Category: Thursday Thoughts

After reading my Thursday Thought last week on journaling, a friend asked if I would unpack how I practice the habit of journaling: what I have learned and how I have been consistent for forty years.  Let me first state that journaling is a habit of supreme importance in my life. Journaling impacts not only…

I have received positive feedback from my Thursday Thoughts (TT) from the small number who receive it. Ironically, I am not writing for others as much as for myself. Writing things always organize my thoughts so I can think them through logically and then communicate them to others intelligently. As I journal, I have learned…

A few weeks ago, I acted like a typical high “I” and made an on-the-spot invitation for friends to visit us during a time that MK and I had set apart for only the two of us to be alone and recover. I realized that I had acted impulsively and hoped no one would notice. …

I enjoy traveling, which I frequently do. One of the things I enjoy about it is the many new people and different places to explore.  I never tire of studying people and attempting to understand the culture or environment that causes them to think or act as they do. However, one of the downsides to…

I have had several accidents which easily could have killed me. When I was ten years old, I was hit by a car that the driver admitted was going 60 mph. I ran right out in front of him; he didn’t have a chance to avoid me on that gravel road. Yes, I was severely…

As often the case, today’s Thursday Thoughts come out of my journaling. Aging and growing in my faith have caused me to see wisdom much differently. I have learned that wisdom is most often shown by not entering a fray early. That is unless I feel there is something I can offer that no one…

Obviously, in my blogs about Open the Window, I wrote a lot about the importance of processing emotions when events that initiate them occur. I talked of the importance of agency and recovery in allowing our emotions to be dealt with in a way that diffuses them from taking our thinking brain hostage later in…

I left the church which I planted after 14 years with no permanent place to call an office or church facility. The church was wonderful on my departure and one of the things they gave me was a nameplate for my desk which read: “Pastor Gadget”.  I was touched and knew they understood my heart. Ironically,…

I grew up spiritually in an environment that emphasized the importance of a daily devotional. I was nurtured to read the Bible often. However, I struggled for years to make this a regular part of my daily routine. Eventually, while leading a small group of loving friends, I developed consistency in Bible reading, prayer, and…