I have an unlocked iPhone 3GS running IOS 4.1 because a year ago it’s all I could get working with my carrier T-Mobile. 

I took some great footage of a Bela Fleck concert and I didn’t know how to get the 2.6 GB file off of my phone.

I looked for help.

The best help was in a Lifehacker article “The Best Desktop File Explorer For iPhone” in which they suggested we use the FREE iFunBox program to upload and download freely from our iDevices.

Note: iFunBox has both a Windows and a Mac version.

Yesterday was my wife Amy’s birthday. 

Amy is one of the most caring and unselfish people I know.  She is often a benchmark of selflessness.  More than once I thought I should wear a W>W>A>D> bracelet to remind me to ask myself, “What Would Amy Do?”, in order to overcome some of my natural selfishness.

What is one way that I can intentionally give up some of my selfishness today?

I try to have high moral standards, but I think that question is a fair question to ask every day.

My selfishness unintentionally compromises the health of my relationships.

Healthy role models break the cycle of shame. 

They emotionally and spiritually empower healthy communities.

How can you recognize a safe, healthy church, synagogue, workplace or family?

Here are ten attributes of healthy communities:

Feel empathy
Exude warmth
Demonstrate genuineness
Are emotionally stable
Are caring & supportive
Promote and practice honesty
Have appropriate expectations
Maintain respectful boundaries
Persevere through inevitable relationship challenges
And, love one another

Genuineness trumps tension, and shame crumbles too.

Blessed are those who:
1. Quit pretending about their sin.
2. Quit hiding their mistakes.
3. Quit hiding their pain.
4. Are willing to feel and be humbled by their guilt and pain.

Last week I wrote about shame.  You can resume that series on shame we had some fun with it, defined it, and practically explained how culturally bound and complicated shame-filled groups can become.

We choose to use shame because it seems to work.

Sadly, shame is insidious, it destroys its loyal supporters. Fortunately, shame but does not have the final word.

Shame can be defeated.  This week I will offer some solutions which may help you and your loved one overcome shame.

Awareness of Needs

Addressing legitimate needs with genuine solutions is one key solution.

She sat with her back to the wall.  Slumped over with what looked like the weight of her world on her shoulders.  Tenderhearted and caring she was weighed down with pain.

She acted tough because she was strong, but even tough people can be tender and she was both.

Dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt.  She had painted her nails with black nail polish.  She looked “goth” long before “goth” became a fashion statement, trendy and a feature on SNL.

While it’s not a requirement to talk in our TreeHouse support groups most teens take advantage of the opportunity to talk and to listen, to hear and be heard, to understand and be understood.

Do you see a challenge ahead that seems HUGE?

Are you uncertain of what to do first to change the way you’ve done things?

Forming a habit can be easy, but many times it’s a significant change in perspective.

Jesus Christ challenged his listeners with perspective changing, mind-altering, statements.

“Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.“  [Matthew 17:20]

One day while clowning around with my skateboard I rolled it across the floor.  I ran up to my deck and launched myself chest-first onto my deck like I was running in the water and diving onto a surfboard.  It was a cool idea…in my head; until I hit my head.

I didn’t account for the fact that when I landed my neck would flex.  It did.  My head snapped down.  My chin hit the floor.  I split my chin to the bone shearing off a chunk of my chin bone.

Our Pandemic

“While the H1N1 virus has sickened tens of thousands of people and closed summer camps in a season when there should be little flu activity, it has killed far fewer than the 36,000 Americans who die from seasonal influenza each year. ”

I had not idea — no idea — that the “flu” was so deadly. I was blind to the pain and suffering that people experience.

In order to protect themselves many people defensively protect themselves with masks.