hope Archives

She prayed to God that she wouldn’t wake up in the morning

When you don’t want to wake up the next morning, pray that God may gently wake you up to the goodness happening all around you. Then soak yourself in it. Take it in and let it mindfully grow throughout your soul. Last week I was out doing some garden work […]

mental illness, prayer, healing, c.s. lewis, spiritual growth, faith and health, aslan, subconscious healing, community support, hope Six Keys on How to Pray for the Healing of a Mental Illness

Faith & Mental Health

Six Keys on How to Pray for the Healing of a Mental Illness

When we pray for the healing of mental illness for ourselves or someone else, there is a divine invitation to join with God in an unfolding story. We pray for something wonderfully life-transforming. That is of course if you dare to pray that little bit deeper. You listen to someone tell […]

Spiritual Formation Spiritual Practices

Stumbling in on God’s Party Going On

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There is a party going on, all around us, where God is inviting us to stumble on in and enjoy. When we are attentive to the music, it grows depth in our mental health. So I am just back from a holiday in Italy and Spain for a holiday. My […]

Helping Others Mental health

It’s Love That Wins The Blind Prodigal Back

They were so caught up in themselves and their selfish desires that they got lost to the concerns of others. Without recognising the wealth of love around them, they were the prodigal, a child of abundance squandering it away. What drew them back was a memory of love, faint and small, […]

Spiritual Formation Spiritual Practices

3 Ingredients of a Safe Church for your Mental Health

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‘Am I doing ok?’ was the question I was most frequently asked when I was a pastor/chaplain. ‘Is this Church safe?’ was another. Keeping pace were other limping souls … ‘Am I welcome here?’ ‘Does God really love me?’ ‘I can’t seem to get it right.’ ‘… keeps telling me […]

Smell the Roses and Grow a Healthy Brain ~ Turning the Page Empowering your Mental Health

Getting Well Staying Well Mental health

Smelling the Roses Grows a Healthy Brain

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Just outside my window, I can see a beautiful yellow rose. It wasn’t there last week, well actually it was, but it was just tightly bound up under its green calyx. A lot can happen in a week, in a day, in a moment. I can see the beauty but to deeply […]

7 Steps to Regroove Your Thinking Patterns

Spiritual Practices

7 Steps to Change and Regroove Your Thinking Patterns

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Around the hillside of the sheep farm where I was raised were grooves worn into the soil by hundreds of sheep following each other. It was the easiest route. I also have routes in my thinking patterns that have become ruts. Familiar paths that have been worn deep into my thinking. A thought gets […]

Spiritual Formation

Mental Health Grows When we Have a Routine

It was my routine that I had built up over the years that got me through the dark morning. Do you have a routine? Ever had one of those mornings where you just don’t want to face the day. You’re sort of glued to the bed. It’s a safe, warm […]

Faith & Mental Health

Three Mental Health Assurances For When The Wire Brush Scratches

Life can be hard, and maybe even harsh at times, but in the end, something beautiful and good can emerge from the struggle. Love is like that. It was an old climbing rose that hadn’t been well cared for. When I started to do some gardening work on an old […]

Spiritual Formation

and next to them

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I want to do it my way. I don’t need others help. I can rebuild my life and recover in my own strength. To admit that I need help is a sign of weakness. That I am just like them. No, I am better than that. I will continue to […]