Am I Expecting Too Much

"Your little girl was so good during the concert," the gray haired lady said, glancing at my three-year-old daughter, Mina. "I don't think I've ever seen a young child sit so nicely for so long." My heart nearly burst with pride. This was what I wanted--for my little girl to be so exceptional that everyone…

Attachment 101

By Betsy Stalcup, founder and executive director of Healing Center International God made us to attach to him and to others. Isn’t that amazing? If we don’t learn how to attach to God, how to trust in his love, care and provision the world can be an anxious place. If we don’t learn to attach…

The Social Needs of Babies

By Betsy Stalcup, founder and executive director of Healing Center International What? you may be thinking. Is Betsy going to tell us that babies like to party and need a Facebook page? No. Not that. But they are social. Get this: according to Beatrice Beebe, Ph.D. babies begin seeking social interaction when they are only ten seconds…

What Babies Need

By Betsy Stalcup, founder and executive director of Healing Center International Babies need parents who delight in them, understand the stages of child development, and are fully mature. Let me unpack this a bit. When we are glad to be with our children, when we delight in them the way God delights in us, it…

Why Did Randall Have A Nervous Breakdown?

One of my board members recently suggested I start watching This is Us, the television drama about a surprisingly relational family. She offered to help me get started by binge watching it with me during a snowstorm. I am loving this show. The show focuses on the interactions between the members of a nuclear family—mom,…

The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think

My friend Chaney sent this to me. Low and behold, this is what we teach in Restarting, that addiction is an attachment where we attach to drugs, food, shopping, whatever! instead of attaching to people and God. Kinda sad. But I am happy this article by Johann Hari from Tuesday's Huffington Post is on the…

Processing pain using the Immanuel approach

It is a simple exercise, you simply say, “Lord, help me to perceive you,” then when you see where he is, you say, “Lord, help me to perceive you more clearly.” Then you quiet yourself and enjoy being with him. After all, Jesus is always with us, even if we do not believe in him,…

I love this story!

We've been teaching about the joys of multigenerational community--at least three generations together, interacting. Here is a great story of how it is working in the life of an 89 year old WWII vet and a toddler boy. I only wish they could stay neighbors. Where have you experienced multigenerational community? Was it healthy? What…

Join us for our annual conference with Life Model leaders David and Jan Takle and Ed and Maritza Khouri

We will be learning how to journey Further in and Further up into the heart of God as we engage with him to change us from the inside out. Ed Khouri will be focusing on using the pleasure of eating to bond with God and the ones we love instead of attaching to the food…

Immanuel, God with us

A method for connecting to God At the end of our Life Model classes we almost always close by doing a simple Immanuel exercise. Immanuel means “God with us” and this approach to prayer is based on the awareness that Jesus is with us. He never leaves for forsakes us. This approach was developed by…