Six ways to make people like you (with thanks to Dale Carnegie and John Maxwell)

This weekend at the Bridge (our Sunday evening service) Jessica and I will be continuing our March discussion on “conversation disconnect” where we’ve been evaluating some of the requisite principles of great communication. Learning to communicate well is not only important for strengthening our existing relationships, but it also equips us to effectively reach out to new friends and acquaintances. In his book Winning With…

Fix in times of peace what might break in times of war

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. That’s decent advice for some areas of our lives; however, when it comes to our key relationships there needs to be a caveat: if it could break, fix it before it does. Even more specifically, fix during times of peace what might break during times of war. Right now everything is really great with my family. We’re all…

Do you see what you have or what you don’t have?

Where are you looking? It’s an important question because where we look determines what we see, and what we see determines how we feel about our lives. If we consistently look at what we don’t have our lives will be filled with discontentment, frustration, or regret. Conversely, if we intentionally look at all of the things we do have our lives will radiate gratitude, contentment,…

Goodbye Barbie!

The day I have always dreaded has come upon me. Maddie has officially said goodbye to Barbie. After years of immersion into Mattel’s world of fun and fashion, Maddie has traded in her Barbie Dream House for an iPod touch. I know it doesn’t mean that she’s not a little girl anymore, but the fact that I’ll no longer see her in her room surrounded…

Curing Eeyore

Eeyore, the old grey Donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water. “Pathetic,” he said. “That’s what it is. Pathetic.” He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again. “As I thought,” he said. “No better…