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A Fascination with Boredom

“I’m bored.” These are loaded words.

“Only boring people get bored.”

I think my wife and I tried that motto at one point with our children when they were young, but it was an ineffective and, yes, a boring response to their boredom. So we began to consider the phenomenon more carefully.

God Is Awake

I woke up with the feeling that someone was in my room. I turned over and about a foot from my face stood my four year old daughter.

Once my heartbeat returned to normal, I checked the clock. It was 3:30AM.

Tabitha was shaking and whimpering.

“Sweetie, lets go into the bathroom so you don’t wake up daddy,” I said.

Tab wasn’t moving too readily, so I scooped her up and helped her use the potty – sometimes the sensation of having to use the bathroom will evoke a bad dream.

She calmed down a little bit and asked for “belly medicine” – that is, a Tums.

“Tab, I can give you a Tums – but I don’t know if that will solve the problem,” I said.

“Shattered Assumptions”

I have recently been reading about those who struggle with “shattered assumptions”. You often find this phrase in literature regarding those who have gone through some type of traumatic experience which has informed or “shattered” their view of life, their future, or their sense of stability and safety.

The Doctor Is IN - Part 7

Counseling and Physiology Class: Neurobiology of Addiction (or, A Good Thing Gone Bad)

In the first chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s textbook on addictions, Alan Leshner says this: “The brain of someone addicted to drugs is a changed brain; it is qualitatively different from that of a normal person in fundamental ways, including gene expression, glucose [sugar] utilization, and responsiveness to environmental cues.”

Jesus Presented at the Temple

Luke 2:22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Marriage Counseling Class - Part 6

In the Tough Moments of Marriage, Who Are You Becoming?

Staying the course in a difficult marriage can be especially hard for spouses who are working hard while the other spouse remains disengaged or even hostile to their efforts. When your best efforts seem to make no difference, how do you keep from giving up hope and giving in to despair and bitterness?

The Doctor Is IN - Part 6

 

Counseling and Physiology Class: OCD

As an extension and application of the material on psychiatry, we recently covered the topic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in class.  People with this struggle find that they have persistent and intrusive, anxiety-producing thoughts (obsessions) that are usually (but not always) associated with behaviors/rituals (compulsions) that lessen the anxiety.

Marriage Counseling Class - Part 5

Spousal Abuse: A Starting Point to Think Biblically

Last week Leslie Vernick spoke to the marriage class on spousal abuse. I invite Leslie to do this every year because spousal abuse is more common within the church than you might think and we can all use as much help as we can get learning how to respond wisely to abuse situations. 

Thankful People

Grace, gratify and gratitude arise from the same linguistic root, whether the language is English, Greek, or Latin. The good gift, the deep pleasure, and the heartfelt thankfulness are connected experientially, just as they are linguistically.

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