forgiveness Archives ⋆ Mike and Susan Dawson

The Best Present Ever: Jesus!

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:12:47+00:00Hope|

Merry Christmas! Over the last few weeks, we've written about making it a great holiday season by adapting to the quick pace of all that’s going on around us. This includes understanding and finding real peace and thinking about how we really need to love in the holiday season. These are all important lessons for a variety of reasons. For starters, it’s great to refocus during the holidays to do things that are better for us. And by doing so, we find joy and happiness in our relationships and our day-to-day life — regardless of how hard life and our daily circumstances get. I always like to see the signs [...]

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Destructive vs. Constructive conflict styles

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:13:54+00:00Attitude, Conflict|

If you haven’t had a chance to read our blog post from last month on conflict, we suggest you and your spouse take a quick gander. After all, conflict exists anytime two people interact. Even between the best of couples — it’s inevitable. The trick is how we handle it, which brings us to today’s topic on destructive vs. constructive conflict styles. Simply put, how we process or deal with conflict can make or break positive communication in a marriage. Do you want to minimize issues or work through them? Conflict generally arises when our desires are blocked or hindered by someone or something. Maybe it has to do [...]

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Why Offer Forgiveness to Those Who have Hurt You Deeply?

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:13:59+00:00Foregiveness|

When your spouse hurt you for the first time or broke your trust, what did you feel? We bet it was sadness, pain, shock, anger, and an oversized truckload of betrayal. But when the dust settled, and cooler heads prevailed, they expressed remorse for their actions, apologized, and asked for your forgiveness. Or maybe even, it didn’t happen quite that way. Ah, yes — forgiveness. The one thing we know that we should do but somehow remains one of the hardest things to do. Does that mean we should do the whole “forgive and forget” thing? By forgiving our spouse, does that really help the pain go away? Why should [...]

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Behaviors of Love-Are you Busting or Building?

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:16:55+00:00Love, Relationships|

How do you describe love? Ask ten people and you will get 10 different answers to this question about love. They will range from: A feeling Something deep and mysterious An emotion Actions you do A place that can be painful and you need to guard Lost it, long for, and must have it But most would agree LOVE IS certainly profound, multifaceted and mysterious. LOVE’S ASSOCIATIONS WITH FEELINGS As a counselor, I see love mainly through the actions in how we treat others in relationships, and also the words we use to show others value and importance. Now love itself may not be a feeling; but there are certainly [...]

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Forgiveness-Who is it Really For?

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:17:50+00:00Foregiveness|

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Mahatma Gandhi To forgive is one of the hardest things we do. The process can be so misunderstood, and yet it is so necessary. Why should I be forgiving when the other person is the one who has inflicted pain on me? An excellent question! But first, let’s look at what it is and what forgiveness means. Webster’s says: To give up resentment Stop being angry with Pardon Give up all claim to punish Overlook Cancel a debt Another way to look at forgiveness is to see it as a step toward re-establishing an intimate relationship!! The [...]

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