I am an eternal optimist. I can find the bright side in almost any situation. I’ve been known to say “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes a great story later.” As a writer and a speaker, I love turning difficult and emotional events into funny anecdotes. I essentially have a Ph.D. in minimizing the…
I’m building my seven-year-old daughter a dollhouse for Christmas. I’m quite sure it won’t be finished in time for Christmas morning, but it will have walls and floors and wallpaper and a porch and a roof, at least. The shingles will still probably be missing, and the windows as well, but hopefully I will manage…
When I’m reading the Bible, sometimes I slosh. Do you know the sensation? I liken it to trudging through half-melted snow. Or drinking lukewarm coffee. I’m reading the words, but my mind is far from fully engaged in the experience. This is especially true when I’m reading biblical genealogy. I try to keep in mind…
My last major depressive episode was a few years ago. That is, until two weeks ago. Mental illness is no stranger to me. Depression and I seem to have semi-regular appointments with each other, like old friends trying to stay caught up on each other’s busy lives. Sometimes depression hits harder than at other times….
I’m the youngest of five children, as well as the only girl. It’s often assumed that I must have been the favorite in my family, but life was more complicated than that, and it would take volumes to explain how emotional issues arose in a family with two loving, committed parents. I stopped trying to…
A friend called last weekend to tell me she’s going through a difficult divorce. Everything she thought she had, she said, has crumbled around her. Her pastor husband confessed to twenty-plus years of infidelity, but only after being found out and confronted by the church. We talked at length about healing after divorce, about recovering…