Podcast

075: Getting a Letter Helps People Who Feel Isolated

By John Certalic on October 28, 2020 0

Getting a letter helps people who are feeling isolated & lonely. Composing and mailing our thoughts to someone connects us with them. That's the topic of today's episode.

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s episode where today we consider a simple thing we can do to nurture our relationship with people.

Some of us are doing better than others in coping with the pandemic we’re living through here in 2020. For those of us who are, and who want to help those of us who are not, you may find today’s episode helpful.

I recently came across an idea you might want to consider if you have people in your life struggling with the isolation we are experiencing during these difficult days. Listen in as we consider an old-school strategy that research has shown to be effective in caring for the emotional health of people close to us. [Read more…] about 075: Getting a Letter Helps People Who Feel Isolated

074: Relationships During Elections

By John Certalic on October 21, 2020 0

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s episode where today we talk about relationships during elections, and how we can better care for each other during them. We’re doing so at the suggestion of a listener from Pennsylvania.

There’s something about elections that stirs up emotion in people. And it’s not just in Pennsylvania. It’s the rest of the world, too.

A recent election in Kyrgyzstan, for example, prompted a large page-1 photo in the Wall Street Journal. Its caption: “Vote Dispute Plunges Kyrgyzstan into Chaos.”

Expressions of political preferences polarize people. They harm relationships. They divide people more than they bring us together. [Read more…] about 074: Relationships During Elections

073: Could Curiosity About Others Minimize Racism?

By John Certalic on October 14, 2020 0

Curiosity about others minimizes racism as we minimize our pride. Humility seeks to understand difficulties others experience that we haven’t.

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s show where today we consider several interesting responses from our listeners to a recent episode.

The first is an email in reaction to episode 70, Building Relationships Eases Racial Tension. It’s from Thomas, a listener from West Africa:

Listener response no. 1

Dear John,

Greetings from [a West African country].

Thank you for interviewing Kevin about his perception of and suggested solutions to racial matters in the US. I am touched by his proposed solution, particularly, about the role Christians could play.

When I come to the US and worship with Americans I am struck at the racial components of most churches. If it is white, it is white; if it is black, it is black. I see very little effort Christian leaders and Christians in America toward the blending of the color of worshippers and ministers in many American congregations…
[Read more…] about 073: Could Curiosity About Others Minimize Racism?

072: What I Learned From a Grieving Friend

By John Certalic on October 7, 2020 0

Death teaches us how to live when we join someone in going through their grief. What I learned from a grieving friend can benefit all of us.

Welcome to today’s episode, no. 72, where today we consider what we can learn from a grieving friend.

In last week’s episode, number 71, How to Help a Grieving Friend, I talked about the shocking news Janet and I received from our missionary friend, Martin, concerning the sudden and unexpected death of his wife, and our friend, Suzanne. I talked about ways we can help a grieving friend, even as we ourselves grieve.

For today, I want us to reflect upon what we learn in walking together with a friend through his or her grief. There is much we can benefit from if we pay attention. For me, I find it starts with a rather haunting verse about death found in the Old Testament. A really unusual verse. Listen in as I explain. [Read more…] about 072: What I Learned From a Grieving Friend

071: How to Help a Grieving Friend

By John Certalic on September 30, 2020 0

To help a grieving friend starts with being present and joining God in comforting those going through difficult times. Hello everyone and welcome to episode no. 71, where today we discuss how to help a grieving friend.

Before we get into that, I have some listener feedback to share with you from episode 69, When our Kids Go Off to School for the First Time.

Hey John, I have enjoyed the past two weeks and happy for your new season. This is a bright spot in the middle of the pandemic. I am wondering if I will ever get out of England. ~ Dorcas

Great podcast John! I love your action step of writing a notecard to parents who are sending their kids to school for the first time. Well done! ~ Teri

On to today’s episode.

We’ve all been there. A friend loses someone important to them through death. We care, but we don’t know what to do. Today’s episode is about what happened to me recently when a friend died, and what I did to help a grieving friend. [Read more…] about 071: How to Help a Grieving Friend

070: Building Relationships Eases Racial Tension

By John Certalic on September 23, 2020 0

Building relationships eases racial tension. A solution to racism is to be more like Jesus and build relationships with people not like us. That's what today's episode is all about.

I sometimes wish we could speed up the calendar this year, turn a few more pages at a time to bring 2020 to a close. With all the turmoil over Covid-19, the presidential election, and heightened racial tension in the US, I would just like to wipe the slate clean and start over again. How about you? Are you with me on this?

During this time we’ve gotten so many conflicting answers as to how to solve these problems, that you don’t know who to believe anymore. Well in today’s episode I interview someone who actually has a solution of where to start in solving the racial tension here in America. [Read more…] about 070: Building Relationships Eases Racial Tension

069: When Our Kids Go Off to School for the First Time

By John Certalic on September 16, 2020 0

A key marker in any parent’s life is when their child goes off to school for the first time. Whether it’s to kindergarten, or when our kids leave home for college, it stirs up emotions within us.

For some, it’s relief that their kid is finally out of the house because they are so ready for him or her to be gone. For others, it’s a bit of grief because WE’RE not quite ready when our kids go off to school for the first time.

Listen in as we consider the emotional impact of our offspring entering this new chapter in their life. Because as a parent it’s a new chapter in OUR life as well.

And even if you have no children, there’s something for you, too, in today’s episode to help enhance your relationships. [Read more…] about 069: When Our Kids Go Off to School for the First Time

068: Our Job is a Means to an End, Not an End Unto Itself

By John Certalic on September 9, 2020 0

Our job is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. It’s an important relationship principle that makes celebrating Labor Day meaningful.

Hello everyone and welcome back to You Were Made for This. It’s so good to be back here behind the microphone with the start of Season Four. We begin with episode 68, just 2 days after Labor Day here in 2020

During my years in teaching and the business world, I interacted with lots of people who felt stuck in their jobs, where they found little satisfaction in their work

I also interacted with people who found too much meaning in their careers, where their identity and purpose in life were wrapped up in what they did for a living.

Neither extreme is healthy. There’s a better way to view our relationship with our jobs, careers, and the work we do. It’s the topic for today’s show. [Read more…] about 068: Our Job is a Means to an End, Not an End Unto Itself

067: Self-Monitoring How We Listen

By John Certalic on June 3, 2020 0

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s episode, no. 67, the last one for Season Three. I’ll say more about Season Four later at the end of the show. For today, we’re here to demonstrate how better listening creates deeper relationships. We'll see how monitoring ourselves in how we listen helps transform our relationships into the best they can be.

In prior episodes I talked about listening and the role that questions play in deepening our relationships. I gave a number of examples in several stories I shared. But there’s something about seeing it demonstrated, that for a lot of us, makes it easier to understand. So that is what we’re doing in today’s show. Hopefully what you hear today will equip and inspire you to ask better questions to deepen your relationships. [Read more…] about 067: Self-Monitoring How We Listen

066: A Solution Better Than Suicide

By John Certalic on May 27, 2020 0

Hello everyone and welcome to today's episode, no. 66, where as always I’m here to help us consider ways we can find more joy in our relationships. Because after all, we were made for this.

In the past few episodes (episode 65 episode 64 episode 63 episode 62 )we’ve been considering the only two questions you need to remember in getting to know someone better. Just two questions to ask that will lead to a meaningful conversation with most anyone.

Namely, first of all asking myself “From what I know about this person, what might it be like to be them?” And secondly, asking the other person a follow-up question.

I don’t know about you, but I often learn best by seeing something demonstrated. So that’s what we’re doing in today’s program. I’m going to let you listen in on a recent conversation I had with someone to show what it’s like to stretch our curiosity muscles by asking the two questions we’ve been talking about lately: What might it be like to be them, and follow-up questions. [Read more…] about 066: A Solution Better Than Suicide