Book Review

With my trade what it is, when I set to read more in 2013, I thought reading more books about counseling, psychiatry, psychology, and other related fields might be appropriate. With this goal in mind, this book review is over Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser, M.D. While the book has some subtle undertones which do not imply a consistency with Christianity, the overall theme of the book is good. The idea Dr. Glasser presents is that everyone chooses to behave the way they do and the goal of choice theory is to be intentional with behavior which will accomplish predetermined goals. The thrust is definitely true and so I give the book a seven on the ten-point scale.

Happy reading.

-j

Book Review

In 2012, Dale Sadler published his second book on Amazon Kindle: 28 Days to a Better Marriage: Advice on How You Can Have the Relationship with Your Spouse that You've Always Wanted. The book is designed to read a chapter a day which will not take more than five minutes and then make it a point to apply the principles taught in your marriage. The book is a good reminder and good to help any couple maintain and grow in marriage. I give it a 7.5 on the 10-point scale.

-j

Book Review

While it has been common for many years in research circles to examine what is wrong and then try to fix it, in the early 1980s, Nick Stinnett decided to research successful families and made it a career goal for the nearly 30 years. The research has made it into academic theses and dissertations and eventually published in the book Fantastic Families: Six Proven Steps to Building a Strong Family by Nick and Nancy Stinnett and Joe and Alice Beam, published by Howard Books in 1999. It is available at Amazon.com. The book recounts real-life interviews with successful families and I have used the material in church and counseling settings over the past 15 years and continue to do so. The principles are simple, easy-to-understand, and, when incorporated into real life, can make a family fantastic (the book lives up to its name!). I highly recommend it to anyone. I give it a 10 on the 10-point scale.

-j

Youth Rally

As my father previously stated, I(JT) went to beautiful Gatlinburg, TN for a youth conference. He has been bugging me for weeks to do this so I am finally posting about it. We had quite a journey, when we arrived at the hotel, because we got stuck between a rock an a hard place… literally. Our bus was wedged between the stone foundation of the hotel and a metal bus on the other side. Luckily, we got out of it before too many people got hurt. Just joking no one was hurt during that trek. Afterwards we scattered abroad throughout Gatlinburg for about a day, with some pretty great lessons about the life of Jesus sprinkled in between. On the way back, one of our vehicles had some trouble, so after dealing with that for a while the chaperones decided to take it to a repair-place not to far away. Therefore everyone traveling on that bus had to get out and ride in another one, resulting in me having to ride on the floor. Overall it was pretty fun and I'm looking forward to it again next year.

-jt

Book Review

His Needs Her Needs is written by Willard Harley, published originally in 1986, and has been revised several times most recently in 2011. This book is a classic in marriage self-help books and is required reading for couples for whom I have provided marriage counseling. The book takes a good look at the differences (beyond plumbing and anatomy) in men and women, gives some practical suggestions about how one sex can respect the differences of the other sex and gives insight into how men and women think. I read it several years ago and have given it as a gift to several couples, especially those who are recently engaged. I just read it again and continue to be impressed with Dr. Harley's insights. I give it a 9 on the 10-point scale.

Happy reading!

-j

Fun, Fun, Fun

Here we are for our weekly update and things have been going very, very well. JT had an awesome time at a youth conference last weekend and came home very tired, which was to be expected. He came home spiritually recharged as evidenced by how he kept talking about the lessons he heard and what he plans to do from here forward. We continue to be thankful for the spiritual young man he is.

Monday was a normal day for us and I (Jeremy) heard back from the Internal Review Board (aka: Legal Department) regarding my paper and have been approved! This has been a long time coming but I am thankful it has been approved. This put me in a position to set up a conference with the committee and move forward with their approval. The conference happened Thursday and went well so I will begin data collection this coming week! I am excited to get to move forward. JT had gotten sick from the weekend and got some medicine. He is better now for which we are thankful.

Tuesday wound up being a lot of fun and an enjoyable day. JT and I (Jeremy) attended a prayer breakfast and then went to work (JT thought he would move forward with the day but just was not feeling well so he returned home). Work has been busy for me but still going well. I have started volunteering for a juvenile intervention service and have been putting some time in doing that. Tuesday evening, the ladies (aka: Shawna and Kaylee) and I had an enjoyable time at the coffee house. Our little social bug likes to get out in public and socialize so this gave her ample opportunity.

Wednesday, we had a normal day with Bible study in the evening. It went really well and we had an enjoyable time. It was a good encouraging time to be with those of like-precious faith.

Thursday, Dad had this conference thing he was a little bit nervous about but it went very well... So, I (Kaylee) took him to his favorite steakhouse for dinner. He was SO happy!! We ended up seeing a person with whom Dad works and got to eat dinner with him and his wife. I (Kaylee) kind of like the guy but I will not tell him that because that is the relationship we have. We just like to annoy each other! Well, he likes to annoy me, anyway. Dad and I went to the coffee house afterward and had a good time all over again.

On Friday it was a normal day. Bubba was gone to a friend's house after school to celebrate a birthday. So, I (Kaylee) got some more parent time which I love. I think my parents are getting a little tired of me (no, we are not! -j).

On a couple of other notes... Our adoption to a more healthy lifestyle continues to go well. It is an adjustment and we have to keep the end in view. We made a trip to another city yesterday to visit Mom's boss' mother in the hospital. She is doing well for which we are thankful. We (and the family) would appreciate prayers for them. I (Kaylee) have a routine appointment later this week in another city. Please pray all will go well.

The family is very excited about the vacation planned later this month (Did you see that? We can now say it is planned for THIS month). JT and Dad have been training for their hike and went to a nearby park to simulate a small day-hike yesterday. We are SO looking forward to it!

-j&k

Book Review

This review is of the book Boys Should be Boys: Seven Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons by Meg Meeker, M.D. The book was published in 2008 and is available at Amazon Kindle for less than $15.00. A few years ago, I read Dr. Meeker's book, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know published in 2006 and was impressed. This led me to this companion book on raising sons. The author has a way of making is plain and simple while still instilling hope it is possible to raise well-adjusted kids in this post-modern, questioning-everything culture. The book offers practical tips but, in a subtle kind of way, lets parents know many of the things young boys do which worry their parents is normal and does pass. I give it an 8 on the 10-point scale.

-j