The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By Dwight Bain Do you remember the classic pop song that included the lyric - “Look at all the lonely people.” I sure do, especially since it perfectly described how I felt during a dark time in high school. I felt completely lost and lonely… literally like no one cared. Those negative emotions didn’t stop with loneliness… no, they kept sliding into more sadness and even pity. It was a deep hole, but thankfully my parents saw me sliding away and made an appointment for me to talk with my youth pastor, Dave Hurd. Brother Dave, as I knew him, helped me see beyond my loneliness and almost 40 years later I’m still grateful. God used his life to challenge me to climb out of that dark place and now I want to share with you the insight he gave me so long ago. My hope is that this truth would help you and those you love to not spend one more day feeling lost and lonely. Picture being in a pastor’s office to hear these words of wisdom that were life-changing for me. ...

By Linda Riley, LMFT and Certified Sex Therapist Stories of trauma and pain are part of my normal day as a therapist. I hear about hurt that starts in early childhood for some and continuing throughout life for others. Have you ever wondered how early childhood pain or trauma affect ones capacity to love? And to those who have been seriously hurt, is it possible to be so damaged emotionally that you actually can't love again? To start answering that important question, let's look at the research. There seems to be a significant increase in the number of people in our culture who exhibit narcissistic personality traits. They learn to deal with their hurt by over loving themselves. While there may be a difference between traits of a narcissistic personality and full fledged narcissistic personality disorder, it is getting harder to diagnose and distinguish. When I was a graduate student narcissistic personality disorder was commonly believed to be present in only about 1 % of the...

The Way to Spiritual Maturity By Aaron Welch, LMHC, NCC, CSOTS Why do we prefer slavery in Egypt over following God in the wilderness? In more practical terms, why do we tend to gravitate back to former sins or unhealthy situations rather than draw near to God through the hard times of life? Why do we try to take control of life by digging our own cisterns (broken ones) instead of submitting to God and letting Him lead us through life? Why do we resist God’s way of purifying us through pain and hardship and turmoil? Instead, we often choose to do our own thing which actually delays our maturity and STILL leaves us feeling empty, lonely and beaten down. I cannot speak for the Christians abroad as God has not taken me onto the mission field at this point. However, I have lived my entire life in and around the American Church. I grew up, the son of a preacher and elder. I preached my first sermon around the age of five. I attended five years of Bible College and, later, anoth...

by Jim Rohn The holidays are upon us; a time of celebration and joy. I love the last days of November through the beginning of the New Year. The pure magic of the holidays is something that I anticipate and enjoy each and every year. For some though, the holidays have lost the joy and excitement they at other times have had. The pace of life has grown so fast—much faster than those first holidays I remember in my life—that some people don’t enjoy the times they get to spend with their family and friends during what is supposed to be days filled with joy and peace. Why is that? Probably a lot can be laid at the feet of how fast-paced our times are, but that isn’t all. I believe our holiday times should be wonderful and filled with lasting and enjoyable moments and memories. So how can we ensure that we come out of the holidays in January with great memories of the past month? Here are six thoughts that will help you experience the holidays the way they were intended to be experienced: B...

Surviving 8 Common types of loss to feel strong again By Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor & Certified Life Coach “Lost at sea”. Words you often hear in a coastal state like Florida, but words you never want to hear because it means another sad ending to what should have just been a fun day enjoying the ocean. Sometimes there are heroic rescues at sea when the US Coast Guard can find those who have become stranded at sea, but sometimes they call off the search and scared family members know that they may never see those loved ones again. Maybe you feel like that right now; just drifting and lost in a sea of stress. Perhaps it is financial loss, maybe job stress, or marriage and family conflicts that come at you like a tsunami of stress. Whatever the stress I want you to know that it won’t get better by itself. In fact stress tends to get worse until there is a crisis that forces you to seek help to just come and rescue you from all the pressure. If you feel this way you ...