By Matt de Simone
Dr. Don Woodard of Troutville recently published his eighth book, entitled Life’s About Relationships: A Foundation for Good Relationships. He’s the acting pastor at Beacon Baptist Church in Salem.
His books deal with different issues like teenage issues, abuse, and depression using biblical principles helping readers deal with their individual questions about life.
Woodard has spent the last 20 years writing. Originally from Tennessee, Woodard grew up in Ohio and has been a Troutville resident for 20 years.
Woodard’s new book is all about relationships—the behaviors in different types of relationships are the main focus of his latest publication.
Five years ago, an individual approached Woodard at a conference inquiring about relationships and gaining a better understanding. The conversation inspired Woodard to study relationships. Namely, Woodard’s relationship with himself.
In a recent interview, Woodard mentioned that he’s always found an interest in relationships. Soon after his initial relationship study five years ago, he started teaching others about them.
“I’m a pastor,” Woodard said. “I work with people and have a degree in Biblical (Methodic) Counseling. I counsel lots of people, work with people, and I enjoy that. I have always had an interest in the topic of relationships. One of the things I teach is that we have models and mentors. We learn about relationships early in life from the models we have in our life—predominantly our parents.”
Woodard and his wife soon experienced a “life-changing” study of relationships after the conference. Since then, he has continued studying different relationships to be a better husband, father, and grandfather.
He mentioned that he studies relationships of all kinds daily. At the time of the interview, Woodard spoke about what he’s currently studying.
“We sometimes operate out of our emotional afflictions (or dysfunctions); it’s going to cause problems in your relationships,” Woodard stated. “I’m studying that particular type of relationship at the moment.”
In Woodard’s Life’s About Relationships, Woodard studies different types of relationships, writing that, with God’s help, individuals can work to better their current and future relationships and overcome the effects of toxic relationships.
The main focus of his new book is how to make relationships more meaningful—the behaviors and people can do to improve themselves and their relationships through forgiveness and valuing the people in their life.
“If you’re 20 years old, you might not have a clear vision of what your life’s going to be, but you’re at least grounded and stable,” Woodard said. “You may not be a multi-millionaire, but at least you know your vocation, or you’re in college, or you have a job established—if you’re that age and come from a dysfunctional family, you might not know how to establish a meaningful relationship.”
Woodard’s new book talks about the importance of trust in relationships focusing on the early chapters of the Bible about first relationships and how they affect people. The book explains teaching about good relationships and the importance of behaviors.
“In the Bible, Jesus says, ‘Love one another,'” Woodard explained. “There are a lot of ‘one another’s’ in the Bible. You could boil them down to about 12, but each one of them is a behavior.”
Patience, encouragement, edification/improvement are some of the behaviors discussed in the Bible and Woodard’s book. He writes about the right behaviors that make relationships meaningful and more robust and what make relationships unpleasant in any part of life. Woodard believes behaviors are essential to meaningful relationships.
“I’m excited about this new book because it’s for anybody,” Woodard added. “Anyone who may deal with a difficult person at work (for example), this book would help with that relationship and, in my opinion, any relationship in life.”
Currently, Woodard studies grandparents who assume the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Soon, he plans on teaching a course about the topic. He’s established a team of individuals raising their grandkids and will quickly teach about the parental responsibilities of grandparents.
Woodard also plans to write a book about a person’s relationship with themselves.
For more information about Woodard and his titles, visit liferelationships.net and visit his Facebook page, Life Relationships, where individuals may learn about relationships weekly.
