Browsing Tag

relationships

Stand Up For Yourself and Don’t Feel Bad About It

When I was in college, I had a job through work study on campus. Being a business admin major, I lucked out and got a job in the purchasing office. It wasn’t a lot of hours, maybe less than ten per week, but it put textbook and gas money in my pocket and gave me a unique experience working in a university business office.

It also gave me insight into people. I worked with three wonderful superiors there: Barb, Sharon, and Dale. They were all kind, upbeat, upstanding folks and were happy to teach me. But Sharon, she stood out. I can’t recall her exact title: she had her own office, dressed impeccably, was stunningly beautiful and elegant, a sort-of Sophia Loren of the business world. When she entered the room, everyone noticed. And she was friendly and happy and she was also independent and bold. I took note. Continue Reading

May 3, 2016

Abuse and Self Care, Encouragement, Health

How to Avoid an Unhealthy Relationship

Last week was important for me and my family. It marked five years since something quite tragic happened to us. I shared about it here in three parts: it took that many to get the story of That Day and our lives since it, out.

How encouraging and healing that experience has been and the support was overwhelming.

I shared because when we raise our voices, others will feel empowered to raise theirs…to share their stories, to encourage others, to leave their harmful situation.

Sharing helps lessen the stigma about domestic abuse. It’s important to know that verbal, emotional, and mental abuse are every bit as much abuse and, as damaging as, physical abuse. It’s just that the scars are often invisible. Continue Reading

April 24, 2016

Book Reviews, Encouragement, Life Is Beautiful

Raising Big Kids with Supernatural Love (Book Review)

Gentleness is seen as a strong quality. In Proverbs 25:15b, “a gentle tongue can break a bone.”

Raising children is tough.

I don’t think it’s ever been easy to be a parent, but I do think that parenting now may be more of a challenge than in any other era.

As parents, we face unique difficulties that our parents and grandparents didn’t have to contend with. The internet didn’t exist in past generations and with its arrival came a whole host of issues we must now monitor, offer guidance for, and protect against. Continue Reading

April 9, 2016

Encouragement, Life Is Beautiful

How Do We Handle Grief?

Our beabrador Lillie came to us in July 2008 as a tiny pup and immediately stole our hearts. She left us peacefully and like the lady she was on January 30, 2016 and we will never be the same. You can see her sweetly napping a few weeks ago in the featured picture in her favorite napping spot.

Grief. The word is looming, scary, nobody wants anything to do with it. We fear it.

My family is in the midst of grief. We said goodbye yesterday to a dear and faithful friend, our dog Lillie. She’d been with us for nearly 8 years, since she was just a tiny puppy. We’re her only people. If folks have never had pets or never had one that’s become like family, they won’t understand what I’m saying and I respect that.

But if you’ve had pets whom you adore, this will resonate with you. There’s this thing about dogs. They melt when you scratch their tummies. They want to snuggle up to you like a little baby and snore in your face. But in a heartbeat, they’d come between you and anything that poses a threat, willing to sacrifice their very lives for your safety.

There’s a reason we love our pets so much: They’re faithful. They may poop on the floor sometimes, but they never fail us. They fight for us. They don’t gossip about us. They are loyal, no matter what. They don’t lie to us. They don’t lie about us. They never betray us. They keep our secrets. Their whole lives are about us. For most pets, we are their world. They are completely and undeniably dedicated to us and only us. Continue Reading

January 31, 2016

Older Posts