MIND MATTERS My Brain on Relationships Last weekend my husband and I went for our “almost” daily walk around the neighborhood. We have a particular route we always follow and on this day our 3 dogs thought it would be beneficial for us to bring them along. My husband had the two smaller dogs which, for the first few blocks, act more like Alaskan sled dogs pulling him down the street as he leans backwards about 40 degrees to keep them from a full run. I had our 70 lbs. well-

Hi, my name is Breanna and I am the daughter of two therapists. I feel like it’s a disclaimer I should introduce myself with. “Forgive me while I analyze your continual need for affirmation, but did you have an absent father?” I joke that growing up in our house was similar to a never-ending group therapy session. Dinner table discussions could be intimidating for the “non-overcommunicating therapist” visitors. For me counseling was just a part of life. Everyone I knew went

I grew up in the 70‘s & 80’s and most of my memories include songs from that era. We always had a radio on whether we were in the house, in the car or out in the yard. I love music! It is funny how words partnered with a tune can stay in your memory forever. “We Are Family” is the title of a song released in 1979. I grew up singing that song (at least the chorus “we are family, get up everybody and sing”). When my children were young I taught it to my family. We would often

In the last blog I suggested we need grace more than we can imagine. We need it all the time and in every matter. We need grace to feel secure and be secure about who we are, and we need grace to learn from our weaknesses. Another very specific need for grace is to season our speech. The apostle Paul said, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace.” Grace has to do with how we respond to

In our culture, licenses are a big deal. You get a driver’s license at 16, a hunter’s license, brain surgeons need a special license etc. Almost everything that has the power of life and death requires a license, except one thing – your mouth. Actually not so much the mouth, but the tongue. Wouldn’t it be interesting if everyone was required to have a license to operate their mouths? The Texas Department of Motor Mouths requires tests in competency and safety every two to fou

last week we began the discussion of what destroys and what builds relationships. If you have not had a chance to read last week’s post, be sure to check it out. Proverbs 29:25 tells us that “the fear of human opinion disables”. Insecurity plagues and destroys our relationships. The fear we have of others opinions causes us to be controlling or passive (both of which hurt our relationships). We long to be close to others, to establish relationships. Yet, we fear the intimacy

“Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other.” Romans 12:5 We were created by God to be relational beings. We seek relationships and thrive off of them. But many times we find ourselves in broken relationships and wondering “how did we end up here?” Over the next 3 weeks I want to explore the question of “what destroys relationships and what builds them?” The first force that destroys a relationship is selfishness. James 4:1-2 says, “What causes f

One day in graduate school I heard the professor say the phrase, “If it’s a pattern, it’s a problem.” He or she (I can’t remember who the professor was or even what subject it was) had probably said that before. However, that day it lodged in my thinking and I’ve never been able to shake it loose. Mostly, it made me look at stuff in my life to see if I could identify what problematic concerns there were. I was so pleased to find that there were none. I did find, however,

I described in the previous three blog posts the dilemma of unforgiveness and bitterness in our lives. The metaphor of a “hate bus” was used to describe how we go through life experiencing various kinds of hurtful offenses from minor to major events. Be sure to read the three previous posts to fully understand today’s post. When these offenses happen we throw the people who’ve offended us on our hate bus. Our hate bus is the vehicle by which we go through life carrying the

In my last two posts I described a metaphor of how we all tend to become bitter and unforgiving by holding on to offenses we have experienced in our lives. The metaphor was that of a bus which is termed the “hate bus”. The “hate bus” is used to describe how we go through life and throw people on our hate bus when they hurt, abuse, offend, or sin against us in some form or manner. Read the previous two posts to get a clearer picture. Today I’d like to talk a little about the