By: Jamie Klemashevich In the last post, we explored action steps for dealing with manipulative people in a loving way. But what if your most beautiful, thoughtful, prayerful efforts to respond well have no effect? What if a person continues to cross boundaries and continues use manipulation tactics on you? Take a deep breath my[…]
By: Jamie Klemashevich This is the hard part, friends. We’ve talked about manipulation and the need to recognize it when it’s happening. We’ve identified several of the behaviors that indicate the presence of manipulation. All that remains is how to love manipulative people without giving in to the manipulation. Step 1: Be aware. This includes[…]
By: Jamie Klemashevich Last time, I shared about how we often confuse love with “niceness.” Love speaks difficult truth, and love does not enable manipulation. Loving a manipulator often means being more direct that you want to be, and it may involve having some difficult conversations to set your boundaries. We will get into that[…]
by: Jamie Klemashevich We’ve all been there: kicking ourselves for catering to the demands of others, finding ourselves in situations where we feel trapped, thinking that loving others surely doesn’t mean feeling so enslaved in relationships. Often, the reason is, “I felt bad (or guilty or mean or rude).” These feelings are actually coming from[…]
Many moms work hard to: – help their children reach the “normal” developmental milestones; – get their kids to eat healthy, make healthy friendships, and develop good character; – allow their kids to attend good schools or to homeschool them.Moms have so many hopes and dreams for their children, but at the[…]
by: Sally Smith Photo Credit: Malcolm Manners from here via CC. From birth most of us spend much of our lives avoiding pain. We naturally recoil from things that hurt us, sometimes going as far as to strike first to avoid being the recipient of pain. Often this tendency is helpful, it helps us learn not to touch the stove or[…]
Recently, I have seen an influx of couples seeking counseling and asking one question: are we prepared for marriage. As a counselor I get elated when premarital couples come in with this question on their hearts. Partly because they still kind of like each other, which makes therapy more fun, and partly because I am[…]
Hi! My name is Carianne. If, you know me, you are automatically visualizing what I look like. Short. Black hair. Awesome squinty eyes. Maybe you don’t know me, but you’ve heard the song “hey Carrie Anne, what’s your game now, can anybody play.” I still remember the Vice Principal of the high school I attended[…]
As we continue this month on the journey of Adoption Awareness, I want us to be reminded of one of the focal verses in scripture on orphans. In James 1:27 the author writes: Religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: take care of the orphans and the widows who are[…]
Did you know that if one family from each church in America chose to add to their family through one adoption, most, if not all, the orphans in the U.S. would have forever families? This is EXCITING NEWS!!! You may know that your family is not able to adopt or foster, but that is okay! God has[…]