never need: fortitude. One dictionary defines it as mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously. Fortitude will empower us to face challenges in this world and still be of good cheer. I’ll share three …
As I write, I am babysitting our youngest grandchild while his parents close on their first home. Packed in a one-bedroom apartment with a baby for the past 8 months, the two of them are eager to move! Soon they’ll start preparing the new house for their growing family. No doubt, they are excited with …
As noted earlier, my mom recently moved into assisted living to be near family. It was a good decision and she’s starting to reap its benefits, some of which include her getting to see grandchildren, and even one of her great grandchildren, in person! She also never has to cook, clean, or do her own …
Half-hearted. Unsure. Doubtful. Apathetic. Lukewarm. If you saw those words on someone’s resume, would you give a double thumbs up, saying, “YES! That’s exactly the profile for people I want on my team”? No! And similarly, God is looking for people who are “all in.” For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro …
We took off over a month from writing this blog due to unexpected changes in our lives. As is His style, God is working it all together for good. But my (Carrie’s) mom suddenly landed in the hospital in her home state. Within two whirlwind weeks (for which I flew there), she got a pacemaker …
