Elder Leadership: Priorities for Thriving Communities
By Barbara Moon Elders look after their community. Elders are in the stage of life where strength is lessening while responsibility is increasing. Communities usually contain different age groups and can be of different sizes. It’s a good thing that elders have had lots of practice throughout all the other stages of maturity. Communities can […]
Part 2: What Gen Z Needs from Elders
By Hannah Ploegstra Gen Z is a delightful generation whose collective history has set them up to be hungry for input from elders. They were babies and toddlers when 9/11 happened, formed their group identities with the help of social media and iPhones, and when it was finally time to head out into the world […]
Part 1: Why Gen Z Needs Elders
By Hannah Ploegstra The people who are now on deck to be the next elders in our society are the generation we call “Baby Boomers” (born 1946-1964). Because one of the core missions of the Boomer generation in their young adult life was to break free from the controlling grip of their elders (parents, grandparents, […]
Becoming an Extra Parent
By Dr. Karen Struble, Clinical Psychologist In recent years the number of Western-world households without children has risen tremendously. Reasons abound. Some folks search for a suitable (a.k.a. real grown-up) mate, but cannot find one. Others suffer the pain of infertility or other medical conditions. Still others are fertile couples who choose not to bear […]
Flexible Diligence & Parenting
By Michael Sullivant One of the skills we are meant to learn during the parent stage of maturity is to gracefully balance and synchronize our attention and energies to meet the appropriate needs of our spouse, children, extended family, church, work, friends, and the broader community. I’m now almost 70 with five married adult children […]
“I have called you friends” – Mutually Satisfying Relationships and Adult Maturity
By Joca & Joel Prudhomme Jesus calls us His friends. This is an incredible thought, not just Him a friend to me but me a friend to Him also, sharing His heart, His joys, and His sorrows and working together with Him to achieve our Father’s purposes. He wants me to have this kind of […]
More Than Our Momentary Failures: Lessons from Parenting in the Child Stage
By Joel and Joca Prudhomme Before having children, I was sure that I would be a great dad. What a surprise to discover as a parent of young children that I seemed completely incapable of doing even half of the wonderful things that I had read in the parenting books! This grand adventure of raising […]
Understanding Child-Level Maturity
Last month we discussed the first stage of the maturity process, infant maturity. This month we will discover the next stage, child-level maturity. It is important to keep in mind that each stage builds upon – not replaces – the previous maturity stage. While the main goal of infant maturity is to learn to receive, […]
Responding to a Connection Invitation
By Marlene Allen “Mom! Dad! Look! Look at me!” is the cry of a young heart. “Look at me. See me. Validate me. Affirm me. Help me become my own person by acknowledging that my actions have meaning. Enjoy this moment with me. It’s part of me forming my own personality. It’s me venturing out […]
We Never Outgrow the Need to Receive
By Claudia Hendricks When we hear the word “infant” our mind instantaneously tends to dismiss the topic thinking it does not concern us as adults. But when we stop to see how God has designed our brains to grow an integrated identity at an infant level, things get interesting. The infant stage of maturity takes […]
Understanding Infant Maturity
If you’ve been around the Life Model, you’ve probably heard about the five stages of maturity: infant, child, adult, parent, and elder. If you are newer to the Life Model, the stages of maturity outline the growth process from infancy through adulthood in terms of relational skills, emotional health, and the ability to handle life’s […]
What Inside Out Can Teach Us About Emotion Regulation
By Claudia Hendricks There are some gems in the first Inside Out* movie that highlight how God designed our brains to help us regulate our emotions and be ourselves amid big changes. Inside Out 1 tells the story of 11-year-old Riley and her emotional reactions as her family relocates from Minnesota to San Francisco for […]
Multigenerational Community, Mental Health, and Spiritual Wellbeing
By Barbara Moon Multigenerational communities are a bonus kind of community according to the Life Model. This looks like people of different walks of life, ages, and various maturity levels enhancing each other’s growth. Multigenerational communities can occur both within a family and within various kinds of groups – including spiritual community. Families naturally have […]
Relational Brain Skills & the Life Model
By Monica Mouer I was introduced to the Life Model in the fall of 2014. As a mental health counselor and pastor’s wife at that time, I had been on a multi-year journey for my personal spiritual and emotional growth. When I came across the Life Model, I knew it was something special. The blend […]
7 Deadly Traps for Small Groups
By Jim Wilder You know that person or couple who only comes by your church or small group when there is a party? They are fun people and seem to want genuinely to connect with community. But when it’s time to volunteer with the church or the neighborhood, they don’t seem to be responding to text […]
Fully Alive: Becoming True You!
By Terri Sullivant “…if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your […]
What My Best Self Believes About God
By Jen Pfeiler “Write the first five things that come to your mind when you think about God,” Lydia calmly instructed. She looked around the group of just under a dozen fellow ministry students. Throughout our time together, we took turns instructing the group. It was her turn to teach and I could sense her […]
My Best Self With Immanuel
By Marlene Allen Over the last couple of weeks, the Life Model Works team has shared what it means to be your best self, versus your false or avatar self. Now and in the coming weeks we will dive into the theme of what it looks like to be your best self with Immanuel. “I […]
Happy New Year!
By Jen Pfeiler Happy New Year! I’m sure by now there have been plenty of emails streaming in, promising you deals on how to better yourself in 2024. As humans with an inner desire to grow and mature, we like the idea of a fresh start. We want to be determined that this year will […]
Do You Know When to Yell?
Neuroscience tells us that our brains are wired to seek intensity. Ideally, this intensity should come from joyful interactions and be the foundation for our attachment to people. However, if we experience intense abandonment or dysfunction early on, our young minds can’t discern the difference between good and bad intensity, and we go through life […]