Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord said to her will be accomplished. Luke1:45 Mary believed.  God sent the angel Gabriel to tell her that God wanted to do something astonishing through her. Gabriel told her, that if she consented, she would become pregnant and give birth to a child who would be the long awaited Messiah.  It was a lot to believe. But Mary believed that what God … [Read more...] about Believing at Christmas

The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 Advent is a time of waiting—not a waiting that is full of fear or dread—but a waiting that is marked by hope. Our hope in this time of waiting is based on God’s self revelation. God longs to be gracious to us. God rises to show us … [Read more...] about Waiting With Hope

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs – Part V

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs: Part IV

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs: Part III

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to continue … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs: Part II

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs: Part I

Early in my journey of recovery from childhood trauma I found myself asking angry, anguished questions of God. I protested. I lamented over my own suffering and the suffering of children everywhere. One of the things I share in this final video is that it is my belief that our anger matters, that our protest and lament are important, that our anguished questions need to be given voice. I believe … [Read more...] about No Matter What, You Are God’s Beloved Child

The fifth video in the series, Recovery from Childhood Trauma, looks at the process of integration. The process of integration involves bringing parts that have been separated together into a whole. Integration happens as our compassionate self embraces our wounded self, as our wounded self takes in love from God, from others and from ourselves, and as our judgmental self releases its defensive … [Read more...] about Integration

The fourth video in this series on Recovery from Childhood Trauma looks at the transformative and tumultuous processes of acknowledging and taking ownership of the internal conflict we are caught in. Taking ownership moves us beyond awareness to a growing acknowledgment that the wounded child self, the harsh and controlling judgmental self, and the observing, compassionate self are truly parts of … [Read more...] about Acknowledging and Taking Ownership