The call came at 6:45 am “There are 3 inches of water in our bedrooms and the water is rising!” The huge retention pond was overflowing into the yards and homes. I ran out the door, no makeup, no fixing my hair to get help! I met my husband and Mike at the duplexes and they went to work on the flooded unit. In the past, I would have followed their steps, jumped in, and worked hard in my strength and → Read more
Pilate once asked Jesus "What is truth?" He asked a good question. Instead of leaning into the question, he was passive and he deferred. Pilate had the power to ensure Truth Himself was revealed. Instead, he yielded to the masses: loud voices, driving and distracting in their chaotic chants. The world today has changed into similar instant access to loud voices, driving and distracting with chant-like platforms. We need the power of discernment to distinguish between lie and truth. When → Read more
"Walking in obedience in our Promised Land means slaying our giants... even the ones we like to hang with."
A client became aware of something quite empowering around listening. She realized that for almost 60 years she had been listening to what everyone else said to her about her, but she had never listened to herself. Over the years, she took on more and more of people’s thoughts and feelings. Through coaching, she started hearing herself think, hearing what she believed and hearing what was important to her. Most joyously, she started hearing God. In just two sessions, her confidence soared! Several years → Read more
Have you ever heard of a whisper campaign? It's a marketing technique using persuasion through false or distorted information to damage the reputation of one product/person in order to draw the market place towards another product/person. It's called a whisper campaign because the source of the rumor tries to stay incognito. Remember "Hands up, Don't Shoot?" This is a recent and controversial example (aren't they all controversial and emotionally charged?) of a whisper campaign. After a lengthy investigation, it became → Read more
When I checked into the CICU one of the questions the admittance staff asked was if I wanted to be visited by a chaplain. I said “no.” Two days later, I was upgraded to a regular room as my body stabilized after a serious incident. I experienced a cardiac effusion that led to a cardiac tamponade in which 1.5 liters of fluid was removed from my heart cavity called the pericardium. Three chambers were collapsing at the time of the → Read more
Summer mornings . . . a time of easing into the morning a little slower than during the school year for this mom. While the birds sing and beckon the sunrise, I rarely get up at that time, and arise after the sun. When I purpose to begin my day with rest – sitting with Father and His Word, then my day goes smoothly...if I put it off, I am “off” most of the day as well. I am recently → Read more
Simon Baker portrays an investigator in the TV series "The Mentalist." After the loss of two loved ones, he uses his keen observation skills and powerful understanding of human behavior to become an investigator and catch the bad guy. He has an uncanny ability to peer past a curtain to see what's really going on. As believers, we do not have to be ensnared by the trap of customary responses to stimuli around us. We can be a "mentalist" of sorts, to → Read more
Most leaders know how to listen for what they want to hear. Many leaders have learned how to listen for what they need to hear. But I have met very few leaders who understand the importance of listening for what they don’t want to hear. And they are the leaders who are truly respected. Who would you want to follow? The leader who listens for that last ten percent -- that which far too often goes unspoken -- is a → Read more
We all have those conversations. They range from “you’re the greatest” to “you are absolutely worthless”, and a million others in between. They can build up, or they can tear down. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the tongue is the most potent weapon of them all. So, what happens when those conversations never leave my head? What am I building or destroying when the target is...me? And on which side of the conversation -- speaking, or listening → Read more
