Christopher, I Promise

by Dorothy R. Colgan

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person
and to realize that your interests, desires and needs
are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention
and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you,
to let you see through the window of my world
into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you,
to be willing to face changes in order to keep
our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and bad,
with all I have to give and all I feel inside
in the only way I know how,
completely and forever.

52 Weeks Of Conscious Contact

I have a book that I really enjoy and I wanted to share it with my family, friends, and fellow bloggers. It's called 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact by Melody Beattie.

What gets in the way of serenity? For most people, the answer is life--those everyday distractions, obligations, and frustrations that cause chaos and clutter. This week-by-week guidebook brings more balance into my life by

• nurturing inner peace


• reaching out to others


• carrying through on good intentions


• making time for fun


• cultivating a deeper prayer life

Solving Problems

Four Steps to Solving Problems

Consider the four steps listed below, and note how Bible principals can help you to solve problems in a loving and respectful manner.

1. Set a time to discuss the issue. "For everything these is an appointed time, . . . a time to keep quiet and a time to speak." (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7)

• TRY THIS: Pick a regular time each week when you can discuss family problems.

2. Express your opinion honestly and respectfully. "Speak truth each one of you with his neighbor." (Ephesians 4:25) If you are married, your closest neighbor is your spouse.

• TRY THIS: To help you have your thoughts clearly in mind before talking to your partner, write down what you understand the problem to be and how you would like to resolve it.

3. Listen to and acknowledge your partner's feelings. "Do for other people whatever you would like to have them do for you." (Matthew 7:12)

• TRY THIS: In an empathetic manner, try to describe what you understand your partner is both saying and feeling.

4. Agree on a solution. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10)

• TRY THIS: Writing down different possible solutions to the problem helps to find a solution that you both can agree on.