The Quiet Beauty of Letting Go
I put the garden up every September, and every year there is a strange minute in the middle of it. I stand there with the tomato cages in my arms,…
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Fall Is Not the Beginning of the End
The first cool morning always catches me off guard. You step out for the paper or to start the car. You notice that the air has changed overnight, and you…
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When Things Fall Away: The Sacred Power of the Fall Season
There is a week in western Kentucky, usually somewhere in the middle of September, when you can feel the whole county exhale. The air changes before the calendar does. The…
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You Are More Than What You Survived
A woman sat in my office a while back at the good end of hard work. Years of it. She had stopped bracing when doors shut. This woman could say…
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What Healing Actually Looks Like Over Time
A client of mine, years into good, brave work, hit a hard anniversary and spent a weekend flat on the mat. Old symptoms, old thoughts, the works. She came in…
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Faith, Safety, and the Nervous System
Refuge. Fortress. Strong tower. Hiding place. Shelter under His wings. A very present help in trouble. Line those words up and notice what they have in common. When the writers…
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Religious Trauma: When Faith Got Used as a Weapon
“I can’t open my Bible without my chest getting tight.” The woman who said that to me loved God. That was the part tearing her up. She was not an…
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God Is Near the Broken, Not Disappointed in Them
“I thought I was a bad Christian because I still flinch.” A woman said that in my office years into her healing, and she said it the way people confess…
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When the Person Who Hurt You Never Says Sorry
Somebody reading this has an empty chair at the table. The conversation you were owed, the one where they finally look you in the eye and name what they did,…
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Faith After Betrayal
There’s a question you may be carrying that feels too dangerous to say in Sunday school. You prayed over that marriage. Then, you trusted God with that friendship, that church,…
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God Is Big Enough for the Truth
The last few posts tell the truth plainly, naming the wound, feeling the anger, sorting fact from fear. Before I move into the next part of this series, I want…
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BEFORE THE SHAKING Book 2 in the OMS Series
About the Book Kid was three years old when his legs stopped working. He was three years old when the doctors at the first hospital said it was strep, and…
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When the Person You Trusted Was the One Who Hurt You
There’s a particular kind of pain that only shows up when the hurt comes from someone who was supposed to be safe. A stranger can wrong you and it stings,…
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Forgiveness Begins With Truth, Not Silence
Let’s start here, plain as I can say it. Forgiveness doesn’t open with a hug or an olive branch. It opens with the truth, said out loud, about what actually…
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Boundaries Are an Act of Stewardship
Boundaries are not just emotional tools. They can be an act of stewardship. That may sound strange if somebody taught you that boundaries are selfish. But stewardship means caring for…
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Hope Can Begin in a Broken Place
Hope does not always begin in a bright, easy place. Sometimes hope begins in the broken place. It begins after the loss, after the tears, after the disappointment, after the…
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My New Book Is Now Available: Nobody Told Me: The Honest Truth About Grief
Today’s post feels like the right place to share something deeply personal. My new book, Nobody Told Me: The Honest Truth About Grief, is now available on Amazon. This book…
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When Grief Changes Your Faith
Grief can change the way you pray. It can change the way you read Scripture. It can change the way you worship, trust, hope, and understand God’s nearness. Loss can…
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The Strength of a Loyal Love
Honoring the quiet perseverance of my mother while grieving my Daddy There are some kinds of strength that do not look loud. They do not come with applause.And they do…
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Where I Am With God Right Now
Where I Am With God Right Now. Holding faith when it doesn’t feel steady If I’m being honest, my faith doesn’t feel neat right now. It’s not wrapped up in…