6/1/26 MondayMatters: Being the True You

6/1/26 MondayMatters: Being the True You

Have you had the experience of walking away from a conversation or a party and recognizing you were not really, genuinely yourself? When you get in public you just feel the need to hide the real you, maybe by talking too much or not talking at all. This is a brief conversation about recovering your inner-child. And while you’re at it, like and subscribe to this blog. And It will make you a better person. (It probably won’t but it can’t hurt 😂)

HERE’S THE VIDEO  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIa2d2xpBLE3aK1Pm2D42mc9h5C37j5rV&si=Qk9s9D0Qq2gmajBn

Counselors for years have done inner-child work. The idea is that you were created this perfect, pure, unblemished original you. Life happened and you picked up wounds and hurts that sent the original you into hiding. The sobbing, wounded you was too vulnerable do you became the protective you. You protected yourself by all kinds of things, anger, isolation, humor, perfectionism, codependency, whatever it was you found a way to protect yourself by. That protective you have been adapted, perfected, and refined until the you were see today is the coping, adult you, carefully covering your weak, wounded spots, and instead presenting the public you that you have learned gives you the best chance to get through life with a minimum of further hurt. Maybe you’ve become the big, boisterous bully in the room that tells the loudest jokes and demands attention; or maybe you’ve become the quiet, unobtrusive mouse that hopes no one sees or notices you, but desperately wishes you could be seen and noticed.
In any case, the public you is not the true you. The healthy, holy, happy person is the one that follows Jesus’s advice and becomes like a little child. Not just any little child, the one you were originally meant to be. We probably never make it all the way back. Who wants to go back to wearing diapers and being up all night? (Wait a minute. Maybe we do make it all the way back!)

Here are three suggestions and three steps to help you recover the inner-child in you that God intended you to be:

Suggestion 1. Don’t mistake the public you for the true you. Keep working toward authenticity.

Suggestion 2. Remember the public you is a gift from God. He has been helping you cope all along.

Suggestion 3. Ask and allow the Holy Spirit to gently restore you to the kind, gentle, nonjudgmental, original you He made you to be. And then practice the fruit of that kind of Spirit led life whenever you get a chance.

And the steps to help you follow those suggestions? Speak the truth. Surrendered your past. Ans seek the Kingdom. The goal is the 12 Step self that has “nothing to prove and nothing to hide.” I’m sure not there but I’m one day closer than I was yesterday. Now, where did I lay my diapers?

Strengthening The Core

Strengthening The Core

My daughter-in-law and I ran the Music City marathon twice. (Not on the same day 😊). We ran hundreds of miles literally to prepare, but I was surprised at how long it took to recover from running 26.2 miles. I was talking to someone about that recently, and they said, “You need to strengthen your… Continue Reading

5/11/26 MondayMatters: Procrastination

5/11/26 MondayMatters: Procrastination

https://youtu.be/CWPkfnWY7Pc?si=KvG26eLb7yqcp8Sf Link to the video. Procrastinating the easy stuff makes it hard. Procrastinating the hard stuff makes it impossible. We all tend to procrastinate. It is as much a part of the human condition as laughter or love. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? That’s just what we do. The issue… Continue Reading

5/11/26 MondayMatters: Necessary Suffering

5/11/26 MondayMatters: Necessary Suffering

https://youtu.be/DofjXzR6mbg    Here’s the MondayMatters Video. Yesterday, on Mother’s Day, I wrote a short blog about the tension mothers often carry between joy and suffering. I’ll post a link to that in the notes below if you’d like to read it. But that reflection prompted me to follow up here on MondayMatters with a look… Continue Reading

May 10

May 10

Today is May 10, Mother’s Day. I asked Google how often Mother’s Day has fallen on this day in my lifetime. Surprisingly, only ten until today. This is the eleventh time. Seems like more. My mother was born on this day. She passed away fourteen years ago so she only got to celebrate Mother’s Day… Continue Reading

The End of the Beginning

The End of the Beginning

Jon-Mical pitched last night in what will most likely be his last high school game. He wasn’t scheduled to start but it was a district tournament game and we got in trouble quick. Our starter was not at his best. He gave up a run and then loaded the bases with 2 outs in the… Continue Reading

5/4/26 MondayMatters: Dealing with Grief

5/4/26 MondayMatters: Dealing with Grief

Grief. We all have and will again experienced it. It is a natural, appropriate response to death or loss. But do we do it well? Do we suffer in a healthy manner? Here are 9 suggestions to help us deal with grief. https://youtu.be/ifpstqgXjrA?si=7_bGdF3mrzJpXToj   Continue Reading

4/20/26 MondayMatters: Managing Your Time

4/20/26 MondayMatters: Managing Your Time

What do you do when you’re too busy to do? Those seasons come when we have overbooked, overcommitted, and over scheduled so that we are fighting to breath. How do you handle that? Well, here are some suggestions, if you have time for them, that will help you get through this season. And it is… Continue Reading

4/6/26   MondayMatters:  Keep Easter Going

4/6/26 MondayMatters: Keep Easter Going

Easter is not a one day event. Easter changed our calendar. It changed our holiday system. It changed the Hallmark Business and the Cadaver Egg business. More importantly, Easter changed the whole plan of salvation. God allowed access mankind to Himself by way of His Son, Jesus. Not only is Easter more than a one… Continue Reading