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Ten Questions to Ask Your Wife (If You’re Man Enough …)
Z linked to a worthwhile article on The Stepping Up blog that included these questions for a husband to ask his wife: What could I do to make you feel more loved? What could I do to make you feel more respected? What could I do to make you feel more understood? What could I do to make you more secure? What could I do to make you feel more confident in our future direction? What attribute would you like me to develop? What attribute would you like me to help you develop? What achievement in my life would bring you the greatest joy? What would indicate to you that…
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Singing at Our Grinding …
But always there is someone, somewhere, singing at her grinding. Hopi Indian Proverb
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Conflict (Sometimes) Makes Us Stupid
When you fly as much as I do, you get very used to the pre-flight boarding pattern of every commercial airline: One hour prior: Gate agent arrives 40 minutes: Mandatory announcements are made and gate-check tags are distributed if needed 30 minutes: First Class/Pre-Boarding or Pre-Boarding/First Class (may vary) Then Elites / exit row Then the lemmings in steerage I actually find it relatively comforting—the lining up of businesspeople who must get their rollaboards into the overhead space; the confused occasional-only travelers who aren’t quite sure what is going on; the rest of us just trying to survive the jostling. I try to keep my eyes peeled for someone I…
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Other Things You Can Do Rather Than Fire Your Pastor
Dave wrote a great post over at RedeemingChurchConflicts.com that I encourage you to check out: Other Things You Can Do Rather Than Fire Your Pastor He wrote this in response to the (sad) fact that the most common search term for our Redeeming Church Conflict site has always been (and remains) “How to Fire Your Pastor.” Tragic.
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Snow and a Low of 28 Degrees Today! Time to head to Caramel Cookie Waffles for a nice cup of soup …
In addition to a fun (albeit slightly biased–what would you expect?) review of U.S. history at the Alberta Bair’s Rock the Presidents, we also braved the snow (yes, snow) to enjoy a hearty cup of soup and a caramel cookie waffle at our beloved Billings’ Dutch brothers’ establishment: Now I need to start packing for my trip tomorrow to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the weather is apparently so muggy that it feels like 87 degrees. We’ll have a low of 28 degrees today in Billings! Yeah. I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to pack for this 60-degree-swing adventure … What an…
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O Lord, Make Haste to Help Me. (The Lord Takes Thought For Me!)
Is anyone else having a “nothing to do but pray Psalm 40” kind of morning? (Water up to your neck? OK. If we’re being honest, it feels like it’s over your head. Bogged down in the miry pit. Going under for the last time. Throat parched from crying. Eyes burning.) Yep. Only one thing to do: Pray Psalm 40! I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to…
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The Remnants of Shame
You know … the longer I live, the more convinced I am that there really is only one battle in all of life. It is the battle; the battle of the ages. And we just live it out over and over again in various contexts—the privacy of our own thinking; our relationships at work and in the home and in the church; when we’re happy and fulfilled; when life kicks us in the gut. Again. Who are we? Who is God? How are we made right with God? What does it mean to be “good”? What does it mean to be “good enough”—worthy. Not rejected. Not despised. Not “bad” or “dirty” or…
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Riverfront Park in Autumn
We love autumn in Billings—especially Riverfront Park. Even at its low point, the Yellowstone River is beautiful …
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So engrossed in this sermon that I forgot to cross the street …
Lilikoi and I were enjoying a beautiful, crisp fall day walk this morning when I confused a bunch of drivers (and Lili) by hitting the crosswalk button at our (busy for Billings) corner of Grand and 8th and then forgetting to cross with the light. I was utterly engrossed in Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile’s sermon on biblical manhood (that you can listen to here, at the website for Redeemer Church of Dubai—yes, that Dubai). I still have 15 minutes or so to go of the entire message, but so far it’s the best sermon I’ve ever heard on biblical manhood—and as a mother of girls, yes, this is definitely a topic…
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Nightmares and Nearly Utter Sleeplessness (for 72+ hours now …)
Whenever I think about it, I chuckle quietly to myself … On Tuesday, a friend asked me how I was sleeping (because I frequently have insomnia and other sleep troubles) and I replied, “Great!” And I was. Up ’til then. For just over two months, I had been delightfully free from fear upon going to bed because (thankfully!), I just fell asleep. Until Tuesday night. And Wednesday night. And oh, how I pray it is NOT true tonight too … If you have never struggled with sleeplessness, I hope that you can truly rejoice because it is a wonderful thing to be an easy, deep sleeper. I know this because…
