A year ago, we lost a baby to miscarriage. It happened after a year of infertility and just a couple weeks of elation at finally getting the positive test. It has been an entire year since the miscarriage and the cycle of infertility is frustrating us once again. For two years, we have tried to take a posture of seeking and sharing truth. It is a value in our marriage and a necessity to a well-lived life. It is easy to get... Read more
Our choices are one of the three things we can control. On a planet we have to share with billions of people, a gauntlet of circumstances, and an ever-changing cycle of seasons, taking ownership of just three things can seem really small. We often strive to control more. And our attempts to do so are the cause for so much hurt, chaos, and confusion in the world. We can plant ourselves in the Victim Circle, blaming others for our lot in life.... Read more
It seems pretty clear that modern Americans are unable to deal with not getting their way. New styles of parenting blame institutions for children’s inadequacies and try hard to clear the path of any struggle. We’re increasingly perfectionistic, superficial, and angry. Suicide rates, divorce rates, and mental health rates are rising at a frightening pace. Our society is becoming a hotbed for toxic individualism. Just last night, I saw a news report about a man who ran over a family... Read more
Boundaries are hard. It is a challenging aspect of being human. In a life where we are created for community and intimacy, where does one person end and another begin? We are meant to care for one another, to stand in the gaps, to uplift and support and encourage. But we cannot replace what another person is responsible for. And when our relationships start to endanger what we are responsible for, boundaries need to be set. Just as they do... Read more
We live in a world full of options. We have more choices than we can make. Consider the cereal aisle or what to watch on Netflix. When we chose something, we chose it because we have a lot of hope in the object of our choice. We expect things to work out. To have a happy ending. Otherwise, we wouldn’t waste our time on it. The Project Mood Curve has 4 distinct phases. The first of these is the forming stage.... Read more
It’s a strange and perverse sort of joy we get from April Fools Day. It is a bit like our fascination with haunted houses. I suppose we love being scared if we can control it and know there’s no true danger. And in the same vein, we enjoy our little jokes at one another’s expense so long as it is temporary and the fact revealed quite soon after the matter. The magic of April Fools is exactly that – a... Read more
There are all sorts of narratives out there. Stories we tell ourselves. Stories our family and friends tell us. Stories from society and advertising. As far as we can tell, humans have always been fascinated with stories. The cave men drew stories on the walls. Jesus taught with parables more than any other method. Today, we have television and movies. Stories catch our imaginations, but they do much more than that. They tell our truths. Our increasingly individualistic culture encourages... Read more
Our emotions are complicated creatures. They can creep up on us, bursting out at seemingly randomly times. They can also linger like a stain we cannot get rid of or ignore. I was on the subway the other day and a kid (about 2 years old) was crying. Just wailing his heart out. The mother, clearly embarrassed, screamed at him with red eyes “You have to learn to control your emotions!” We try so hard to tame the wild beast... Read more
I’m not one of those Christians that loves service projects. I was never longing to go on mission trips or to the nursing home on the weekend. My brother had a heart (and skill) for that kind of thing and, for a long time, I just dismissed it because it was not something I felt naturally connected to. I engaged in a few of these experiences out of obligation and what I discovered shocked me. There is an irony about... Read more
For a couple years, we have been working with Servant Leadership talking about the cross-section of character development, leadership, and cultural engagement. And the further we get into the journey, the more I see the importance of perspective. How it drives our behaviors by informing the way we think and believe and see the world. We are a story-telling people. Before writing, stories were passed along through oral traditions. Our best lessons are learned through stories. Jesus taught mostly through parables. We... Read more
Victorious Living
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In