Second Conversation Café Topic
Tonight we meet again at Sower’s Harvest for our Conversation Café. While our first workshop focused on developing interpersonal curiosity and learning the Six Pathways for conversational connection, tonight we’ll focus on the second and third mindset (Believing the Best and Expressing Concern). We’ll invite participants to practice complimenting, allowing conversation partners to unburden their […]
Cozy Conversations
Ash and I enjoyed a fantastic evening with others wanting to learn how to make warm connections. For this first night, we focused on the mindset of “curiosity” and invited participants to ask great questions in any of the six dimensions of what it means to be human. We then taught on the “endless permutations” […]
Something Fun: Conversation Café
Tonight, Ashley and I will host the first of a series of “Conversation Café” events at a popular local coffee shop called Sower’s Harvest. Every Tuesday evening in the month of February, we’ll offer 20 minutes of teaching and 40 minutes of free conversation time. Sower’s provides the coffee, the treats, and free books, and […]
A Difficult Prayer
I recently spoke on prayer and some of the new ways I’m praying. I love talking to God about wisdom, favor, protection, and joy. But what about the prayer, “God, send me to help someone”? I realized the difficulty of this prayer when several people mentioned how, when they began to ask God about this, […]
Excuses, Excuses
I notice Moses’ excuses regarding not fulfilling God’s calling on his life. In Exodus, we hear them all: I’m not talented; no one will listen to me; I can’t do this; I can’t do that. Please send someone else. I considered my own excuses about why I don’t want to do what God asks me […]
A Good Idea for February
Yesterday, I came upon an article about a new book called I Did a New Thing, by Tabitha Brown. While I haven’t read the book or know very much about Tabitha, I loved the idea of her 30-day challenge to do a new thing each day. What could it be for us today? Will we […]
The Names to Remember
As I read Genesis, I love arriving to the part where Joseph names his two sons. We read this in Genesis 41:50-52: Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget […]
The Savoring From What’s Broken
Our new dryer suddenly stopped drying our clothes. I found myself shocked at my response to this inconvenience! The stress, anger, entitlement, and frustration coursing through my brain made me truly stop and wonder. How quickly I’ve adapted and come to expect certain things: hot, clean, running water magically appearing out of a spout; a […]
The 3 C’s of Helping Hurting People
I recently reviewed everything I learned this summer when I earned my Trauma-informed Practices for Higher Education certification from Columbia College. I love synthesizing large amounts of data into simple, transferrable lessons, so I found myself able to think of helping hurting people in 3 ways (I call them them the 3 C’s): Certainty Community […]
A Snow Day for You, Too
Today my classes were canceled at Penn State. I imagined my happy students, snuggled in their beds, so thankful for the warmth and rest of a snow day. I love a snow day. As an adult, I love the idea of bundling up in blankets, watching TV, eating something yummy, pouring more coffee, and playing […]