Had a great discussion the other day with a friend who asked some probing questions about ministering to someone in deep grief. We tossed around some thoughts about the differences in every-day negative emotions and deep emotions from grief. It’s my opinion that they are a bit different although there are some parallels. The six […]
Truth and Pain–Part Two
(This information on Truth and Pain is taken from material by Dr. Jim Wilder and Dr. Karl Lehman) Sometimes events happen that bring us lots of pain and, as we looked at in the last blog, a word of truth does not always take away that deep level pain we feel when not able to […]
We Can Find Our Value By What Causes Us Pain
This excerpt about how we find our value from what causes us pain is from Chapter Nine in my new book, Re-Framing Your Hurts: Why You Don’t Have to Fear Emotional Pain. This is a very different way to view pain that I learned from Dr. Wilder in the 1990’s. It might encourage you to […]
Hesed–God’s Sticky Love
Recently I listened to a teaching by my friend and mentor, Dr. Wilder, on the Hebrew word, hesed. It touched me deeply and it’s something we all need to think about. Dr. Wilder tells a story that is personal to him. I’d heard him share it long ago, but again the story moved me in […]
Forgiveness or Pretending?
Lately I’ve been thinking about forgiveness and how sometimes it is pushed as the cure-all for relationship problems. All of us have bad days when we grumble, snip, argue, or generally want to be left alone and do not act like ourselves. When these responses hurt others, they can be quickly resolved by asking for […]
Addictions and Attachment Pain
What do you turn to for comfort when you are hurting? Sugar? Drugs? Alcohol? Chocolate? Food? Sex? Excitement? Activity? A bad relationship? Did you know that these things we turn to when we hurt are substitutes for what our brains really want? Our brains were designed by God to thrive on joyful, relational connection to […]