Restoring Rapport

Respect, respect, respect. It's what keeps relationships open and healthy. It's what steps in during a heated discussion and says, "you know what, I may disagree with what you're saying, or I may just not be interested in the subject you're talking about, but I value YOU and what your opinion is, so I'm going to attentively listen to you and pour my effort into understanding you." Whenever you're in the middle of a disagreement with someone, I encourage you to learn to hit the pause button and remember the value of the person you're talking to. Remember that you love them and that they are walking the path of life just like you are. When you remember someones value and see things from their perspective, it enables you to understand that they're not crazy or foolish. They're searching for Truth just like you are. And you both may come to different conclusions about what the truth is or see things from a different viewpoint, but that doesn...

Ever wondered how and why Love Languages work or how to figure out which Love Language you have? It's really simple. The entire goal of Love Languages and the reason why they work so well is because they make people feel valued. So ask yourself what makes you feel valued, and what makes those close to you feel valued? All five Love Languages really accomplish the same goal. Each language uses a different means of getting to the end goal, but they all achieve the same purpose:  making someone feel valued. Just in case you haven't heard of the five Love Languages or you've forgotten what they are, I'll list them here: Words of Affirmation (Encouraging or affirming comments that: build up the receiver, make the receiver feel good about his or herself, and reassure the receiver that the giver has a high opinion of him or her. "Words of Affirmation" people feel valued when someone audibly praises them in an honest way.) Quality Time (Time that is invested into...

My Mother recently asked me the question, "Seth, would you let your daughter wear ____?" This question really cause me to do some serious thinking. It made me realize that modesty is an unavoidable issue in life and we all have to decide what is best for us and our present or future children. In this post, I'm pretty much going to give you my standards and opinions when it comes to modesty and explain why and where I've drawn the lines that I have. And I still don't know what I think about some outfits, but hopefully this post will give you something to chew on and think about. However, I don't consider my opinion to be foolproof. What I think is a little immodest might be considered OK to you or vice-versa. And that's alright. I'm not trying to impose my views of modesty onto you. I just wanted to share some thoughts of mine on the subject. First, let's try to define exactly what types of things are immodest. My Mom has recently told me that ...