Children's Stuffies & Bonds & How Loved We Are
Are there any little children in your life? Do they have something they cannot go to sleep (or live) without? Maybe it’s a blanket that’s tattered and full of holes. Maybe it’s a stuffed animal that doesn’t smell very good. Some people call these loveys, blankies, or stuffies. Stuffies is a kind of new […]
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 […]
Does It Bring Joy?
These last two months have been a crazy season of sickness for our family. One illness after another keeps taking us down, and usually a few at a time. Things seemed to be looking up until a week ago. Andrew (4) came down with a cough. Then Matthew (6) spiked a fever. Next Chris and […]
Rare Resource Brings Joy to the World
Life Model Works released a new resource this year, Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits that Increase Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead. The official launch took place at Annual Gathering 2016 in April and the book’s core teaching was the focal point. The entire conference is available on DVD. Dr. Jim Wilder of Life […]
Reset My Normal Negative Perspective on Life in 30-45 Days? Seriously?!
This is the 4th Blog in the series, “Bringing Joy to the World,” highlighting how Life Model Works has positively impacted individuals, couples, families, churches, communities and the world in 2016! In 21st century society, things move fast – I can message my friend in Uganda as quickly as if she were […]
This Stuff Really Works!
This is the 3rd Blog in the series, “Bringing Joy to the World,” highlighting how Life Model Works has positively impacted individuals, couples, families, churches, communities and the world in 2016! This stuff really works! Initially I assumed that all this “brain science” stuff was just another form of Christian self-help that would likely […]
Bringing Joy to the World: Families
This is the 2nd Blog in the series, “Bringing Joy to the World,” highlighting how Life Model Works has positively impacted individuals, couples, families, churches, communities and the world in 2016! Duane Sherman is Acquisitions Editor of Strategic Partnerships at Moody Publishers. Today he shares part of his story and how Life Model has affected […]
Bringing Joy to the World: Marriages
Life Model Works has made significant impacts in key relationships this year, and the following testimony is proof that the Life Model brings joy to marriages! ————————————– Feeling trapped, my wife Vicki and I called Life Model counselor Conrad Beaulieu, who explained that progress in our low-joy relationship would require that a mutual friend join […]
The Word…Moved into the Neighborhood
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14, The Message) My step-Dad has a beautiful picture book about Jesus’ life called He Was One of Us by artist Rien Poortvliet. I can stare at the faces for hours, paging through scenes of Mary, Nicodemus, Peter, the woman caught in adultery, and the crowds […]
Joyful Giving
When I was running my financial advisory firm we always gave a Christmas gift to our clients. In 2002 I gave them Kingdom Assignment, a book written by pastor Denny Bellesi and his wife Leesa, to motivate their church members to experience the joy of giving. The following Christmas I decided to try my own […]
The Overlooked Discipline of Having Fun
During a coaching session not too long ago, I received an unusual answer to the question “what do you want to work on today?” My client had worked on several leadership and discipline challenges and chose this day to respond “Scott, I don’t have any recreation in my life. I don’t do anything for fun.” He […]
Side Effects of a Relationship with Jesus
Back in 2007 when I first made my Facebook profile, I distinctly remember pausing a bit when I saw the “religion” options. I scrolled through them and felt like I didn’t really fit into any of those neat little categories anymore. I’m pretty sure I settled on “Christian/other” and then in the About Me section […]
Share Joy – Relational Skill #1
It’s all about JOY. Every time I begin to work on my own relational skills, and every time I recommend a client to begin working on relational skills, I always start with Skill 1: Share Joy. Yes, there are 19 Relational Brain Skills that we can grow and master, but without Skill 1 the […]
Responding to What I Have Received
When you have something that’s helped you in your life personally, you can’t help but want to share it with others. As I consider the role of volunteers with Life Model Works, a Bible verse comes to mind – Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give.” We grow through relationships with others who have […]
Joy-Plants Becoming an Invasive Species
On the bottom of my website, you will find a statement about my Life Coaching that says I “utilize philosophies from Life Model Works”. You will also discover the concepts of joy and relational skills woven through my entire business. Every client I meet with, every group I run- I am implementing, practicing, and teaching […]
Joyful Community: Is this another Utopian Dream?
What in the world is Life Model Works “Annual Gathering?’ It’s an event, an experience, an opportunity, to be in connected community with a group of people who are seeking to create more joy in the earth. Annual Gathering is a place to help individuals and organizations find, develop and maintain a secure identity rooted […]
Valentine’s Day Challenge: End Loneliness one relationship at a time
Have you ever stopped to picture what it looks like for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to exist together? One of the first times I really gave myself permission to picture this was while I was reading a popular yet controversial book called, The Shack. (I don’t want to […]
Three Streams of Joy Come Together at the 2016 Annual Gathering
The 2016 Annual Gathering—RARE Community: Developing a People of Trust, Joy and Engagement—is the headwaters of three streams that I find very exciting. We know that the topics of the Annual Gathering can become active streams of joy, growth and change from our experience last year with Joyful Journey. We introduced the simple yet revolutionary […]
Who am I? (Hint: The Answer Should Be Joyful!)
Who am I? It’s not just a question that I need to fill out on an “About Me” page, nor is it an easily answered question. Each one of us is constantly on a journey of discovering who we are. Often, we use what others say (both vocally and through their reactions and behavior) about […]
Good News: Jesus Lives to Give Us Joy
The story of the Jesus—God’s incarnation and crucifixion—is a story of our need for relational joy. That’s according to Aron Crews, a student at Southern Adventist University. He wrote the letter below to share how Life Model Works has effected his life. He also shared a video he made to help spread this message during […]