Brain Development: Why It Matters
Breaking Bread Podcast
Brain development can be understood as a process of four maturing stages: survival, emotional, attachment and cognitive. These stages hold a key to understanding both poor and healthy thought processes. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Dr. Kirby Reutter steps us through brain development, how trauma impacts it and how by God’s grace we can think healthier. Show Notes: The first dimension of the brain to develop very early in life is the survival brain. Survival lies at the heart of the operations of the survival brain. The responses...
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Autism Spectrum in Marriage
Breaking Bread Podcast
When a spouse is on the autistic spectrum, marriages can experience unique challenges. Communication and understanding will likely be impacted. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer speaks to these unique challenges and provides a roadmap to flourishing. Show notes: When communication is significantly strained in marriage, neuro-diversity may be present. Often, in these marriages, the amount, frequency, intensity and duration of these struggles are higher when compared to neuro-typical marriages. A neuro-typical marriage is a marriage where both spouses learn, process information,...
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Doubt in Decision Making
Breaking Bread Podcast
What if I choose the wrong option? What if a better option comes a long? These are a few of the questions that plague decision makers. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kathy Knochel and Ted Witzig Jr. discuss the angst that can accompany decision making. While we desire to have certainty about future outcomes, it remains elusive. Yet, there is a certainty that the believer has, and it can make all the difference. Show notes: Decisional Stress can be understood in three...
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The Gift of Repentance
Breaking Bread Podcast
Change, when it is for the better, always accompanies healthy human growth. When it comes to emotional, relational and spiritual change, repentance is an apt feature to discuss. After all, repentance means changing your mind. On this episode of Breaking Bread, Chad Leman and Brian Sutter shed light on both the “why” and “how” of repentance. Show Notes: Repentance in three movements. Movement 1: God’s goodness. Romans 2 says God’s goodness leads us to repentance. His work, his grace,...
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Discipleship in the Middle Years
Breaking Bread Podcast
Show notes: Growing into Christlikeness is not a linear process. Yet the historic Christian church has identified three movements that we revisit with increasing depth. Purification: This refers to growing in increasing moral excellence. Illumination: This refers to growing in increasing understanding of truth. Communion: This refers to growing in increasing fellowship with God. These provide a helpful “map” for understanding the invitation before us to grow in Christ-likeness. In the middle...
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Praying Like the Disciples
Breaking Bread Podcast
Christ knew what he was doing when he gave his disciples what we have come to call “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is beautiful to the ear. Rhythmic to the tongue. Simple to remember and loaded with power. In this episode, Joe Leman highlights this beauty and power and helps us see the hope of human transformation that is instore for any who would take up the prayer and pray it.
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How to Have Stress-Reducing Conversations
Breaking Bread Podcast
Stress is a very real part of our lives. How we manage stress can have healthy or unhealthy consequences. Fortunately, one tool we should be using to soothe stress in one another is stress-reducing conversations. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer, Craig Stickling, and Brian Sutter explain how to have these purposeful conversations. Show notes: What is stress-related conversation? A conversation that has at its purpose the intention of soothing the emotions in a stress heightened...
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Accepting Relational Influence
Breaking Bread Podcast
Healthy relationships require that we are open to being influenced. After all, what is a relationship if it doesn’t include give and take. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer explains what both research and experience has taught him about the importance of accepting influence in relationships. Show notes: What does accepting relational influence mean? Allowing those we are in relationship with to shape and impact our...
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3 Habits for Our Kids
Breaking Bread Podcast
Parenting has its eye towards producing future adults. One powerful adult forming tool is instilling good habits in our kids. A well parented habit can pay dividends in the long run by building the muscle memory to do what otherwise would not be natural. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Brian Sutter examples this by suggesting three habits that will produce very welcome attributes in our children as adults. Show notes: Healthy habits can help grow and mature our children. And yet, to do this, the habit needs to grow and...
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One Tip for Human Growth
Breaking Bread Podcast
We all have room for growth. Yet sometimes our progress gets stalled, and we get discouraged. This discouragement might be because we are measuring the wrong thing. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Ted Witzig Jr. helps correct this mistake and teaches us to measure from the bottom-up. Show notes: Measuring human growth can be tricky. We often evaluate our progress by measuring from one of three perspectives: From top-down: This happens when we measure the gap between who we are and who we want to ideally be. For...
info_outlineWe are built for relationship. There is a yearning, need and desire within us for emotional connection with others. In the marriage relationship this can be both an asset and a liability. In this episode of Breaking Bread, marriage and family therapist Kaleb Beyer helps us understand the signs, offense and repair of emotional affairs – when emotional intimacy outside the marriage compromises the covenant of marriage.
Show notes:
Three stages of emotional affairs:
1st Emotional intimacy with another person outside of marriage.
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Deep connection at the heart and emotional level.
2nd Secrecy
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Walls are built between spouses and access to the illicit relationship is sought and protected.
3rd Sexual tension
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Physical relations may or may not be happening. However, there is growing openness to them.
Recovery from emotional affairs.
1st End the illicit relationship.
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The betraying spouse needs to cut off the illicit relationship at any cost.
2nd Boundaries are set.
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The betraying spouse takes full responsibility for the affair. Boundaries are set that will help the betrayed spouse feel safe and stable.
3rd The betrayer grieves their relationship loss.
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The betrayer closes the door on the illicit relationship emotionally. This is done through grieving the loss. This grieving process is best walked through with a friend or counselor and not his/her spouse.
4th Cultivate friendship and emotional intimacy with spouse.
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Over time, with relational repair, trust and emotional intimacy with spouse increases.
5th As a couple, reflect on the context of their marriage.
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The couple learns from the painful experience. What individual and couple dynamics provided the context for an emotional affair? Moving forward, how do we wisely live together to prevent it from happening in the future?