• 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…

  • Counseling,  emotional health,  Featured,  freedom,  Identity,  inner healing

    Five Ways to Contend for Your Recovery from Trauma

      Recovery from extended abuse is measured over a lifetime, though often it comes in fits and spurts. Revelations and aha moments come to those who are looking for them. I am often amused by the ‘unpopular opinion’ memes, but tonight I find myself holding one of my very own. More people avoid recovery than seek it. The world is filled with people who do not have the opportunity or means to heal, whether from extreme poverty, isolation, or even a lack of any spiritual or mental health resources. But this is not true of most people with whom I come into regular contact. And I get it. Confronting the…

  • forgive
    Forgiveness,  Narcissism,  narcissistic abuse

    How to Forgive Your Narcissistic Abuser

    This post on how to forgive a narcissistic abuser is twenty years in the making. If you are looking for an easy answer to an incredibly difficult and complex issue, this is not a post for you. Emotional abuse leaves physical wounds. Because it doesn’t leave physical scars, people assume that we are well, when in fact, we are not. It can take decades to really discover the depth of the loss and injury, as well. If you have suffered intimate terrorism, rest assured that this post is not a lecture on how you must forgive because otherwise, God will not forgive you. That always strikes me as a threat.…