We the Church

There's a lot online that is trivial. There's a whole lot online that is downright terrible. Every once in a while one can come across something online that is truly good. Simple, effective, community building, and glorifying to God. I found one of those sites a while back; tonight as I was glancing through it's posts I saw this : "God bless the school in Uganda where Chris and Kami are teaching." That made me smile. Someone else, someone I presumably know, found this good tool, too.

WeTheChurch.org

WtC.org was created to unite the church in prayer.

Need prayer in your ministry?
Submit a prayer

Thankful for something?
Submit a praise.

And while you're here why not pray for a few things on the prayer list?

It's that simple.
Just us, the church,
praying for each other.

Can You Hear Me Now?

This last week my phone finally went kaput - in a most permanent way. The first couple of days I was filled with anxiety. Who might be trying to call? How can I get in touch with Allan when I need him to get milk? It was especially agonizing the first day when the phone would still ring, but none of the buttons were responsive. So-n-so is calling, but I don't know what they want and I don't have a way to call back. They're going to think I'm just rude by not returning their call! The last few days, though, I have felt strangely liberated from this particular shackle. I realize that I have been freed from other internal dialogue. Should I answer the phone during dinner? It's time to go - where is my phone?? And the rather unladylike Ugh, I really don't want to talk to this person right now. Should I punt them to voicemail or take it? This little unintentional social experiment has helped me recognize some unhealthy boundaries in my own daily life. Just don't be mad at me if I haven't returned your call this week.

We're Communicating

Anyone who has a spouse (or a co-worker, sibling, parent, child...) knows that healthy relationships take work. A lot of work. There are a million factors at play when two people live together day after day and have chosen for there to not be an "out". Personality differences, exhaustion, childhood baggage, temptations, parenting styles, physical stressors, financial difficulties, family obligations, work decisions, and a million other factors can eat away or enhance a relationship, depending on how the couple manages the journey and by the grace and strength of God.

Here's some good advice from Psychology Today:

Want to predict the outcome of a spousal spat? Tally up pronouns. The person who says "we" the most during an argument puts forward the best solutions, according to a study in Psychological Science. "We"-users may have a sense of shared interest that sparks compromises and other ideas pleasing to both partners. "You"-sayers, on the contrary, tend to criticize, disagree, justify and otherwise teem with negativity. When one partner complains that he or she feels under attack, the other can ease the tension by rephrasing sentences to use the winning "we."

Let me try this: "We are late again because we don't care about being on time. This makes us really angry because we feel like we don't care about respecting others feelings. We are such a dork sometimes! Why don't we just listen to ourselves?? We're sorry for losing our cool." I think they're on to something. We feel better, don't we?