Christmas in the late 1980s was a rough time for my family. I’m not going into the details here, but suffice it to say that there were a number of financial and emotional issues going on that brought a lot of stress into our lives.
Tag: friendship
A Lesson from Kids in Giving the Benefit of the Doubt
The other day, I was walking through my neighborhood with my two girls, who are three and four years old, when we passed an older, serious looking gentleman. “Hello!” they both said, waving. He looked over at them and kept walking.
Grieving Loss on Facebook
When I signed up for Facebook in 2008, I saw it as a way to connect with old friends and keep up with the self-affirming things everyone was posting about themselves. What I did not expect was that Facebook would become a place where people worked through life-and-death issues. But then Nan Taylor died.
Why Can’t We Take a Compliment?
I took an etiquette class several years ago in which the instructor told us that compliments must never be specific, because they already embarrass people as it is. The embarrassment only increases with the specificity of the compliment. This is not good for me.
The Blessing of Putting Your Foot in Your Mouth
The other day, I was swimming with my daughters at the indoor community pool when a woman with a little baby swam closeby. My daughter Renee said hello to the baby, so I asked, “How old is he?” “It’s actually a girl,” said the woman, “and she’s seven months.”
We Have No Idea How Much We Stink
A few months ago, I had to rent a car for a month. Unfortunately for me, it smelled like cigarette smoke, but it was the only one they had available, so I was stuck with it for 30 long, stinky days. As one who hates the smell of cigarette smoke, it was exceptionally unpleasant.
The Purpose for that Really Annoying Person in Your Life
Right now, I’m sitting with my foot propped up and ice pressed against my ankle because I injured it, and it is killing me – not the ankle though; the ice. The thing is, ice is the one thing I really need right now, but I feel like pulling my foot away because I can’t stand the temporary discomfort that comes with it.
The Best Way to Deal with Passive-aggressive People
When I was in college, I was extremely insecure. And because I was so afraid people didn’t like me, I demanded a high level of loyalty from anyone who claimed to be my friend.
The Thing We Lose When We Judge Others
The other day, I came home from work at dinnertime, and as I walked up the steps of my house, I noticed there were four guys and one female sitting on the front porch of the house next door. I was familiar with the group – not to mention a little uneasy with them. I had seen them carrying skateboards and kung fu swords, and I had reflexively made a negative assessment of them (go figure).
The Reason We Scroll Through Facebook Likes
A few years ago when I got on Facebook, there was no such thing as a “like” button (can you imagine it?). You just posted status updates, photos, or links to articles, and the only way you knew whether people approved was if they commented on it. Then the like button came along at some point and changed everything. Now there was an instant measure of success for every insecure human being on Facebook.
Your Insecurities are Making You Weird
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve got this funky habit that has created more awkward moments than I care to admit.
To My Elderly Christian Siblings
Dear Elderly Christian, I know you don’t like being called elderly, so let’s start with me begging your pardon for not coming up with a better word to describe your current phase of life (it’s better than “old,” right?). Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I need to ask you a favor: please get off the sidelines and get back into the game.
Man Enough to Be Yourself With Other Men
You don’t have to look far in the church to find your fair share of male loners who struggle to have authentic friendships with other men. They know how to be in the same room with other men, and they know how to do things with them — but emotional transparency is off-limits.
Five Reasons I’m Glad I’m Married
Recently, I wrote a post on Boundless in which I compared marriage to being a new homeowner and reminded single readers that marriage is a process that involves a lot of hard work. I still stand by everything I said, but some of our readers responded and made a good point: Married Christians have a nasty habit of providing endless know-it-all warnings about the various reasons marriage is going to be way harder than single folks can imagine. One reader commented that, actually, it’s easy for her to imagine all the things that could go wrong with marriage; she preferred to…
What Happens to Others When You Go on a Facebook Rant
The other day, someone posted a rant on Facebook in which they laid down the law about certain people who have a particular lame habit, which I shall not name here. The point is, their rant totally applied to me, and I involuntarily felt defensive.
Joshua Rogers 