Nature versus nurture It’s one of the oldest debates in history. Are we just born with a set personality, intelligence, and tendencies or does our environment around us and the way we are raised shape all of that? In the Genes? For example, do we inherit most of our personality, intelligence, and disposition from our […]
HOW TO KEEP THE ROMANCE ALIVE
Fun dates and helpful advice for new parents
So now that you’ve thoroughly fallen in love with your baby, how do you keep the love fires burning between you and your spouse? I know firsthand as a new parent, the last thing on my mind after a day of feeding, changing diapers, and cleaning bottles is, “How could I be more romantic towards […]
ARE YOU A CULTURAL CHRISTIAN?
Finding genuine faith as a generational Christian
I wasn’t born a Christian but I definitely feel like I was born in a church. Growing up I spent a bare minimum of three nights, an afternoon and a morning in a church activity of some form or another. That was my normal. Sometimes on special occasions we would spend every night of the […]
HOW DO YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMY?
Learning to love despite it all and offer forgiveness
As I write on the topic of loving my enemies, I can’t help but think about the times when someone’s words or actions have purposefully hurt me. More often than not I’ve been called words like ugly, or disgusting, told I’m not talented enough, or that I didn’t deserve the grand prize in life. This […]
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Emily Chase-Ziolek talks about the fairy tale ending that we seek
Pick up any well-known fairy tale and you’re likely to read this concluding line: “…and they lived happily ever after.” Usually the line refers to a beautiful maiden and her handsome prince who has saved her from some unenviable life. In a life filled with inconveniences and setbacks, it’s no wonder that many of us […]
ARE YOU “WASTING” TIME WITH GOD?
How the busyness of life can lead to forgetting to include God in our schedules
I made a promise to God yesterday. I said, “God, I will read the Bible for one hour today, I promise in the name of Jesus.” As soon as that came out of my mouth I knew that I had just told an untruth, an untruth that would haunt me for the rest of the […]
MARRIAGE & MELANIN
Wendy Harbottle discusses multi-racial relationships and the additional obstacles that may rise to the surface when cultural differences emerge.
You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. We will make it through this. The words were written in irregular handwriting outside the lines that sought to contain them. They were written in red, scrawled across a page torn haphazardly from a notebook. They were courting words, wooing words – words meant for […]
FINDING JOY APART
Coping when you feel disconnected
In today’s world we have so many options available to help us feel connected. Between our MySpace pages, our Facebook status updates and our tweeting on Twitter, it seems that we can keep track of every moment of our days and our friends’ days as well. Yet with all of this technology designed to keep […]