Blog

It’s Still Amazing Out There

By John Certalic on June 10, 2020 0

Cross-cultural relationship encounters enrich our lives when we least expect it. I had one the other evening, even though it happened in the context of a disappointing change in attitude from a trusted friend.

It used to be before I walked out the door for a brisk early morning walk I would check the Weather Channel app on my phone. Each morning, no matter how sunny, rainy, hot, snowy, cold, blustery, or calm the day, the Weather Channel would greet me with “It’s amazing out there.”

I loved her optimism. It was just what I needed to get moving. To experience this amazement though, I had to first get “out there.” And that’s the challenge because [Read more…] about It's Still Amazing Out There

Kindness before dawn

By John Certalic on January 15, 2020 0

I’m chomping at the bit for the start of season 3 of our You Were Made for This podcast. Only 7 more days to January 22 when we’re back on the air!

But in the meantime, I recently experienced an example of Colossians 3:12 (…clothe yourself with…kindness) I want to tell you about. Hopefully it inspires you as it did me. It all happened in the dark before sunrise. [Read more…] about Kindness before dawn

Trying to stop this in 2020

By John Certalic on January 8, 2020 0

One of the things I would like to do less of this year is stop answering every “How are you?” question with “Fine.”

Fine is a perfectly fine response to the 17-year-old barista at Starbucks, or to the bored-to-tears checkout clerk at Target. They’re complete strangers, and are just trying to make it to the end of their shift. Fine is an appropriate answer for them. Fine, how are YOU doing is a little better.

But to people closer to me, I would like to come up with a more honest answer. [Read more…] about Trying to stop this in 2020

The ONE New Year’s Resolution that Makes the Others Possible

By John Certalic on January 1, 2020 0

One of the core principles of our You Were Made for This podcast is that the secret sauce to finding joy in our relationships is to do less, not more. I touched on this in our very first episode back on November 28, 2018.

Doing less also makes for a good New Year’s resolution. Doing less of what hinders our relationships creates space to do more of what truly enhances them.

May we resolve in 2020 to do far less of the things that get in the way of the joy-filled relationships we were made for.

What does this look like for you? [Read more…] about The ONE New Year's Resolution that Makes the Others Possible

A Great Way to Start or End Your Christmas Day

By John Certalic on December 25, 2019 0

Maybe the activities of your Christmas Day haven’t started yet. Perhaps you’re in the middle of them. Or you may have already completed them.

In any case, I hope you can find a place of quiet for your heart to think, ponder, and treasure the true meaning of Christmas. Like Mary did 2,000 years ago.

One thing that helps me do this is to watch one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time. It could help you, too. It’s of a flash mob scene that begins with [Read more…] about A Great Way to Start or End Your Christmas Day

Relationship quote of the year

By John Certalic on August 28, 2019 0

This is the last blog post of the summer. As much as I hate to see it go, I’m looking forward to switching gears a week from today and moving into Season Two of our You Were Made for This podcast.

If you’ve listened to past episodes from Season One you may recall how each one ends with a relationship-related quote. My favorite so far
this year is from Walt Whitman who said,

“We were together, I forgot the rest.”

I experienced this first-hand this summer when Janet and I took our twin 17-year-old grandsons, George and Grant, on a vacation trip. It was our high school graduation gift to them, a summer before the fact.

While the places we visited were very interesting, the thing I will carry in my heart for a long time was [Read more…] about Relationship quote of the year