Encouragement for Everyday Life

“God, if you give me this one thing…” Tucked about 20 miles north of Jerusalem in the small village of Shiloh, a heart-broken Hannah sat under the watchful eye of Eli, the priest. The blackness threatened to consume her. Taunting voices tempted her. Am I worth anything without a child?  The rivalry. The cruel remarks. The […]

The turn of the year always stirs a reflective mode in me. What did I celebrate from the year just passed?  More importantly, what do I wish I could change?   There’s something about a new year that promises new beginnings. A do-over, of sorts. And I don’t know about you but my inbox has […]

  I surround myself with positive, encouraging, and inspiring words.       Yet, there are days these words don’t penetrate my circumstances. They don’t soak into my being, alter my personality. At least not a lasting change; merely a temporary high. How do I…           For a lengthy period of […]

As we step into the the practice of writing as a healing tool, there is one dominant rule. One which comes straight from the Master Storyteller.  A grammar rule, if you will, straight from the sovereign throne of the One who knows best. “Do not put a period where I (God) have a comma.” Are […]

“You need to be willing to ‘go there’ with Jesus,” Author Mary DeMuth explains. “So many people aren’t healed because they are afraid to open up the can of worms of their past. I’m here to say, yes it will hurt, but that kind of hurt is what heals.” If we confront and release emotional […]

A powerful warrior with a a poet’s heart, King David stands ready to lead us through formidable emotional battles. A graceful guide through desolate land. David faced unfathomable trauma. Abuse. Homelessness. Dislike and slander. Abandonment from his spouse. Adultery. Premature death of a child. Another child was a prodigal. And yet another child, sexually abused. […]

Life seems weighted unfairly from the start. As daughters of Eve, we have been deceived. As soul-wounded women, our brains have been tampered with, manipulated, and aren’t as reliable as we like to think. The result: A damaged self-worth that convinces us the fallout of an emotional trauma is better than the potential unknown. Afraid […]

Repressed trauma deeply affects the soul. In the same way the fragrance of ozone saturates an approaching thunderstorm, the painful aftereffects of emotional wounds permeate a woman’s heart, relationships, and life. Emotional pain is a serious wound that must be treated. Experts agree one of the most important things you can do is flush out […]

Character-forming wounds happen early in life. Their imprint filters into our behavior. I’ve lived this truth. After years of childhood sexual abuse, I mentally disconnected. I swallowed the agonizing pain of my past and discounted the repressed anger and hypersensitivity welling up inside of me. I pressed forward. Independent and fascinated with this new power […]

“You just have to be willing to look past the ugly.” I’m not a big television fan, more of a book-freak. But HGTV has a series called the Property Brothers that I truly enjoy. Jonathan and Drew Scott come together to help people find and transform extreme fixer-uppers into their ultimate dream home. It’s a […]