Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

      Like I do almost every year, I spent Christmas at my aunt's house. Our family gathering was smaller this year than usual, but it was still just like always in other ways. We had some of the same arguments that we have every Christmas, some of the gifts were loved by the recipients while others missed the mark, we all ate too much of the delicious food, and the kids were the stars of the show. As the day progressed, I did notice one element that is present within my family that is sorely lacking in the world as a whole: acceptance of each other's opinions, particularly regarding the vaccine.     My family runs the entire spectrum when it comes to the vaccine. A few members are fully vaccinated, including their booster shot. Two people are only partially vaccinated because of bad reactions to either the first or second dose. A few of us aren't vaccinated at all for various reasons. Some have medical issues, some don't trust a vaccine created so quickly, and ...

My entire life, I have had no desire to smoke. My maternal grandfather died six years before I was born from the one-two punch of emphysema and lung cancer caused by years of smoking. From what I have heard about him, he and I would have gotten along very well because I am so much like him. With each thing I learn about him, I become even more resolved to never let the butt of a cigarette touch my lips. However, there was one day I desperately craved a cigarette. It had been a stressful day at work, as many of them are. The field of special education is not for the faint of heart. As I began my drive home, I craved something to release the tension flowing through me, and a cigarette seemed like a viable option. After all, many people turn to them for the same reason. My promise to myself to never smoke was the only thing holding me back. Now, I easily could have just given in, but that option seemed almost too easy. Instead, I prayed and asked God why I was feeling that pull toward...

Last fall, I did a study on the book The Anatomy of Peace. The book tells the story of parents whose kids were at a youth rehabilitation camp, and who were in a two day meeting to try and help their children when they returned home in two months. The leader of the camp taught the parents how to have a heart of peace toward their children rather than a heart of war. In our meetings during the study, we talked about practical ways that we could cultivate a heart of peace in our own relationships. After learning about the difference between a heart of war and a heart of peace, I began to notice in interactions with others where their hearts were in that moment. Coworkers that had trouble getting kids to listen to them were the ones whose hearts were at war with them, and I found that sometimes I also interacted with kids with the same heart and got the same results. Relationships that I had struggled to improve were hampered by the wrong motivations, and they have improved now that my h...

Today is Thanksgiving here in America, a day filled with family, turkey, and football. It's also a day to reflect on the things we are thankful for (which may or may not include the family, turkey, and football). However, I think thankfulness should not just be reserved for one specific day. The leader of a group on Facebook that I am a member of has created a "30 Days of Thankful" challenge for the group members. Each day, she posts something she is thankful for, and the rest of us reply with things we are thankful for that day. Doing this every day has really challenged me to think every day about what I'm thankful for, which means that I have been more open to seeing the good in each day. Not only that, but since I have decided to write something different each day, I have been challenging myself to come up with a variety of things to be thankful for. I have enjoyed the challenge so much that I plan to continue thinking of at least one thing I'm thankful for ...