A Reflection on an Amazing Journey

On June 13, 2014, I posted my first blog in obedience to what I felt God was calling me to do. It had to be God because this is not something that I was able to do in my own strength – nor did I particularly want to write a blog! This is especially true in my case; I am dyslexic, and I never attended high school. I did not go to school from the ages 11-21. Writing was a nearly impossible challenge for me. However, in obedience I took on the challenge and for six years and three months, posted a weekly blog up until the end of 2018. In January 2019, I began an assignment as a missionary in South Africa with the Church of the Nazarene, so I posted every other week.

God used many people to enable me to continue this blog over the years. I will be remiss if I do not acknowledge some of the main supporters.

How to Engage with Difficult People

We have all encountered someone who we have a difficult time getting along with. Reasons vary for why we struggle to get along with some people while we seem to have no problem with others.

With some, it is the short fuse or seemly uncontrollable anger. Others might have mood swings so you can never tell at any given interaction what mood the person’s in. Others are overly sarcastic. Then there are those who are never wrong and nothing is ever their fault; they are masters of blame-shifting.

Why Some People Find It Difficult to Trust Others

Why do you find it so difficult to trust others? Why do you find it amusing when a child is honest and trusting? You were once like that child, completely trusting and honest with those around you. What has transpired from childhood to adulthood that now makes trusting others so difficult?

I have spoken with many people who have said they know they need to start trusting others, but they don’t know if they can. When I ask why, the typical answer is usually, “I am afraid others would judge me or not like me if they get to know the real me.” There is also the fear of letting others know that they are struggling.

Why do we find it difficult to trust others with who we are?

Emotional Intelligence is Key to Achieving Life’s Goals

With all the knowledge, skills, talents, and drive you may have, if you are not emotionally self-aware, you will not succeed at your life’s goals. You do not have to look far to find someone who has failed in this regard because they did not take the time to know who they were emotionally, how to control their emotions, and what motivated their emotions. You yourself may have experienced consequences due to lack of awareness of emotional strengths and weaknesses; perhaps you failed because you thought you were strong in an area where you were actually weak.

Wounded Healer or Victim?

As human beings we have many things in common, one of them is that all of us have been wounded by someone. For some the wound or wounds have been deep, disorienting, painful and catastrophic. I know there are the few who have never been able to overcome the wounds in order to take responsibility for their lives and have had to be taken care of for the remainder of their lives. People like this are the exception. For most of us, we must decide how we will go on with life having been wounded.

During This Pandemic, What Will You Choose?

I am looking out of my apartment window in the complex where my family and I live in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is little after 9 on a Monday morning, April 20, 2020. Usually by this time I am on the campus of the college that my wife and I are leading. But today is day 25 of the lockdown here in South Africa. We have been out of our complex only four times in the past 24 days. This has been quite an adjustment for us; under normal circumstances we rarely go a day without leaving the complex.

Who are You Looking Out For?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. – Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

What would happen if we all were to live our lives with these two verses as guiding principles? I wonder what would happen in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, churches, communities and nation.

Mistakes are Inevitable and Necessary!

Recall the last mistake you made. How did you handle it? Did you own up to it, and perhaps learn something from it? Or did you try to blame it on someone or something else and move on? Or were so mad at yourself you did not take the time to see what you could have learned from the experience?  If your response was the latter, you have plenty of company: it is the response of most people.

Most of us fear making mistakes, and when we make them, we try to rationalize them away. The reality is, mistakes are a part of life and we should not live our lives in fear of making them. Rather we should learn from our mistakes or we run the risk of repeating them.

How can we learn from our mistakes?

We are Called to be Kind

Two of the most dominant attitudes and actions in our society today are anger and hostility. We could use much more kindness and gentleness. We have a choice of which of those we want to characterize our lives. The challenge is that expressing anger and hostility seems to arise much more naturally but showing kindness and gentleness requires us to be intentional.

Recognize What You Can and Cannot Control

One of the challenges we all have to learn to overcome is to realize there are some things we have no control over. Too often we allow things we can’t control to get us angry and frustrated. The sooner we come to grips with the reality that we don’t have control over them, the sooner we better manage or react to our circumstances.

For example, we allow the behavior, attitude or ways of thinking and speaking of others to bother us to the point of worry and anger. When we allow the way someone is behaving to affect us, we are giving energy to things over which we have no control.