• depersonalization
    Anxiety,  Mental Health,  mindfulness,  Self,  Self-Acceptance

    Depersonalization: Living Apart from Ourselves

    Depersonalization and derealization according to the definition that pops up in my Google feed: …involves a persistent or recurring feeling of being detached from one’s body or mental processes, like an outside observer of one’s life (depersonalization), and/or a feeling of being detached from one’s surroundings (derealization). Most people have episodes of depersonalization that occur sporadically throughout their lives. It is only when these are prolonged and begin to interfere with every day functioning that the professionals get involved. My observations on this topic are personal and not professional, though I have helped quite a few people identify and move through this phenomenon in ministry. The experts tell us that…

  • suffering
    Abundant Life,  Calvary road,  Dark Night of the Soul,  Redemption,  Setback,  Suffering

    How to Get the Most out of Your Suffering

    Suffering in some capacity is inevitable. My shoulder aches from a car accident three months ago. I am a little down from lack of sunlight in the three and a half hour Alaskan winter days.  I could go on, but you get the point. You have your list too, I am sure. But so much of the time, our suffering is a hamster wheel. We can get worn out trying to run from it, only to end up at the same place. Only now we are exhausted from running without purpose. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as…

  • core values
    Communication,  connection,  family,  Marriage

    Five Important Core Values in Marriage

    When my husband and I first sat down to construct our core values, we struggled a bit. Our ideas about what made a marriage really great differed somewhat. My core values were more emotionally derived while his were more concrete and very detailed. In the end, we had around eleven, but of those, five have proven to be a source of real satisfaction in our relationship. In order to really hone a core values list, you and your spouse have to take some time to figure out what is really important to you. It is really easy to fall into the trap of just writing a list of what you…