Conversations with Cinthia

Self Acceptance (originally aired 10-14-18)

What would it mean for you to accept the things you can't change?  Would it change the battles you pick?  Alter the way you fight those battles?  Give you peace as you work toward something better, or help you enjoy what you already have?  Cinthia explores her frequent statement that acceptance is the key to all our problems, and she specifically examines the very difficult task of accepting ourselves.  If you struggle with self-acceptance, let this episode help you.

How to Secure Your Self-Esteem

Have you ever struggled with how to feel good about yourself when you look at the outcome of your own choices?  If you've listened to Cinthia for long, you've heard her talk about how our value is unchanging, established by the One Who made us and Who loves us unconditionally.  But learning to value ourselves like He does is not the same as saying we will always feel good about our choices.  If we want to make good decisions, we're going to have to develop some character and integrity.  So what does that mean, and where do we start?  Join Cinthia to explore what it means to become the kind of person whose choices you can respect.

A User's Manual for Humans

Today Cinthia explores the gift of guidance.  Doing life as a human is not always intuitive or self-explanatory, especially when we are struggling to mature.  Join Cinthia to look at how the Ten Commandments and the greatest commandments in the Bible and the lists of deadly sins historically discussed in the Church, as well as the corresponding virtues, can provide us with guidance on the journey.

I Do Me, You Do You, We Do Us

Immaturity doesn’t always recognize itself.  Sometimes we assume that, having completed the first eighteen years of our lives and acquired adult bodies, tasks, and roles, we must be adults in every sense of the word.  Cinthia explains, however, that growing up and growing older are two very different things, and learning to take responsibility for ourselves is a major hallmark of emotional maturity.  So how do we gauge our own maturity needs?  How do we make sure we are not emotional children or teenagers who insist we can handle our own lives but have unrealistic expectations of the world?  How do we grow up if we are?  Today Cinthia explores the signs that we may need to keep growing and moving toward adulthood so that we can more effectively be the people we were created to be, as well as ways we can do this.

I Feel Lost, With No Vision

Do you ever wonder whether you are fulfilling your life's purpose?  Have you experienced times when you felt lost and without vision or purpose?  How does God view you in your uncertainty, doubt, or confusion, and what are you supposed to do about it?  Today Cinthia discusses what it's like to feel lost and offers some guidelines for those who feel this way right now.  She even shares the lyrics to a song she wrote during one of her own similar experiences.  Join her to explore what it means to receive the grace and mercy of God when we have no vision of our own.

The Gift of Peace

Have you ever had someone reject a compliment or other gift you wanted to give?  Today Cinthia discusses the parting gift Jesus left us before His death, resurrection, and ascension: His peace.  We tend to have so much trouble acknowledging and enjoying this gift, often gravitating toward worry and negativity.  How do we access this gift?  How do we open and enjoy it?  Cinthia explains the role of trust in helping us reject worry and access the gift of peace God gives us.  She also discusses the way our thoughts impact our physiology.  Join her this week to consider how to take another step toward wholeness and well-being, regardless of whether our circumstances make it likely.

His Kindness Helps Us Change

Do you ever fear being kind to yourself?  Does it seem like loving behavior toward yourself might enable bad behavior and harshness might be necessary to inspire change?  Building on last week’s discussion of dying to the things that are killing us, today Cinthia discusses dying to self-hatred and the belief that self-flagellation is the best way to remake ourselves into what we should be.  In this episode, Cinthia discusses what kindness is and is not (Hint: It’s not extreme self-indulgence or self-deception.) and looks at some research on how being kind impacts our bodies and minds.  She considers passages from the Bible that teach God’s kindness is what changes us, and that this kindness is the example we are commanded to follow.  Join Cinthia to discover what it means to love your own worst enemy when that enemy is you.

God Wants You Truly Living, Not Walking Dead

Sometimes we hold onto things, things we can't imagine life without... things that are, nevertheless, killing us, stealing the life God wants us to have.  Letting go involves a dying process.  But the dying processes God uses are not those that leave us without life; instead, they lead us into a life we could never have imagined.  Today Cinthia not only discusses her 2011 book but tells the story of how it was written.  Writing on one continent as she prepared to speak on another, Cinthia started with the story of Lazarus and the verse, “Jesus wept,” and soon found herself writing and speaking about a struggle that stretches across culture, nationality, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and so many other differences and barriers: human beings cling to what we think will give us life, while God knows those very things are killing us.  He invites us to go through His dying processes instead of trying to perfect ourselves, and in these processes He offers us life we could never have imagined while we were clinging to what we thought would help.  What is stealing the life He wants to give you?  What would it look like to let go?  

The Red Sea Rules

We all face those times when life becomes painful, scary, even terrifying.  Do you ever wish your education had included some kind of instructions for how to deal with these times?  How to survive?  How to thrive?  Today's discussion is about Robert J. Morgan's book The Red Sea Rules.  Only God can part the waters.  Let's talk about what to do in those moments when we are waiting, hoping, not seeing a way out...  We are not the first people to stand aghast at the edge of the Red Sea.

Take Care of the One He Died For!

Does self-care sound selfish to you?  Or do you know it's important but tend to let it slide as you focus on other things?  We know we shouldn't focus only on ourselves, but what is the difference between true humility and self-neglect?  And how does neglecting self-care really impact those around us?  Today Cinthia explores a topic that is sometimes misrepresented and misused.  Join her to consider how appropriate self-care can honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us and enable us to serve others more fully.