• empath
    Boundaries,  Boundary Lines,  Burden-bearing,  codependency,  Discernment,  emotional health,  Identity,  Redemptive Gifts

    The Empath Survival Kit: Loving Constructively

    Empath is a relatively new term to enter our vernacular. The dictionary defines empath as (chiefly in science fiction) a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual. Signs of an Empath The term has come to mean those people with the spiritual gift of burden-bearing, at least in a Christian context. Are you a burden-bearer? Those of us with this gift can sense the suffering of others and are often motivated to sit with them in their slough of despair. Please note that I am not talking about empaths as intuitives. I am discussing this, not from a New Age perspective but from…

  • mercy
    Featured,  Spiritual Gifts

    Five Truths about the Gift of Mercy

    The gift of mercy is a rough gig. I used to say that all women go around with a broken heart. I projected this particular spiritual gift onto everyone because my heart regularly aches for those around me. It didn’t occur to me that not everyone’s heart does. Now I realize that almost anyone with the gift of mercy carries a heart wounded on behalf of others. And I also know now that not everyone has this gift. The world would be a quite different place if they did, and not necessarily better. But as is the case with any spiritual gift, immaturity can hamper its effectiveness. I believe spiritual…

  • Narcissism

    Be a Narcissism Detector with 1 Test

    Now that I am seventeen years free of being held captive in an abusive marriage, I am quite a good narcissism detector. But a friend recently recommended the youtube videos of a life coach named Richard Brannon in Southern California. He made some extremely wise connections that answered some serious questions that I could never seem to get answered. (I am putting a link to his channel at the end of this blog. He is excellent, but he uses language that some might find difficult to listen to.) Seriously, he is the best narcissism detector I have heard. His first observation that struck me was that if you want to…