Something is awry—we feel disconnected. We connect with a career, find meaning in family, yet long for something more.

We feel the frustration I felt on Christmas morning, 1964. I assembled a nine-year-old’s dream gift: a genuine Santa Fe Railroad miniature train set, complete with battery-powered engine and flashing crossing lights. I placed the locomotive on the tracks and watched in sheer glee as three pounds of pure steel wound its way across my bedroom floor. Around and around and around and . . . around . . . and around . . . After some time I picked it up and turned it the other direction. It went around and around and around . . .

“Mom, what else did you get me for Christmas?”

Similarly, our lives chug in long ovals, one lap after another.

First job. Promotion. Wedding day. Nursery beds. Kids. Grandkids. Around and around . . . Is there anything else? Our dissatisfaction mates with disappointment and gives birth to some unruly children: drunkenness, power plays, eighty-hour workweeks, nosedives into sexual perversions—all nothing more than poorly disguised longings for Eden. We long to restore what Adam lost. As someone once said, “The man who knocks on the door of a brothel is seeking God.”

Where and when the brothel fails, Jesus steps forth with a reconnection invitation. Though we be “dead in [our] transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18), whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1). Reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.” (John 1:13)

Don’t miss the invisible, inward miracle triggered by belief. God reinstates us to Garden-of-Eden status. What Adam and Eve did, we now do! The flagship family walked with God; we can too. They heard his voice; so can we. They were naked and unashamed; we can be transparent and unafraid. No more running or hiding.

“Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!” (1 Peter 1:3–4 MSG).

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: What do you look most forward to in your life?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily drudgery of our lives that we miss everything that’s going on around us. Is it possible that you’ve been missing the grand story that’s being woven all around you?

What memories, feelings, or experiences did listening to this song and watching this video evoke in you? If you’d like to talk to someone about it, personally & confidentially, talk with an online mentor today.

Related reading: Is it Possible? – Sometimes things hide in plain sight.

Song written, performed, and provided courtesy of Derek Gust

I was reading CNN.com this morning when I a link caught my eye.

The article quotes her saying, “It wasn’t a fulfilling marriage for either of us,” she tells Shape. “As we got older, we grew apart.”  In other words, she got bored.  Seven years in to a marriage that was supposed to be forever she started looking for what she needed in someone other than her husband.

Drifting apart

I know that no marriage falls apart for a single reason and it is a rare relationship indeed where only one partner is at fault, but I was sad to read that she basically gave up.   I’ve seen couples split when there has been violence, or when a tragedy was more than they could bear.  But that’s not what happened here.  They drifted apart – it sounds so innocuous, so passive, so easily avoided.

I remember my sociology Prof telling us that a marriage is always in motion.  If you’re not actively moving toward each other, you’re drifting apart.  All Rimes had to do was turn around, her husband hadn’t gone anywhere.

Boredom is a child’s excuse, it’s not an adult reason. That’s not to say that every moment of every marriage is going to feel like Disneyland, but they could have been happy.  There was no health crisis weighing on them, no financial hardship stalking their thoughts at night.  If what they were doing wasn’t working, they had every opportunity to try something different, together.

It saddens me to see another couple deciding that marriage is not worth the effort.  It does take effort, it takes work, but ask any pair of grandparents if 50 years together was worth it.  I doubt you’ll find a pair who are bored.

If you feel ennui setting in, turn back toward your partner. Get to know them better, get to know them in a new way.  Marriage counselors Dave and Claudia Arp have a great article “Get To Know Your Mate” that has some wonderful advice for turning the heat up in your own relationship.

If the every day is taking a toll on your romance, try our free Life Lesson: Rekindle the Romance to get the fire started again.

Are you afraid to ask for help? Talk to us.

“This day…I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

A man was lying on a mat beside a pool in Jerusalem. It was said that an angel came to stir up the waters once in awhile and the first one in was healed. So, here he lay year after year waiting for his turn. Somebody always beat him to it. (John 5:1-15)

One day Jesus walked up to him and asked, “Do you want to be made well?” (The Amplified version reads, “Are you really in earnest about getting well?” (John 5:6)
Of course! Isn’t it obvious?

Not necessarily. He’d lived this lifestyle for thirty-eight years. He had his mat. His spot by the pool. He knew his hierarchy among the sick folk by the pool. He knew the routine of each day. Boredom and uselessness was just part of it.

Being weak and ill had become his identity.

Jesus’ question hinted at another possibility. You can choose to leave your mat –your comfort zone– and begin to walk into a potential zone a zone of other possibilities of health.

Every choice we make takes us into one particular direction. We can choose to stay stuck in our situation or we can choose to begin a new life.

“Choose life!” Joshua exhorts the Israelites. “So that you and your children may live.”

Remember: “You are not born a winner; You are not born a loser. You are born a chooser.”

Dear God, I choose to follow you into new life and health today.

Questions: What choices have you been making recently? Are you afraid to walk out of your comfort zone? Why?

About the Author Helen Grace Lescheid

The most viewed video on YouTube today is “Iggy Inviestigates an Ipad”.

I can’t decide what surprises me more – that someone let their cat play with their ipad or that the Iggy video is not unique.  A quick search on YouTube pulled up a quite a few results.  Iggy’s owner assures YouTube commenters that the screen was not damaged by the cat’s claws.  Thank goodness for that.

I wonder what it says about us as a society that we’ll sit down and watch videos like this?  It’s nothing against Iggy personally, crazy pet videos are bound to be an Oscar category in a couple of years.  I wonder if it’s proof that we have too much time on our hands or proof that we have too little?
Take a look and see for yourself:

A friend of mine likes watching low budget reality TV shows because she doesn’t have to think.  There’s no plot to follow or complicated themes to keep her up at night.  Sometimes at the end of a long and crazy day, we just need something to zone out to.  (My personal favorite is still cuteoverload.com – full of pictures of cute animals, that site can cure almost any case of the doldrums.)

Do you find that you have less time than you used to? Try our Life Lesson – Managing Time Wisely for great advice to make the most of your day.

Do you have a favorite silly YouTube video? Would you ever let your cat play with your laptop? Tell us about it in the comments.

The creator describes it as being “A short existential game about alienation and refusal of labour. Or, if you prefer, a playable music video.”

See what you think … be warned though, it may hurt your productivity:

Click to play in a new window

What do you think the author’s message is? Even without completing it, you will likely start to form ideas about what the author is trying to communicate, and your interpretation may differ from mine. An obvious theme however is the so-called daily grind – having a “life on repeat.”

Do you ever feel like your life is on repeat? Like the faceless character in this game, sometimes life seems veiled in drab gray rather than vivid color.  The daily routine becomes merely routine, rather than routinely exciting. Having great wealth or success doesn’t alleviate this problem either as millionaire Rob LaMorte discovered after retiring at age 35.

If you’re feeling like your life isn’t going anywhere and would like to talk to someone privately about it, please feel free to contact an online mentor to talk about it. It’s free, confidential, and you will receive a personal reply by email.

The creator describes it as being “A short existential game about alienation and refusal of labour. Or, if you prefer, a playable music video.”

See what you think … be warned though, it may hurt your productivity:

Click to play in a new window

As I played, I was reminded of the repeated refrain of “the Teacher” in the book of Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) In that fascinating book of the Old Testament, the author explores what today would be considered a nihilistic approach to life and deems godless toil “Utterly meaningless!” Of course, after exploring the ways of the world, the author concludes by putting his trust and faith in God as the source of goodness and glory that transcends the mundane world.

Do you ever feel like your life is on repeat? Like the faceless character in this game, sometimes life seems veiled in drab gray rather than vivid color.  The daily routine becomes merely routine, rather than routinely exciting.

When writing to his friends in Corinth, the apostle Paul confirms with them that “we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16) Are there verses that are especially comforting to you during times when they world seems especially gray?

If you’re feeling like your life isn’t going anywhere and would like to talk to someone privately about it, please feel free to contact an online mentor to talk about it. It’s free, confidential, and you will receive a personal reply by email.

A busy life can hinder us from reacquainting ourselves with who we really are. We live in an ever changing world. New technologies and inventions constantly assault our senses and challenge the very notion of who we are.

Transition and self-worth

Transitions in life often force us to slow down and take a step back to reassess our lives. Entering another phase of life can be rather unsettling and stressful whether you are clocking 30 years of age or 50 and beyond. Because of our society’s obsession with youth and beauty, growing old is not usually welcome. There is no escape. As long as we live, we will eventually age.

For a woman with many family responsibilities and a demanding job outside the home, it can be rather tough. When the children grow up and start school or leave home, parents, especially mothers, can find themselves thrown into a crisis simply because they built their sense of self-worth on the wrong foundation.

Take stock

After years of ignoring who you really are, it is important to give yourself time to take stock. Is your life uneventful and dull? It needn’t be. Discovering your feelings, what you want and the possibilities that lie ahead of you will rejuvenate you.

Set goals

Self-depreciating thoughts do us no good. Build a sense of self-worth by setting out goals for yourself. As you move forward to greater things, allow yourself to enjoy the sophistication and confidence that maturity brings.

Inject excitement into your life

Create opportunities for social interaction and learn something new. As you expand your social circle, you’ll find that you inject excitement into your life which can be carried on to those around you.

Working within your circumstances will give you a jump-start and a sense of direction for the next phase in your life. You can then be thankful for your experiences because it is our experiences that mold us. Years later, you can look back on your transition in life and know that you have passed through another of life’s tests.

Are you searching for joy in your life? Read about How to Begin to Experience and Discover Joy in your own life.