• Abundant Life,  Self,  Self Awareness,  Self-Acceptance,  Self-awareness,  Self-forgiveness,  self-improvement

    Godly Self-Care: Learning to Live Whole

    Self-care is often the source of disdain for Christian bloggers. Sometimes they have a point in that much of self-care advice is shallow and merely a diversion from the actual underlying issues that cause us suffering. I have nothing against pedicures, chocolate, soothing music, or hot baths. But I truly believe that self-care, in its proper sense, is absolutely godly and even more of a command than a suggestion. The human is the crowning glory of creation, whose central injunctions are to steward the earth and make more humans. I hate those memes suggesting that humans are an invasive species or a virus from which nature suffers. But in all…

  • mass trauma
    Gratitude,  healing,  PTSD,  Trauma

    Mass Trauma: 5 Steps to Protecting Your Mental Health

    We are currently suffering a global mass trauma. Even if we don’t come down with COVID 19, we live under the threat of it. Living in fear is one of the primary precursors to PTSD.  I did a little research and quickly found that primary and secondary stressors can cause significant challenges to one’s mental health. For many of us, the daily news tally of the dead and the enforced quarantine is a primary stressor. For others, add to this contracting the disease or watching a loved one struggle and perhaps die, is an even greater primary stressor. The secondary stressors are beginning to add up. Children feel the loss…

  • anniversary trauma
    Christmas,  emotional health,  emotions,  healing,  Healthy Discipline,  Trauma

    Anniversary Trauma: 5 Strategies to Overcome It

    Five Ways to Overcome Anniversary Trauma It’s funny how anniversary trauma sneaks up on a person. November 30 marked the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Eagle River, Alaska. I am currently recovering from a car accident, so while on the table with my massage therapist, I found myself extremely tense. There is a difference between muscle spasms due to injury and muscles that are clenched from tension. I had plenty of the first, but this time I had tension all over my body. I knew that my lower back had been particularly painful, but this day, the therapist couldn’t go anywhere near it. All of a sudden, it…