Nine years ago this month, I received a phone call that changed the course of my life. Michael called to say goodbye; with every fiber of my being, I thought that we would find Michael and get him to a hospital where he would received help. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that phone call would be our last conversation ever. Since that day,…
For many years, a coke bottle from the 1998 Nagano Olympics sat on my mantle. In a curio cabinet I kept a bottle of water from the Jordan River. I didn’t keep these in my home because I was an avid bottle collector, nor for the value of the contents inside. I kept the bottles because of the memories associated with them. A dear friend…
I watched as the sun slowly disappeared behind the acacia tree. As I stood peering over the tall grass, fighting to keep my skirt from blowing up and my hair from flying in my face, I knew that I would never be the same. When I first started going to Kenya with my church, there were no evangelical churches among the Kuria tribe. Over the…
A sure-fire way to hurt your marriage is to engage in stonewalling. This is the final horseman that Gottman uses as a predictor for divorce. Stonewalling is when we build a wall and refuse to let others inside. We often do this by making comments such as “I don’t want to talk about it; Enough,” or “End of story.” When we cut others off and…
A couple of months ago I began writing about the four horsemen that threaten to destroy marriages according to researcher, John Gottman. Life has been so busy that my good intentions of doing this 4-part series in a month was delayed. The third “horseman” that wants to kill your marriage is defensiveness. We are all guilty of this one. “It’s not my fault.” A wife…
Fall is my favorite time of year for hiking. I love seeing all the colors on the trees as well as the cooler temperatures. It is the best time for climbing a mountain — not too hot and not too cold. Many times I stand at the bottom of a mountain and wonder if I can ever make it to the top. Depending on the…