God created us to live in securely bonded relationships and families.  We are conceived in relationship, and we grow and develop in relationship.  When we experience relational disconnection and separation, or rupture, we feel emotional pain. This pain (or its side effects) is there to let us know something is wrong — in the present, […]

Several years ago I was contemplating renovating my kitchen and having a hard time with the thought of change.  I sat down with a designer to put a sample computer-generated remodel together and I didn’t like what she wanted to do, at all.  It didn’t make any sense for my space and for some reason, […]

I’m the woodland steward at my house.  When we bought our home 16 years ago, we were attracted to the small woodland in the backyard – it seemed the perfect place for our 4 sons to ramble.  Little did I know at the time, how God would later use those woods to restore my soul. […]

In the third week of January, 2009, my husband, Jeff and I had the privilege of vacationing on the Island of Hawaii. We took advantage of a Costco offer with an upgrade at the Hilton resort, and a car for an enticing bargain. In spite of a full fourteen hour travel day, we both knew […]

This is a story about woundedness, about loss and about music. (Names and details have been changed or omitted.)   A sister of a close friend died last month. From an overdose of heroin. In a field behind a Walmart in California. Her drug-addicted son, who introduced her to drugs, did not tell the rest of the family for more than three weeks.  Her […]

This a confess-imony. The Bible says “confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:16), and, because we “conquer [the enemy] by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11).  This is both of those at once: it’s a confess-imony. During the building of our townhome we were surprised that many statements and promises by our builder were not true or were greatly exaggerated. Many of our requests were simply […]

I didn’t want to forgive a family member, because they mishandled the family estate. We didn’t receive our rightful inheritance. I was very offended and angry about this. What they did was wrong, and they didn’t deserve forgiveness. I became bitter – my spirit and soul became a toxic place. God patiently and gently brought […]

If you were asked the question “What is the hope Jesus offers us?”, how would you answer it? Perhaps the first thing coming to mind is the hope of eternal life. Or it might be the hope of redemption from our sins. And these are certainly true. Another response to consider is this: the hope […]