Multiplying Wonder with the Breath of Gratitude
Over the last several years my wife Cathy and I have had our eyes opened and our lives transformed through the power of appreciation and wonder! The atmosphere of our family and community has been warmed, healed and transformed. The gift of noticing and amplifying the small and large seeds of beauty and goodness all around us in our everyday […]
The Life Skill of Keeping Your Cool
Did you know that your body knows what you’re feeling even before you do? In neuroscience today we’ve discovered that the right hemisphere of our brain is where our “control center” operates and it’s also responsible for the storage of “experiences”. In simple English this means that everything that you experience, and all the information […]
Subtle Narcissism – Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
In one of my Joy Groups, we are doing an in-depth study about narcissism and how to deal with it both in ourselves and with others. We are learning that there are different ‘’types’’ and different “degrees” of narcissism. Most of us have no problem recognizing the blatant, harsh, self-justifying, defensive kind. There’s no question […]
How to Return to Joy
This year my family had a lot going on for Mother’s Day. It was busy. In fact, it was so busy that it did not work for us to celebrate Mother’s Day like we usually would – on the day, together as a family. We decided to reschedule my Mother’s Day celebration to another time […]
The Appreciation Tree
This morning Andrew woke up in a sour mood. I noticed his brain’s relational circuits (RCs) were off and after several attempts to help him turn them on again, none of the normal solutions worked. His whining continued, even after I took some time to attune with his feelings and comfort him in his upset. […]
What's Missing? The Immanuel Lifestyle!
Last weekend I attended the Annual Gathering of folks who love Life Model Works. The focus was Living an Immanuel Lifestyle. I heard two speakers, both heads of ministries, say, “I was missing something in my relationship with Christ–and what I was missing was the relationship.” We spent the next two days looking at this […]
Appreciation Changes Everything
Just before bed last night I had an upsetting interaction with a friend. It was not a fight or an argument, but I was worried about her. In the past, something like this would have ruined my sleep. Yep; in days past this distress would have spun out my mind. I would have replayed the […]
The World Needs What the Life Model Provides
We were first introduced to the Life Model in 2006, by Karl Lehman, and attended our first Thrive Training in 2007. Thrive Training and many of the other Life Model resources we have used have been very beneficial to our individual growth and healing, as well as to our marriage. We have also witnessed over […]
4 Ways to Help Your Husband Grow
Wish there was a way you could help your husband grow? Every day our ministry gets mail from women around the world wondering what they can do in their marriages to make a difference for their families. Today, in this short post, I want to share some ideas we have seen truly help. 1. Accept […]
Creating a Family Culture of Appreciation
The jar sits on our dinner table along with a stack of little slips of paper and a pen. When I sit down at the table, alone or with others, my first thought is what I appreciate from that day. I pause, pick up the pen and fill out a couple of pieces with a […]