Quotes from Gary Chapman

WE EXPECT COUNSELING centers with their commitments to healing and their high degree of training to be community oases. When those values are violated, it strikes us as very strange. Other organizations dealing with social breakdown and crime often hire less trained employees and sometimes the combustible fumes in the air explode.

Just as God was with the people of the first Christmas in their scary situations, He is with us. — Scoti Springfield Domeij

Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! —Proverbs 21:26

Definition: "Implosive" anger is internalized anger that is never expressed. Sparked by: Fear of confrontation; belief that feeling or expressing anger is wrong. How to recognize: Person denies that he or she is angry; responds by withdrawing; says things like, "I'm not angry, but I'm disappointed." Results: Physiological and psychological stress; "passive-aggressive" behavior; can lead to resentment, bitterness, and even hatred and violence.

Unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. —Psalm 62:12

Once the experience of falling in love has run its natural course (remember, the average in-love experience lasts two years), we will return to the world of reality and begin to assert ourselves.

That's one of the reasons God gives us friends. Through their words, prayers, and encouragement, they keep us going when we feel we can't move.

Sometimes loving means giving. — Carol Russell —

Little by little, the illusion of intimacy evaporates, and the individual desires, emotions, thoughts, and behavior patterns assert themselves. They are two individuals. Their minds have not melded together, and their emotions mingled only briefly in the ocean of love.

Fears, worries, weariness, discouragement . . . all these things can impede our mobility.

Love obeys God and reaches out in purity. — Patrick Mitchell —

When a workplace becomes toxic, its poison spreads beyond its walls and into the lives of its workers and their families. In contrast, positive organizations energize and inspire their workers. When forced to downsize, they try to soften reality's hard edges. Their leaders know organizations thrive when employees thrive.

On the other hand, we can share pain, sadness, and even anger in a kind manner, and that will be an expression of love. "I felt disappointed and hurt that you didn't offer to help me this evening," said with gentle directness, can be an expression of love. The person speaking wants to be known by her spouse. She is taking steps to build intimacy by sharing her feelings.

often repays what we've given. — Jenni Davenport —

We can recognize the in-love experience for what it was—a temporary emotional high—and now pursue "real love" with our spouse.

Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. —Hebrews 5:8

I don't say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. —Philippians 4:17

They'll know we are transformed when our behavior truly changes. — James Stuart Bell

We need to fill our children's emotional tanks with unconditional love, because real love is always unconditional. Unconditional love is a full love that accepts and affirms a child for who he is, not for what he does.

We can be a refuge for others, just as God is for us. — Jossy Grey

Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a commitment. It

If you want to show your best love for God, obey Him. — Karl Cumberland —

Sometimes the best way to exchange love is to graciously receive a gift. — Jeanette Gardner Littleton —

Research indicates that the average life span of the "in love" obsession is two years.1 For some it may last a bit longer; for some, a bit less. But the average is two years. Then we come down off the emotional high and those aspects of life that we disregarded in our euphoria begin to become important.