The other day I was looking at some pictures of old headstones when one popped up that said “I told you I was sick.” That was all it said except for a small name at the bottom. At first I laughed. One never sees headstones like that anymore! Then I wondered who buried them and…
Parenting
Locked into the Embrace of Negativity
We often wonder why our relationships with others do not change particularly when they turn negative. It can be with very close relationships such as with spouses and our children. It can be with our parents or different members of our extended families. It can even occur at work or in neighborhoods. It is destructive…
Who is in your home? You won’t see them!
A mother was having a great deal of difficulty with a daughter in college. The daughter was failing in school and decided to come home for the weekend just to spend some time away. The family was relieved and planned all kinds of activities to make her feel welcome and yet be reminded of the…
Go Home
I was talking to a mother and father in St. George area about their 14-year-old daughter. As we talked, I could feel the parents’ discouragement. One said, “Our kids are never home. If they are home, they bring friends, and if they are alone they are on the computer or their phones texting.” We talked…
One Step Forward, 10 Steps Back: When to Help
When our children are little, we are to be hovering. We are to protect, guide, train, and prepare them for adulthood. Slowly, as they begin to grow, we need to hover less and less, and begin to prepare them more and more to be capable of making their own decisions with our guidance. When they…
Dwell on What is Good!
There are certainly enough things going on out in the world that could make us dwell on the scary. The thoughts about what could be coming that fill you with anxiety. The watching of tragedies on the news. Ignoring everything that is bad going on around us doesn’t really work. We have to be aware, alert, and proactive about…
Dealing with Failure We Can’t Fix
There are some failures that we just cannot fix. Let me give you some examples: How about getting in an accident, and people don’t survive? Perhaps some of the fault was yours and some of the fault was the other driver’s. Did we do everything we could do just perfectly? How about having a son or…
The Greatness of Failure
A mom told me about a conversation she had with her teen daughter many years ago. The daughter had played ball for a varsity team, which seemed to be a good thing. The problem was that she was always on the bench for most of the game. She wanted to be part of everything, but she…