Delighted By The Disappointing Silence Of An Absent Dad

Buoyed By The Blessings Of Being Bullied

Encouraged And Empowered By An Eating Disorder

Today if we turn to CNN, Fox News, Yahoo or Reuters, those are three headlines we will never read. And, if we did, they would only be news because of the absurd unlikeliness of the headline being true.

Last night some friends gathered and shared their stories. Our friends Kyle, Emma and Ellie stepped forward, up from the darkened rows of their seats and into the spotlight. In the glow of the stage lights surrounded by friends, fans and flawed people like them they spoke.

I’ve found myself dissatisfied with my house recently. My wife and I have been watching HGTV home remodeling shows streaming on Netflix.

I usually love my house, but when I see some of the marvelous modifications the designers and artisans create I wonder, “why not me too”?

I wonder, why not me? Is it…

Time?
Money?
Talent?
Laziness?
Low priority?

And, that’s just my house.

Those same questions apply to my level of fitness, my clutter, my incomplete projects and my unfulfilled dreams. If I settle for what I have – without working for what could be – I’ll never improve on what is.

2014 has been a busy year. Sometimes it’s felt like this picture, a pile of rubble that caution-tape couldn’t hold back.

That said, I feel very blessed; #mysilentscream was again blessed by thousands of readers in more than eighty countries.

I had no idea what 2014 would contain. At the dawn of 2014 I’d never…
– heard of ISIS
– expected $2 a gallon gas prices

Professional sports leagues have a new player draft to give teams an opportunity to refresh their roster, and bring new skills, abilities and opportunities to their team and prospective players.

When teams and their draft choices are a great fit championships are built. When they are not, writers and fans relish the opportunity to vent in articles like, “10 worst No. 1 picks in NFL draft history.”

Careful research, interviews and thoughtful analysis are essential.

Intern Draft

Almost every week I hear someone say, “she made me…” or “he made me…” as if they could.

Without a doubt we influence one another, but far too often we justify bad attitudes and hurtful responses because of the attitudes and decisions of others.

This week when tempers flare during your holiday gatherings here are three strategies to drop the drama:

1. Choose to use a soft voice.

“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.“ 1

Regardless what the other person chooses you can chose a soft and kind tone in your voice.

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. The images I’m featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

I might struggle with painting and drawing, aesthetics and having an eye, but since I was in high school poetic words came more easily.

I learned to put words on paper
That reached deep into my creative soul
Within the frame of eternity
The poet wrote the verse
A gift to one and another
Revealed but thought perverse
Broken, bleeding, stripped, exposed
Our God hung humiliated
Unbound, unburied, freed from pain of death
Heaven’s poet stretched and celebrated

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. The images I’m featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

When my friend Jill Lacher first challenged us to do art I laughed. “I am not artistic. I got Ds in art class, and I earned them.”

In time I learned that I had an artistic eye, but not like in art studios, museums or hanging on walls.

I learned to put words on paper that reached deep into my creative soul.

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. I’ve been on many retreats. Some of my favorite retreats have been TreeHouse retreats. The images I will be featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

I know of no art medium that covers up bad art skills more than pastels. So when my friend Jill challenged me to create art with pastels in hand I was less afraid of failure and rejection for my lack of skills.

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. I’ve been on many retreats. Retreats are just that, a retreat from the norm; from daily, normal life.

Some of my favorite retreats have been TreeHouse retreats. The images I will be featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

Art

When my friend Jill Lacher first challenged us to do art I laughed. “I am not artistic. I got Ds in art class, and I earned them.”

Without patriots, peace, prayer and politicians who chose wisely – in the United States and in the former Soviet Union – I would have never worn this jersey of one of my favorite hockey goalies, Russian Vladislav Tretiak.

Thank you Anna for delivering it. It’s still one of my favorite jerseys and symbols of hope.