Tag: Compassion

Faith Journey, Medical, Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome

Make A Wish and Give Kids The World

Brandi C

Make A Wish and Give Kids The World

For children and adults navigating life-altering medical conditions, the days can feel long, uncertain, and heavy. Between appointments, therapies, and the emotional toll of managing a chronic or critical diagnosis, joy can feel like a distant memory. That’s where the Make-A-Wish Foundation steps in—not just to fulfill a dream, but to restore hope. When we went to Disney, Make A Wish and Give Kids The World were two places that gave a bit of joy to the unimaginable.

A wish granted is far more than a moment of happiness. It becomes a turning point—a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, something beautiful can still bloom. Whether it’s a trip, a chance to meet a hero, or the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, these experiences offer a sense of normalcy and celebration that families often miss in the chaos of illness.

For many wish recipients visiting Disney, the Give Kids The World Village in Central Florida becomes their home away from home. This whimsical, storybook resort partners with organizations like Make-A-Wish to give families a place of rest, joy, and magic. Every detail is designed with love—from ice cream for breakfast to nightly parties and endless smiles. It’s a space where families can simply be together, free from the burdens of medical schedules and daily worries.

What makes both Make-A-Wish and Give Kids The World so special is their understanding that emotional healing matters, too. A wish doesn’t erase the diagnosis, but it can renew strength, rebuild courage, and give individuals something to look forward to when everything else feels uncertain.

If you’ve never supported these organizations, consider doing so. Your gift, time, or advocacy could help write a chapter of joy in someone’s hard journey.

And always—choose grace. Smile. Show compassion. You never know the impact one act of kindness can make.

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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Courage in EnCOURAGE

Brandi C

nothing is impossible when you put one foot in front of the other and take a step. (1)

The Power of Encouragement: A Call to Love and Lift Others

Did you ever notice the word courage in encourage? Encouraging someone takes little effort but can change a life. We may not always agree with what others do or believe, but at the end of the day, does their life truly harm us? Our role is not to judge but to love and show the unconditional love of Christ.

Choosing Encouragement Over Judgment

In a world divided by politics, religion, parenting styles, and personal choices, it’s easy to focus on differences. But we can choose love over division. Encouragement is a powerful force—one kind word, one thoughtful gesture, one moment of understanding can make a profound impact.

Too often, people feel isolated in their struggles. Some battle deep sadness, despair, and even suicidal thoughts, yet they mask it so well we never see their pain. A simple word of encouragement might be the very thing that reminds them they are not alone.

The Life-Saving Power of Kindness

We don’t always know what others are going through. A smile, a genuine “I see you,” or a heartfelt “You matter” can be a lifeline. Encouragement doesn’t require us to have all the answers—it requires us to be present, to listen, and to offer hope.

Christ’s love is not conditional. He loved without barriers, without prerequisites. We are called to do the same. Whether or not we agree with someone’s lifestyle or choices, we can still choose compassion. Love does not mean endorsement—it means recognizing the humanity in others and treating them with kindness.

Practical Ways to Encourage Others

  1. Offer a Kind Word – A small compliment or acknowledgment can make a difference.
  2. Listen Without Judgment – Sometimes, people just need to be heard.
  3. Show Up – Be present for someone, even in silence.
  4. Practice Empathy – Seek to understand rather than criticize.
  5. Be the Light – A little encouragement goes a long way.

Be the Reason Someone Keeps Going

Encouragement doesn’t just lift others—it transforms us, too. When we choose to uplift rather than tear down, we reflect the love of Christ and create a world where no one feels invisible.

So today, take a moment to encourage someone. You never know how much they might need it. A simple act of kindness could be the reason someone chooses to hold on for one more day.

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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The Importance of Little Acts of Kindness

Brandi C

circle of hope counseling services (7)

The Importance of Little Acts of Kindness

In a world that often feels chaotic and overwhelming, kindness is a powerful force. And while grand gestures are beautiful, it’s the small, everyday acts of kindness that truly make a difference. A smile, a kind word, a simple act of generosity—these things may seem small, but they have the power to change someone’s day.

Kindness doesn’t have to be complicated. Holding the door open, offering a genuine compliment, checking in on a friend, or even just listening can mean the world to someone who is struggling. The truth is, we never really know what battles others are fighting. A small act of kindness might be exactly what they need to keep going.

Why do little acts of kindness matter?

  1. They create ripple effects. One kind act can inspire another, spreading positivity further than we can imagine.
  2. They remind people they are seen. In a world where so many feel invisible, kindness says, “You matter.”
  3. They improve mental health. Both the giver and the receiver of kindness experience increased happiness and reduced stress.
  4. They strengthen connections. Simple acts of kindness build relationships, communities, and a more compassionate world.

The best part? Kindness costs nothing, yet it’s one of the most valuable things we can offer. You never know how much a small gesture can impact someone’s life. A kind word could be the encouragement they need. A simple smile could be the reminder that there is still good in the world.

So today, choose kindness. Be the reason someone believes in goodness. Your little acts of kindness might not seem like much, but to someone else, they could mean everything.

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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Stop Silent Start Talking

Brandi C

@circle of hope counseling services

Stop Silent, Start Talking: Let’s End the Stigma Around Mental Health

For too long, mental health struggles have been met with silence, shame, and stigma. Stop silent, start talking: Let’s end the stigma around mental health. People suffer in the dark, afraid to speak up, fearing judgment or rejection. But here’s the truth: mental health is just as important as physical health, and it’s time we start talking about it.

When we stay silent, the stigma wins. It keeps people from reaching out, from seeking help, from knowing they are not alone. But when we speak up—when we share our struggles, listen without judgment, and remind each other that it’s okay to not be okay—we break the chains of shame.

Talking about mental health doesn’t mean you have to share every detail of your journey. It can be as simple as checking in on a friend, starting a conversation, or letting someone know you see them and they matter. It can be reminding yourself that needing help is human, not weakness.

If you’re struggling, please know this: You don’t have to suffer in silence. Your feelings are real. Your struggles are valid. Help is available, and you are worthy of it.

And if you’re someone who wants to help end the stigma, start by listening. By being a safe space. By refusing to let shame silence those who need to be heard.

Mental health matters. You matter. Let’s stop the silence and start talking—because together, we can change the conversation.

💛 You are not alone. Let’s break the stigma, one conversation at a time.

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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Preconceived Notions: More Than Meets the Eye

Circle of Hope Counseling Services, Faith Journey

Preconceived Notions: More Than Meets the Eye

Brandi C

Preconceived Notions: More Than Meets the Eye

i’m not interested in whether you’ve stood with the great; i’m interested in whether you’ve sat with the broken.

Preconceived notions—they’re something, aren’t they?

I remember walking into my clinic one day and feeling every set of eyes on me. At my previous job, I was required to dress professionally for my outpatient clients. But I also worked as a therapist in a 30-day inpatient residential treatment facility. Two vastly different worlds, yet I had learned how to balance both.

That particular day, I had outpatient clients to see, but I also needed to check in on anywhere from 7 to 16 inpatient clients. As I walked into the clinic to pull a client, I saw the looks—“You are not one of us.” I get that a lot.

That day, I was in my professional attire, wearing a wig (I lost my hair when I started this job), makeup, and jewelry. I looked the part, but inside, I was screaming. My outside didn’t match my inside.

I pulled my client aside, and her expression said it all—disdain, skepticism, judgment. She didn’t hold back, either. “You’re judging me in your fancy clothes and dolled-up hair,” she said.

As she talked, I quietly started removing my jewelry. Then my sweater, revealing my tattoos. I wiped off my makeup. And finally, I pulled off my wig and casually hung it on my boss’s computer.

The shock on her face was priceless.

In that moment, I saw her walls come down. I shared a bit of my own story, and I watched her eyes well with tears. She looked at me, softer now, and said, “You are one of us.”

Friends, we are all the same. We all bleed when we’re cut. We all turn to dust when we die. And we are all one bad decision away from destruction. She thought I was judging her based on my appearance, but in reality, I was simply wearing what my job required. And in return, she judged me for it.

But when I looked into her eyes, I didn’t see her past, her mistakes, or her circumstances—I saw brokenness, sadness, despair, and pain.

So there we were, sitting across from each other, makeup-free, hairless, raw, and real. I reached across the desk and held her hands. Tears fell from both of our eyes as I told her:

You are worthy. You are enough. Honestly, you deserve the life you dream of, and you can have it—one step at a time.

That moment changed me. It reminded me that the Lord is not done with any of us. There is hope and no one should ever treat you as “less than” because you, too, are a child of the King.

Reach Out

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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New Mercies Every Morning

Brandi C

New Mercies Every Morning

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This is a beautiful reminder that there are New Mercies Every Morning. Lamentations 3: 22-23 says “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Today might have not been the most pleasant for you (or me).

It might have started off with your teeth on edge (an Oak saying) and ended with a phone call from the principal that isn’t positive. The middle of your day could be splashed with dripping your lunch on your shirt, the dishwasher dying, your cat puking in the floor, or stubbing your toe.

It might be a day when you are struggling so deeply with your mental health and your mind begins to race. The battlefield of the mind is a big thing and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t struggle.

BUT God.

Lamentations is not one of my favorite books (oops) but the last time I read it, good gracious, chapter 3 walked all over me. It didn’t just walk all over me, plowed my face in the dirt and drug me through it. I have read this book so many times and I dread it every time because I feel that it is a book filled with just whiny people.

Then, when I read it this last time, I realized I was the whiny person and how Jesus is so patient with me because He always listens and He restores and resets my life every morning when I wake up. It is a clean slate. Whatever you were upset about the night before, let it go. LET IT GO. Don’t bring it into a fresh day full of new mercies and grace. Let it go… choose life. Choose to live in grace and freedom. That is our gift from God. Grace, forgiveness, and mercy (amongst other beautiful things).

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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Integrity

Brandi C

Integrity

2053572

This is something I tell my kids (and myself) on, almost, a daily basis. This is the definition of integrity. Once you realize that everyone you encounter is not just by happenstance, it is directly ordained by God. You can take every moment captive and when you make eye contact with someone, pray for peace in their lives. Say that “breath” prayer because behind that smile, those fancy clothes, the ragged clothes, the haggard or dirty looks you may be getting from that person…there is a story. You don’t have to know the details to do the right thing and choosing kindness.
A breath prayer is just that…one breath. “Jesus, give them peace.” It is simple, focused, and to the point. Some people think you need to be in a 3 piece suit and speak like King James spoke with all the “thou art” type phrases. Talk to Jesus like you talk to yourself or to a friend. When I am having a big moment and I am going to pray out loud is to say “in the Name of Jesus, satan and all his friends must leave” and then it is game on LOL.
 
On a joyful note…Happy birthday to my sweet daughter and my mother-in-law. The joy that they both bring to my life is unexplainable. I’m thankful we get to celebrate them.

💛 If you’re navigating life’s hard places and need a safe space to heal, grow, or just breathe—Circle of Hope Counseling Services is here for you.

We offer trauma-informed, faith-filled therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

📞 Reach out today to schedule your first session (KY residents only) or learn more: Circle of Hope Counseling Services.

You don’t have to walk this journey alone. Hope starts here.

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LA Came in Like a Tornado

Brandi C

LA Came in Like a Tornado

Leigh Ann Came in Like a Tornado

Ten years ago, I met a brassy blond girl at a ballpark. She had a crass mouth and a nasty smoking habit. She was loud and obnoxious. A person people moved away from when they saw her. She did not dress the part, talk the part, and certainly did not behave the part of what society deems “normal.” 

Yet, I was drawn to her. I saw myself in her—the girl that no one wanted to be friends with, the outcast. I have a deep love for those who seem unlovable. I see through the facade of what someone presents. I see their heart—that deep desire to fit in, yet the complete inability to do so.

Seeing a Bit of Jesus in Her

In my mind, I can close my eyes and see all the bright dots of Jesus throughout her. I just knew when those dots connected; she would be an unstoppable force of nature for the Kingdom.

I fell in love with this girl, her children, her brother, and her parents. We were a tight-knit group of misfits. I was blessed to be able to lead her to Christ one spring day. After she accepted Christ, I gave her a hot pink Bible. It was her favorite color. She loved Jesus with all her heart.

Mental Illness

She also struggled with mental illness. Despite her love for Jesus, she had good days and bad days. What bonded us was that I, too, suffer from mental illness. I have clinical depression. She had onset bipolar disorder. 

One thing I want you all to hear is that you can still love Jesus without abandon and still struggle with different types of mental illness. That does not mean you love Him less than someone who does not struggle.

How Did She Change My World?

She taught me how to accept those who were not “normal.” Also, she taught me to walk towards the waves instead of away from them. Live life without fear of abandonment and to hell what people thought of you.

Did I change her world? I hope I did. She made me a better person, and I hope I had some effect on her. Her mom always said that I did. I sure do love her children and now grandchildren. We were good for each other, for the most part.

Does it Change the World to Stand in the Gap?

Yes, it does the world when you brush and braid a friend’s hair for the last time? Also, when you begin painting her nails and toenails her favorite color? Does it change the world to wipe the ants off of her body while you are bathing her? What about closing her eyes for the last time?

Yes, it does change the world. It changed for LA’s children, her mother, and her brother. It also changed me and it showed me what the phrase “be Jesus with skin on” really means. Sacrificial love and service for her and her family.

LA, you are loved, thought of, and missed daily.

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Perspective from Mr. Rogers

Brandi C

Perspective from Mr. Rogers

Perspective from Mr. Rogers

 

Here is some Perspective from Mr. Rogers from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.  This is what to do when you overreact and have regret.  “Many people have asked me do you ever get mad and of course I answer “well yes, everyone gets mad sometimes.”  The important thing is what we do with the mad that we feel in life.

A few weeks ago coming home from a particularly tough day at work, I stopped to see my two grandsons.  Their mom and dad weren’t there but the boys were there with the babysitter in the backyard, squirting water with hoses.  I could see that they were really having fun.  but I felt that I needed to let them know that I didn’t want to be squirted.

Do Not Squirt Me

So I told them so, and little by little, I could feel that the older boy, Alexander, was testing the limit until finally, his hose was squirting very close to where I was standing.  I said to him in my harshest voice, Okay, that’s it alexander turn off the water, you’ve had it.

He did as I told him and said he was sorry and looked very sad.  The more I thought about it, the sadder I got.  I realized Alexander had not squirted me.  That I had stepped into his and his brother’s playtime with a lot of feelings leftover from work.

Guilt

So when I got home, I called Alexander, on the phone.  I told him I felt awful about my visit with him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was taking out my anger from work on him.  I told him I was really sorry.

Do you know how he answered me?  Oh, Baba, everybody makes mistakes sometimes.  I nearly cried.  I was so touched by his naturally generous heart.  I realized that if I hadn’t called him, I might not have ever received that wonderful gift of Alexander’s sweet forgiveness.”

 

Circle of Hope Counseling Services, End the Stigma, Guest Blogger

To the Person That’s Been There Through it All

Brandi C

 

To the Person That’s Been There Through it All

To the Person That’s Been There Through it All

To the Person That’s Been There Through it All

Thank you

And thank you for caring

Thank you for sharing

And thank you for loving me

When I felt that no one ever could

 

Cared for Me When No One Else Could

You didn’t have to do any of those things

But for some odd reason, you did

You cared for me when no one else could

You shared with me to try to help me understand

And you loved me when I needed it the most

On top of all that you’ve treated me like your own

 

Helped Me Grow

You’ve helped me grow to understand who I am

And who to look to when I am in need

To search for Jesus first instead of the worst.

and to consider Him in mind with my choices first.

You’ve shown me what it feels like to be loved by choice

Not by obligation

 

I Love You

And I just wanted you to know that I thank you

And most importantly I love you.

 

Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number where confidential assistance is provided by trained counselors.

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