24 07, 2017

The River of ‘Me’…a post by Jim

By |2017-07-24T18:54:08-04:00July 24th, 2017|Clarity, Enneagram, family systems, Personality, Relational Design|0 Comments

Rivers are amazing. They can snake their way through a mountainous terrain or flow straight through level land. They can be deep and fast flowing or shallow and slow. Each seems to have its own personality. Rivers provide a great metaphor (if that is the correct figure of speech) for our souls. We each have a personality that displays itself in various ways depending on the surrounding terrain. I think of it this way. The river of me has two main contributing streams. There is the stream of my DNA, my wiring displayed in my personality. The second stream

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13 03, 2017

Once, even Twice or Three Times, is NEVER Enough!…a post by Jim

By |2017-03-14T18:29:21-04:00March 13th, 2017|Character, Community, family systems, Human, Presence, Virtue|1 Comment

My grandson spent the last few days with us. I always learn in his presence. This time what struck me is that his 23 month brain demands that he repeat and re-repeat whatever is on his mind. And re-re-repeat! So when he thinks of the dog he will say 'dog' again and again. When he remembers throwing bread to the ducks three days ago he says 'throw' again and again. When he wants his dad or mom you can be sure he will make that known. Some years ago Eugene Peterson wrote, "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction."

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28 02, 2017

Empathy vs Sympathy…a video post by Tom

By |2017-02-28T18:25:54-04:00February 28th, 2017|Animals, Community, Discernment, Emotions, Empathy, family systems, Human, Listening, Loneliness|1 Comment

Check out the following short video illustrating the important difference between empathy and sympathy.  Now ask the question which one is God? Which one are you? Imagine how the quality of our relationships  would improve if we embodied this…and thus the quality of our lives.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

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8 02, 2017

Butterfly effect…a post by Tom

By |2017-02-08T15:29:41-04:00February 8th, 2017|Beauty, Creation, Dark Night, family systems, Future, Rest, Solitude and Silence, Trust and Faith|2 Comments

“When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty, but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she always had been. But she had wings.” —Dean Jackson God’s first revelation is nature.  In nature’s cycles of life, death, and rebirth we see the gospel in action right in front of us.  Our spiritual journey is no different, we must journey through stages of order, disorder, and reorder.  The journey of Jesus was meant to be followed and not just worshipped.   Leaning into our own order, disorder, and reorder while trusting the

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3 10, 2016

Home is where the heart is…a post by Jim

By |2016-10-03T20:40:24-04:00October 3rd, 2016|Attachment, Attachment Patterns, Community, Emotions, family systems, Relational Design, Self-Clarity, Suffering, The Relational Soul|0 Comments

Home is where the heart is. Sounds encouraging. And it should be. Home should be the place where our souls are safe, encouraged, and loved. Home should be the best place to be. But there is another way to think of the phrase, “Home is where the heart is.” And it isn’t necessarily good news. Because the state of our home, especially our family of origin when we are young, has a huge impact on where the heart is emotionally. And if the home system is not healthy or holy we will struggle when it comes to how close

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