Protecting our sense of gratitude perpetuates our capacity to love

There is no act of courage that didn’t begin with a sense of vulnerability. And intentional vulnerability is courageous. Especially if you’ve been hurt before when you tried. It can also be helpful to start small. Be vulnerable in small things and see how it’s handled by those you are being vulnerable with. These small steps and how our vulnerability is handled is also how people can rebuild trust with us, or us with them. And trust is one pillar that holds our entire homes up. The more we build it through courage, vulnerability, and trust, the stronger we’ll be.

96% of our conversations end the way they start. If we want to have better conversations in our marriages and families, especially about hard or scary topics, starting off gently really helps. Especially if talking about something outside of God’s design, because: Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Gal 6:1 It’s too easy to confront things without realizing we could set ourselves for similar challenges/issues. When I talk to people about how to bring up hard conversations, I invite them to make sure they aren’t coming to the person with any words or tones we wouldn’t be ok hearing. Speak to others as we would have them speak to us. Another way to say that is: make sure you fall on your sword before you swing it.

Enjoying the life God's given me

I encountered a belief this week by others that I recognized I had at one time myself. I want to share it here as we make space to learn from Seth, his courses and each other. In case this is coming up against you as well! Let me know your thoughts and if you encountered this thought yourself. :) "I cannot focus on myself, that is selfish... God asked me to lay down my life and give it all for Him and I need to sacrifice myself to do this". I see a lot of potential truth in this statement, but wrapped up in a box of misunderstanding. Let's start with a foundation: 1. The two commandments in our covenant (with Jesus), "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and "love your neighbor as yourself". These both carry a lot of US, YOU and ME. We need to be able to know what is our heart or soul and how do we love the Lord with all of THAT part of us? It doesn't mean works and doing good, so what is it? It's the inner world that God cares about. Matthew 15:18-19 There's also "loving our neighbor as ourself". There is a reason it doesn't say love our neighbor as OURSELVES. I love this alone as it supports the effort and care that God has for us to be WHOLE within and to be able to shine WITHOUT. ❤️