Ok, so I wanted to take a picture of all the people in the session tonight, but I didn't really want to distract people, so I took it really fast, and I didn't really aim. So, needless to say, it's not a good picture. I thought that I'd put it up anyway.

Those are Ricola cough drops. As far as cough drops go, those are some good ones.

Did y'all know that you can draw with that salt that you see on the sidewalks? This is a very special thing that Laura and I drew during a break. It's kind of hard to see... Can you tell what it is?

I took some pictures at lunch today. There's a picture of Laura intensely studying, uh, cows, and a pic of my lunch box and water bottle, and then there are some more cows, and then there's a conversation picture. Oh, also there's that lovely picture of Laura and me.

The session about "drugs" was taught be Dr. Smith. It was about counseling people who are on psychological drugs. Again, he emphasized that it is not our job, as a counselor, to get people off their medication. That can actually be detrimental to the person. These people have problems, and often their response to their problems is unbiblical. That response results in bad feelings, which leads to decreased function (i.e. they feel depressed). These individuals often get on a medication with the goal of getting rid of their bad feelings. Unfortunately, they do not realize that the real problem lies in their response to the problems. As a biblical counselor, we need to help them see the correct way to respond to these problems.

We watched a video of another counseling session today (for those of you who have been to this conference before, it was Trey and Deb). It's helpful to me to actually see a counselor counseling. It's nice to be able to see all these things that we've been learning put into action.

In a few minutes our last session for the day is going to start (there's a clock counting down on the powerpoint, 3:05). It is called "When Life Makes No Sense". Paul Tripp is the speaker.

We're going to learn about drugs now, apparently.

We've had 3 sessions so far today. 2 of them have been about parenting, and the third was about worry and fear.

I think that I'm picking up an accent.

Alright. So like I said before, our first session was about counseling people who have physical illnesses. Dr. Hodges taught that it is not the job of the counselor to give a diagnosis to the counselee or try to get them off of a medication. However, it is the counselor's job to provide biblical help and hope for the counselee.

We also had a session today about forgiveness. That one really did give me a lot of thoughts to ponder. For instance, the speaker (Rob Green) said that forgiveness is commanded by God. Well, I knew that, but then he went on to say that forgiveness is actually an act of worship. I had never thought of it that way. Also, we talked about conditional forgiveness. Pastor Green said that forgiveness requires two people. You cannot forgive someone when they have not asked you for forgiveness. When he first said this, all these little alarms and bells were going off in my head saying "Whoa now... What is this? He's saying that we shouldn't forgive people? What have I gotten myself into? Where did this guy learn this?" But then he went on say that we can't be bitter or hold on to grudges against the people who have wronged us. So in a sense, we are forgiving them, but in another sense, we can't forgive them until they ask for forgiveness. It was a little hard for me to wrap my mind around. It still is I guess.

In that session Rob Green also talked about how we should ask for forgiveness. We need to

-State clearly what we did wrong

-Request the person's forgiveness

-Use simple, factual words

-Have a good attitude (and not destroy our good words with a bad attitude)

and lastly,

-We need to not confess accusingly (i.e. "Will you forgive me for yelling at you after you said that dumb thing?")

We just got done with our sessions for the day. Now we're going to eat, and probably have some nice chatting time. :)

I have had two more sessions now. The first one was about what a Godly husband looks like. Laura and I kinda laughed when we saw what it was about, but it was good. The second session was about forgiveness. That one made me think quite a bit. I'll have to write more about it later though, because I've got to get to the next session. This one is about being a Godly wife.

Sorry about the short posts. I'll try to write in more detail tonight.

Our first session this morning was about counseling people with physical sicknesses.

Here's what I wrote this morning:

We're headed into day two of the conference. Dad helped me set up mobile blogging this morning, so hopefully I'll be able to blog more.

Yesterday we learned about some key elements in biblical counseling (they were: build loving involvement, share biblical hope, gather relevant data, evaluate the problem biblically, provide biblical instruction, and assign practical homework), heart idolatry, spiritual growth, heart change, and walking in the light. It was a full day.

And now, on this snowy day,we're making our way to the church for round two. I'll keep you updated.

Unfortunately, I was not able to "keep you updated". But I did try. After the first session I wrote:

Our first session this morning was about different counseling philosophies. We talked about Depth Psychology, Behaviorism,Third Force, and Biblical counseling. And we got to watch Veggietales! Check out Silly Songs With Larry "I Love My Lips".

It was shortly after this that I found out that my posts weren't coming through.

I'd like to add a little more detail to that last post though. I thought that it was very interesting that all the first three counseling methods that we looked at (Depth Psychology, Behaviorism, and Third Force), teach that people are not responsible for the problems that they get into. They also teach that the guilt that comes from these actions is either not important, or else it is a false guilt. On the other hand, biblical counseling teaches that people are responsible for their actions and the problems that they cause, and the guilt that they feel is real, and is a result of their sin.

In the afternoon today, we learned about the importance of organizing the information that you get from your counselees. We had a couple sample cases, and we practiced writing down information that we needed in an organized fashion (with mixed success).

We also talked about communication, and repentance. Lastly, I went to a session by Martha Peace, about how to help woman who are deeply emotionally disturbed.

Now I need to get some sleep. I think that I've got the mobile blogging all figured out now, so Lord willing, I'll be able to blog easily tomorrow.

Here We Go!

I'm here! Yesterday our group of seven pulled into Lafayette, Indiana, and soon this morning we'll be diving deep into the counseling conference.

Last night in the opening session, Dr. Steve Viars gave us six answers to the question "Why Counsel?" We learned that (now I'm going to copy my notes):

1. "The Word of God's Grace is Central to His Plan and Program for the Church."

2. "Ministering the Word of God to Individuals and Small Groups is Valuable and Important."

3. "Pastors and Christian Workers Must Invest Themselves Personally in the Lives of Others."

4. "Biblical Counseling Can Help You Grow and Change."

5. "Christ Wants His Church to be Well Protected."

6. "Counseling Will Impact Your Preaching and Teaching."

Last night we also heard from a young lady who has been living at Vision of Hope. She shared how God has used the Biblical counseling ministry in her life in a tremendous way.

I know that there are people in need all around me. The question that keeps coming to my mind is, "Are you willing to help these people?"