Adds family counselor Joshua Straub, Ph.D., of Lynchburg, Virginia: “Parents may not even realize they’re doing it. But a lot of times their personality clicks better with one child than the other. So they give the favored child a lot of special treatment or are easier on that child in terms of punishment. There may already be some bad feelings between the siblings, but this favoritism just adds fuel to the fire.”
Having attended a state university for my undergraduate work, I (Josh) had the privilege of befriending an atheist who lived with me the last three years of college. With front row seats, watching his drunken oblivion throughout our college years worried me greatly. He nearly died on a number of occasions and had numerous run-ins with “Johnny Law.”
Life is all about relationships—particularly with God and with those we love. You don’t have to go very far in the Bible to be reminded that God desires to be in a relationship with each and every one of us. Even more, the Bible says that He is a pursuer God, and that He works to win our hearts. His desire and His love are for us.
I think often. Maybe too much. I ponder the polarities of life and death, purpose and meaninglessness, love and apathy, intimacy and loneliness, pleasure and pain, responsibility and laziness. Too often, (at least from my perspective) we fail to personally grapple with the difficult questions raised by these life provocations. Instead we defy the negative provocation itself. We fight… View Post
