RESOURCES from 4word
Love and Fairytales
What can marriage do for YOU? It seems like a funny question when phrased this way, but it’s exactly the way that most of us have been trained to think about marriage (and spouses). Too often our marriage daydreams go something like this: Once upon a time there… Read More
The Four Work Languages
You’ve most likely heard of The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. After years of counseling couples, he discovered that everyone has a “love language” – the primary way an individual expresses and interprets love. The key to loving someone better is to understand her personal love… Read More
Your Most Important Relationship
What is your most important relationship? I read a quote last week from a public figure under some fire for being “too forthright” about his religious views: “If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say… Read More
Love Better: Love What They Love
Want to love someone better? I could say a lot here, beginning with the fact that I am certainly not perfect at this. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my relationships with loved ones, but I’ve also learned a lot of lessons. Here’s one in a nut shell:… Read More
“Purposeful” Work
What does your work mean to you? Later this week we’re interviewing Bonnie Wurzbacher, an executive at Coca-Cola (and a really great Christian lady!) for her take on how to bring meaning to your work. Don’t miss it! Bonnie’s wise words have got me thinking this week about… Read More
A Week of Thanks
Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone! Rather than write about work this week, I thought I’d take a little time out to reflect on Thanksgiving and what it means both as a holiday and as a spiritual endeavor. Let me just say that I love Thanksgiving. I love the weather,… Read More
When Things are Going Wrong
Is everything going your way? Is anything? It’s okay to say “no.” Life is full of twists and tangles, and we all are bound to hit some bumps along the way. I received two emails recently that got me thinking about how we deal with life when things… Read More
Love and Loss
Have you lost someone? Love is a beautiful and wonderful gift from God. But we live in a broken world, and that means we are bound to feel the loss of people and relationships we care about. The truth is, we all have or will lose people we… Read More
Faith and Work
How do you share your faith at work? Publishing a Christian book has had a totally unexpected impact on my work life. A great example is from just this past week. I was at the Urban Land Institute national conference in Los Angeles. U.L.I. is a nonprofit group… Read More
Prayer and Leadership.
Why pray? With so much going on in life, it can be easy to relegate prayer to the back burner, but if you invest in prayer, everything benefits. This past weekend was 4word’s second annual advisory board retreat. I was blessed to spend the weekend with some terrific… Read More
Love, Friends, and Airports
Need a little loving? I don’t necessarily mean the romantic kind, although that counts too. We’ve all been through times when we just need to feel loved. A hug, a kind gesture, a listening ear, even small loving things can turn a bad time around. God knows your… Read More
Chasing Superwoman
“Every one of us is fighting something.” That’s one thing that stuck with me from Jennie Allen’s interview last Wednesday, because I think it’s absolutely true. I also agree with Jennie that our tendency to put on a smile and hide our struggles isn’t doing any of us… Read More
A Prayerful Leap of Faith
Ready to leap? A few years ago I was at a point in my life where things were pretty good. I was looking for a job but I had plenty of time to do it (thanks to a generous exit package from my last employer). My relationships with… Read More
Love and Friendship
Have your friends heard from you lately? It can sometimes be hard for working women to make time for friends, especially if you’re married or in a serious dating relationship. And trust me, it only gets harder if you add kids to the mix. The thing is, the… Read More
I Don’t Know How She Does It
Are you practicing your juggling act? The film, I Don’t Know How She Does It opened this weekend. It’s about Kate Reddy, a woman juggling a high-power career and a firm commitment to husband and family. I read the book years ago and really enjoyed it, because even… Read More
Praying For Slow Miracles
Is God moving too slowly for you? When I was a little girl, I used to think of miracles like magic spells: God waved his special “miracle wand” and poof! There in a puff of smoke and fire crackers, something changed instantly for the better. I laugh at… Read More
Love: Understanding The Men In Your Life
Do you get him? Conventional wisdom tells us that men are basically uncomplicated. We’re the complicated ones who are supposedly moody and emotional and whose feelings are easily hurt. This is certainly the conception of the male-female dynamic adopted in popular culture. How many sitcoms have you seen… Read More
Planning Your Work Future
Where are you headed? Maybe you’re already on track for your “dream job,” or maybe you don’t even know what it looks like yet. Either way, now is a great time to start thinking critically about your professional future. First things first, you need to know yourself. This… Read More
Love and Confusion
Is he your future husband? A few weeks ago we talked about how racing to find “the one” can lead to some bad romantic decisions. But what do you do if you’re in a relationship and wondering, “could this guy be my guy? Is he right for me,… Read More
Pray: Keeping Faith First
Are you keeping your priorities straight? Faith, family and relationships, work. We all know how our priorities should look, but with deadlines at work and relationships demanding attention, it can be easy to slip out of balance. We rush around trying to satisfy the most “urgent” demands, and… Read More