In Recovery YOU Have To Do The Work

The old saying is true. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. It’s also true that you can take the water to the horse, put the water in a china cup and sprinkle rose petals over and it still won’t drink. In my years as a […]

what to do with shame slingers

What to Do With Shame Slingers

I love watching those ‘Mission Impossible’ shows.  The script takes you to places where you wonder how this ‘Mission Impossible’ will be resolved because if it isn’t, then the whole city is going to be destroyed in a nuclear explosion. I have met people who live in the shadow of […]

Community = Common Unity = Mental Health Recovery

Every Tuesday night in our church service, John would stand up and like a little mouse, he would come to the front and ask permission to share a passage he had memorised. The Living Room church service was set up to be an alternative to the mainstream services held on […]

We Rebuild Together

He could have said it was their problem to solve. He could have told them what they should do. He could have sat back and given out ‘good’ advice. He could have done nothing and gone home. Instead he owned the problem as if it was his own, because it […]

When You’re Rebuilding There is Always More Underneath

On first appearances everything looked great until you went underneath. The old house had that lovely country cottage feel about it but as time went on discoveries were made of rotting walls, leaking pipes and drains not working properly. There was always going to more underneath than what was first […]

Becoming Fire-Proof: Protecting Ourselves from Burnout

After years of teaching high school in downtown Los Angeles, my wife accepted a job four hours away. On top of my daily stressors of dealing with students and colleagues and deadlines at the school, I now moved to a tiny studio apartment, commuted to see my wife on weekends, and […]

You Need Reinforcing Mesh For Your Mental Health Rebuild

I recently watched some guys putting down a concrete path. Just before they laid the concrete down, a mesh of steel reinforcing was placed into the trench. The concrete was then poured around this mesh until hidden away. Now I have seen concrete work done where there was no reinforcing […]

Rebuilders Journey in the Presence of a Greater Plan

I thought I could handle this one myself. That I didn’t need help from others. A ‘pioneering, do-it-yourself’ attitude had worked its way into the rebuilding of my life. I thought to myself ‘I don’t need others to know what is going on, I can handle it all, it will work out ok.’ […]

right-person-right-place-right-time-and-that-time-is-now

Right Person, Right Place, Right Time and That Time is Now

This was never going to be a typical funeral. This was the celebration of a life well lived by a mother to 11 children. A strong farmers wife who not only milked the cows, preserved the fruit but also cared with deep love for each of her children. One of the […]