mkshelton

Emotional Resilience

Emotional Resilience is the ability to adapt or to respond to a stressful or unexpected situation or crises. This can include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or social resilience. But how do we develop it? Like anything else it takes practice and some self-introspection. Dr. Ginsburg, human development expert mentions five components that help us toContinue reading “Emotional Resilience”

“Bad things” vs “Hard things”

Many times when some difficulty, trial, or tragedy strikes, somewhere we might hear the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This past week as I studied the book of Job in the bible, many of his friends ask the same thing of him. But what is bad? is it bad to loseContinue reading ““Bad things” vs “Hard things””

Are you an optimist?

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? A few weeks ago at church we were studying in Numbers 14 in the Bible in which Moses sends out 12 spies to look at the land that the Lord wants them to inhabit. Ten of the men come back and tell how wonderful the land is, butContinue reading “Are you an optimist?”

There are no dead ends

The other day while hiking I came to the end of a path and it just stopped. The all-trails map I had on my phone said it continued on; connecting with another path in just a short distance. I turned a different way down another dirt forest road thinking I might have made a mistake,Continue reading “There are no dead ends”

Yoke Ourselves with Jesus Christ

What is a yoke and why do we want to be yoked to Christ? From Matthew 11:28-30 we read: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laded, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and yeContinue reading “Yoke Ourselves with Jesus Christ”

Through the Fog

The last few weeks I have gone hiking twice where it became foggy around me. As I did so I was reminded of an experience I had years ago while living in Southern California. At the time, I was only living a few miles from where I worked in a small business complex. As IContinue reading “Through the Fog”

Renewal

A year ago we had some horrendous fires east of us here in Oregon. It burned over 1 million acres, including a lot of my favorite hiking places as it destroyed small towns, upheaved peoples lives, and devastated such a large area. This last week I participated in a service project at church to helpContinue reading “Renewal”

Clutter

Look around you–is your life full of clutter? When my children were younger and we would go on family vacations I loved being in a hotel room. It was clutter-free; no toys laying around or anything shoved into the corners. When I would get home, our house looked so crowded. There were so many thingsContinue reading “Clutter”

Spiritual Power

There are many types of power in the world. Political Power, physical power, and natural power are a few. Many years ago I worked for McDonnell Douglas, an Airplane manufacturer in Long Beach California. At the time they were building a new airplane; the MD-11. This plane sat 280-400 people, weighed six hundred thousand pounds, and hadContinue reading “Spiritual Power”

Take a Step

Nature has a way of helping me to strive to be better. On my hikes I always marvel at the majestic beauty around me. The tall and straight trees, amazing mountains, and inspiring waterfalls always instill in me the desire to do better. A few weeks ago we stopped by Smith Rock (East of SistersContinue reading “Take a Step”