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Eight Ways to Fill the Emptiness Inside
The rise in depression and anxiety signal to me that many do not know how to fill the emptiness inside themselves. And I want to note that there are as many different kinds of emptiness as there are people. And, point in fact, many choose emptiness over the alternative. Being vacant can be a significant defense in our hurting world. Much of the emptiness that we suffer is actually avoidance, a refusal to face the pain we are sure awaits us. The other major source is simply the endless drain of our energy and emotion that life imposes. Children, work, spouses, church, and even our expectations of our own selves…
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How to Build a Marriage: His Needs, Her Needs
Sometimes the over-consumption of books can lead one to mistake knowledge for wisdom. This was surely the case for me when we decided to attend a home group on the topic of marriage at our church, Harvest Cathedral, in Macon, Georgia. We attended the group on the strength of our fondness for our pastors, Steve and Debbie Sawyer, though without any high expectations. I remember asking a fellow professor once how his marriage was. It was an appropriate question in the context of our conversation. His response was disarmingly honest. He called it, “functional”. I was still in the throes of our honeymoon at the time so I remember feeling…
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The Codependent Behavior that Kills Your Joy
I spent most of my life thinking that codependent behavior was buying alcohol for alcoholics. I pictured a weak but loving person giving some drunk on the street a bottle of booze because at least the addict would be happy for a little while. Or maybe going to the bar, picking their loved one off the floor and taking them home, putting them to bed, only to do it again the next day. My ideas were mostly informed, I believe, by the movies. Turns out codependent behavior is a little more complicated. Turns out I didn’t just have codependent tendencies, but full-blown behaviors that needed to be addressed. So this…
Healing Through Art & Words
