Category Archives: personal growth

On personal growth and development.

It should be obvious

Posted on June 12, 2008 by igalindo

Some things should be obvious, but often we require someone to point out the obvious to us. A man walks into a doctor’s office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana … Continue reading →

Posted in bowen family systems theory, children, personal growth | 1 Comment

Getting older

Posted on June 10, 2008 by igalindo

The “new middle age” is said to now start at 65. That’s good news for those of us this side of 50. It can portend that the best is yet to be. S. M. Hutchins, in Touchstone (June 2008) writes: … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, personal growth | Comments Off on Getting older

Taking responsibility for one’s own feelings

Posted on June 5, 2008 by igalindo

Learning to take responsibility for our own feelings can be hard work. Our culture certainly doesn’t help given its propensity for encouraging a “victim” mentality. People seem to “take offense” readily at just about anything. And too many encourage that … Continue reading →

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Should I take the money?

Posted on June 3, 2008 by igalindo

Over the past several months I’ve talked with various church staff about some money issues. One interesting aspect of these conversations is how they parallel. All of them involved a variation on: (1) a church member wanting to give money … Continue reading →

Posted in congregational life, leadership, personal growth, second chair | Comments Off on Should I take the money?

Anam Cara

Posted on June 2, 2008 by igalindo

There has been a resurgence in clergy peer learning groups of late. A significant contribution to this has been the funding from the Lilly Foundation that has challenged and enabled denominations to bring about external impetus to the creation of … Continue reading →

Posted in books, leadership, personal growth, retreats | 1 Comment

Coming of Age

Posted on May 22, 2008 by igalindo

I finally got around to watching a DVD from Netflix that’s been sitting on the coffee table for about a month (thank goodness for that “no late fees” policy!). The movie was House of D. In the movie a thirteen-year-old … Continue reading →

Posted in bowen family systems theory, children, development theory, personal growth, world view | 1 Comment

What your brain thinks

Posted on May 15, 2008 by igalindo

An advantageous reminder is that while we are blessed with the power of cognition, we remain biological creatures often at the mercy of our phylogeny. This is advantageous when we recognize it, and, when the instinctual, non-rational part of our … Continue reading →

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Book review: The Equipping Church, by Mallory

Posted on May 5, 2008 by igalindo

Pastor led churches often struggle with how to most effectively utilize the time and talents of their pastoral staff without creating burn-out and rapid clergy turnover. Sue Mallory’s book The Equipping Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) has provided a biblical … Continue reading →

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Reading day (spirituality and faith)

Posted on April 24, 2008 by igalindo

Once a month I try to take a reading day at the library, either at my local neighborhood library or the seminary library across campus. Most of my reading on that day consists of pulling journals and periodicals off the … Continue reading →

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Isn’t it obvious?

Posted on April 21, 2008 by igalindo

I recently led another parenting workshop for a group of suburban parents. I’ve been doing this workshop for about fifteen years and it’s gotten to the point that I know when to pause to wait for specific questions. No matter … Continue reading →

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