Empathy is Oxygen for Your Soul
Without a friend who feels our hurt, stress, and longings with us our souls shrivel up and die. Giving and receiving empathy are key to life in Christ.
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163 – E-Soul: Repairing a Hurt or Conflict
What happens when our own insecurities surface as our personality types bump up against each other in life and ministry? In a powerfully vulnerable conversation, Bill & Kristi share their own recent journey processing pain points and loving one another with empathy and grace. We hope this transparent conversation brings you encouragement and grace in your own journey in life and ministry!
Couch Time for Couples
At the beginning of our marriage, Kristi and I were both working full-time jobs and going to graduate schools in psychology. Obviously, we didn’t have a lot of free time to be together. But we were very much in love as you can see in this picture taken in 1985! When we did have time…
Jesus’ Way of Dealing with Anger
What do we learn from Jesus about anger in the Bible? Jesus’ way of dealing with anger is quite different than what we think today. If we learn to deal with anger in the way that Jesus taught and modeled we’ll find that we’re living more and more in God’s peace. The way of Christ…
152 – Enneagram: Dealing with Conflict (Peacemaker Type)
Peacemaker types are gifted at recognizing how others see the world but may have difficulty seeing their own needs and wants. Join Bill and Kristi as they continue to draw from their daughter Briana and how the Enneagram has helped her identify areas of growth and stress points.
Triangulating Hurts You and Your Loved Ones
Many families and groups are built on unhealthy “triangles” of three-way relationships that harm people and create dysfunction. It’s a simple concept, that once we understand, we can use to love one another better. The theory of triangles helps explain why being part of a family (also a small group, staff team, or church community)…
When Unconscious Trauma Causes Conflict
Emotion is an big part of who we are and how we relate to God and one another. Making the connection between ourself, our experiences our hurts today and those we encountered as a child is critical. Our willingness to recognize those connections can be life changing. Bill & Kristi share the power recognizing the impact of emotional trauma has in bringing wholeness and healing.
Finding a Blessing in Conflict
We all deal with conflict in our close relationships. Surprisingly, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they’ll be called children of God.” Most people misunderstand this beatitude and look for the blessing in making peace rather than in being a loved child of God. Bill and Kristi share their stress and pain from a conflict and show how the Prince of Peace helped them repair it.
Helping People Understand You
In a conflict situation it’s easy to get entangled in what the other person is doing that upsets me. But that’s not helpful — it only adds to my anger or shame and makes things worse. When there’s tension in my relationship with Bill or someone else I take out the Soul Talk Wheel. It…
Communicating Emotion to Invite Empathy
Often in marriage or another relationship we think we have an intimacy problem when really it’s more about a boundary problem. Boundaries between people get blurred if either one tries to share their “feelings” by sharing their perceptions of the other person. This blurs boundaries and leads to conflict. Instead, if you share your personal…