• a tree in a field against a blue sky
    Abundant Life,  Abusive Parenting,  Relationship with God,  Suffering

    How I Learned that God is Good

    God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. I hear that at church a lot, but that isn’t where I learned that God is, indeed, good. Humans must acquire some kinds of knowledge experientially because an intellectual assent isn’t belief. The dictionary allows for both, citing belief an acceptance of a statement as truth and as confidence or trust in something. In spiritual matters, merely intellectually consenting to God’s goodness can still leave one staring in terror at the inevitable void. We acquire the ability to rest in the knowledge of God’s goodness through the slow process of building a relationship. Ironically, I learned that God…

  • grief
    Emotion,  emotional health,  healing

    Grief: Five Pitfalls that Stall the Healing Process

    Grief recovery is an uncomfortable topic for many. We skirt around those who have suffered grievous loss, afraid that we will say the wrong thing. But just as a little research will help anyone learn to validate and support a grieving friend, help is also available for those who must journey through serious grief. The Grief Recovery Handbook is just such a resource and in it, I learned a lot about how to complete a cycle of grief. The first topic within the book is about how various types of pitfalls keep us from fully grieving and completing the relationship that has been severed, whether through death or divorce. Other…

  • disappointment
    Abundant Life,  Displacement,  Setback

    Suffering Disappointment? Time to Get Reappointed!

    Disappointment comes from an old French word that means to lose one’s position. And isn’t that what disappointment really is? We lose those things to which we feel appointed. If we lose our house, possessions or health, we have lost the kind of life that we thought had been appointed to us. If we lose friends or jobs, we are dis-appointed from friendships and careers that had once been appointed to us. Losses often feel like demotions. Moving to Alaska was obviously somewhat exciting, in both good and bad ways. My husband was certainly realizing a dream to live on the last frontier. But for me, the move represented a…