We need a weight loss program for the heart, but we can’t do it alone, so a vicar steps in and declares, ‘You are forgiven. Be at peace.’ I could feel a kind of weight leave my body. I had carried this tension and held this stress for so long […]
anxiety
Does God hate Me or Does God love me? What you think about God will form the patterns of your thinking and life. Oh, that my heart might know a new reassurance. Recently in my conversations with people, I have been giving them three little phrases to meditate on and […]
Does God hate me? Is God punishing me? Questions like these need gentle and grace-filled responses, so here are twelve questions that I would like to ask and explore. Sometimes, when I listen to people, I hear little comments that bring a sense of sadness to my heart. Some firmly […]
Our self-talk can keep us depressed and anxious, but we can learn new thinking tracks. Your rehearsal can change your mind. I always marvel at how the experts seem to effortlessly do something that I would difficult. My earliest experience of this was watching shearers shear our sheep on the […]
Others’ opinions about us can lead us to feel we are caged. Trapped, we grow in fear and worry, but recognizing them and boldly stepping out of the cage can bring us into new freedom. I could feel myself slipping into the dark place of despair again. As is my […]
Emotional pain can bump our lives into behaviors that can hurt us further. But we can make a change by learning to listen to the pain, where it’s sourced, and what it wants us to do. He was in pain. I could see it, feel it, and totally understand it. […]
We can all carry too many worries, anxieties, and cares, but when we learn how to cast, we can find a new sense of wholeness, peace, and shalom. “That is a lot you are carrying,” I said as they paused and took a breath. So many worries, thoughts, and distractions […]
There was no self-confidence. It was gone like vapor from ash. But something reignited when we looked at the pebbles and not the mountain. It was like I was looking at an empty shell. They were there in the room with me, but there was very little confidence within them […]
In our spiritual life, we want to know if we are making progress, but much of growth and formation is intangible, so we have to look deeper than a mere measurement. It wasn’t the answer I was expecting, but when we dug a little deeper, I could see the wisdom. […]
It was the feelings of a guilt trip and the words of being a ‘Brothers Keeper’ that triggered me. But was it genuinely helping me and them to think this way? Something needed to change. Some people seem to be able to push the manipulation guilt trip button every time. […]