for when you need to explore and enjoy, not just survive and advance

Last Thursday afternoon our three boys and I came into the house from the bus stop and planted ourselves in front of the tv to watch the end of a basketball game. Well, planted might be the wrong word. Planted tends to insinuate that you are sitting and still. None of us were sitting, or still. One was bouncing from one couch to another, another was constantly popping up and down on the chair to the left of the entertainment center, and the other was pacing back and forth between the tv and the coffee table. Where was I? Well, I was everywhere. In the kitchen, at the counter, in the living room, getting the mail, and finally just hiding on the porch waiting to hear what tone the boys' screams came out in so I would no whether to be elated or upset. My nerves don't handle close games very well. In the end, our Tigers pulled it out and Auburn went on to the second round of the tournament and defeated Kansas a few days later to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

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for when consistency feels like a curse

Dependable. Steady. Expected. Consistent.

Technically, these are all positives, these are all words that show appreciation for another and their hard, never let you down, way to always be there personality. But if you are the person being described, if you are the person who feels like they only hear these words when being described, they can begin to change in your head to sound more like Boring. Dull. Typical. Commonplace.

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because we're not listening part 4: when we listen, we learn

Hey, Listen! No, I’m not trying to get your attention. I’m trying to give a command. Listen! This is the reminder being given to me lately, the words slowing entering my soul telling me of my job as one of God’s children. I am placed in this time and in this place for many a reason, but one in particular that keeps coming back again and again is the request of me to listen. To model that skill, to create a domino effect of others exercising that skill, to show how God brings peace in the midst of chaos through that one tiny, but not so tiny, act. Listening.

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because we're not listening part 3: two things crucial to listening well

Hey, Listen! No, I’m not trying to get your attention. I’m trying to give a command. Listen! This is the reminder being given to me lately, the words slowing entering my soul telling me of my job as one of God’s children. I am placed in this time and in this place for many a reason, but one in particular that keeps coming back again and again is the request of me to listen. To model that skill, to create a domino effect of others exercising that skill, to show how God brings peace in the midst of chaos through that one tiny, but not so tiny, act. Listening.

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