: Life is hard. God is good. We need each other.
We are a game playing family. Recently, we’ve gotten two new games that we’ve been playing–a lot– that I want to share with you. We’ve had a tradition for years that we get a family game for Christmas. This year, we were kind of impatient and couldn’t wait to play them. (We did buy an expansion for one of the games to wrap and put under the tree…shhhh)
If you’re looking for some new games for Christmas, maybe one of these will fit the bill.
I have said for years that 99% of problems could be avoided or solved quickly with better communication. That very scientific assessment is reinforced to me when I see the breakdown of society in being able to disagree civilly.
I am always on the lookout for resources that can teach, encourage, or help create better communication skills.
And please don’t read that and think that I’m putting myself on some kind of communication-skills-high-horse. I happen to come from a long line of abrasive women. (I’m pretty sure it was women like us that caused the early church to forbid women from speaking in church.) Speaking respectfully and kindly is something that I have worked on, with many failures, over the years. My gracious husband has been my biggest help in this endeavor.
Is it a result of the Self-Esteem movement? Reality TV? Child focused parenting? Or just the general breakdown of society? I don’t have an answer.
Why does it seem increasingly common to encounter people who are unable to deal with disagreement?
Do you ever think we spend way too much time preparing for the wrong things? Think about it. We spend way more time preparing for our wedding than we do our marriage. More time preparing to get pregnant and “have a baby” than becoming parents.
Gary Chapman’s new book, “Things I Wish I’d Known Before We Became Parents” takes a look at preparing for parenting both in mind and practice. Early in the book he says, “In addition to attitude changes, we also need to take practical steps..” And this book helps you do both very effectively. If you’d like the chance to win a copy, read on!
Gah! I am sold out on this service we’ve discovered!! We just had a friend tell us about it last week and we’ve already used it twice.
I can’t count how many movies we’ve skipped over the years because of a just a scene or two with sexual content or pervasive language. Or movies that we watched years ago that we’d love to show our boys…except for that one part. You know what I’m talking about, right? If only we could filter content in movies…
Some years ago, there was a service that allowed people to rent movies and filter content as they chose. It was shut down pretty quickly, if I remember correctly, by Hollywood big-wigs crying, “Censorship!”
Enter VidAngel.
I married into the Disney family. Don’t get me wrong..it’s not like I was anti-Disney. I did have every single lyric to every single Little Mermaid song memorized. What I did not do was drive around listening to the music from the Main Street Electrical Parade. But I did date someone who did. And I still married him. 🙂
Yes, he had the parade soundtrack. Listen, I’m a Disney lover now, and I still can’t stomach the synthesized harpsichord music on its own. At the parade—love it! On its own, Baroque Hoedown just doesn’t do it for me.
I also didn’t set foot in a Disney park until I was in college, and Greg and I went to California to visit his parents. And if I’m being totally honest…I was underwhelmed. My relationship with Disney parks began as an appreciation, grew into a full fledged crush, and now I’m enamored.