“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Romans 12: 15 Here is a great way to look at what this verse says: “No one has to fix anyone’s pain; we just need to sit with them in it. It cannot be fixed; it can only be healed.” Sitting with someone does […]
Knowing Your Heart
Jesus wants us to live from our hearts–that part of us where we connect with Him and hear Him. The opposite of living from our hearts is living from the flesh–that place where we think we can decide what is good and bad without God. These are very distinct different ways to live. If Jesus […]
Joy-Filled Relationships
All of us long for loving connections, belonging and unconditional acceptance. God designed us that way. We look for people and places where this yearning can be met, only to find that relationships can be messy. Then we want to wallow in the mess or run away from it. If God designed us for close […]
Musings About "Holey Ships"
A few weeks ago I was talking to my niece, Stacey Tafao, and she mentioned that she had heard a speaker say there are differences in the closeness of relationships. I was intrigued, so I decided to do a little study on some Greek words—from Strong’s Concordance—since I don’t know Greek. I began my brief […]
A Delicate Balance: Unconditional Love and Good Shame Messages
Last week I was talking with my dear friend, Debbie, and she asked me to write about unconditional love and good shame messages. Debbie wanted to hear more about how these two principles are not in conflict, although we often walk them out as if they are. The “I have to be nice” lie It’s […]
Greg’s Story–Sequel to "Learning Authentic Love"
As I promised, here are Greg’s own words about his short adventure with incarceration. Written in 2006 for my parenting book, Handbook to Joy-Filled Parenting, Greg’s courage to make his story public has already helped parents rearing teens. I hope it will continue to help many–as we all grow in our journey of learning unconditional love. […]