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Saying “NO” This Holiday Season

Saying “NO” This Holiday Season

In just about a blink it’s going to be 2018. This last month of the year will fly by. But before it does, let’s take a few minutes to brainstorm how to set some good boundaries and make the most of this holiday season.

The first question to think about is, “What’s the priority this season? What is going to take precedence over everything else?” The reality is that life is always going to be throwing things at us, trying to tell us what is more important. And to be real, when I say life, I also mean people. Friends, family, your crazy Aunt Suzie, the “Jones” next door, social media, etc. are all going to try to tell us what to be invested in.

Choosing a Christian Therapist

Choosing a Christian Therapist

Making the decision to see a therapist can be quite difficult in itself, but for the Christian there may be added concerns about compatibility between worldviews.  There may be questions about whether the therapist will respect your religious beliefs, minimize them, or treat them as part of the problem.  How should a believer go about choosing a therapist, and what factors should be considered?

Bad Moments Do Not Make Bad Mothers

Bad Moments Do Not Make Bad Mothers

 I was sitting in an ice cream shop with my kids and husband one Saturday afternoon many months ago and a TV was showing the news in a corner of the shop. A few days prior, a 4 year old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, and this was the story on every news channel all weekend long. As we know, he survived the incident, but the gorilla was shot dead to protect the young boy’s life. One of the shop owners was sweeping near the TV and commented to another employee that they "just should have shot the mother instead." My stomach lurched in shock and anger; but, apparently this sentiment had been echoed in comment sections, petitions, and Twitter feeds around the world.  What is it, I wondered, that made people feel that the only logical conclusion to this terrible accident was that she was a bad mother?

Leaving Your Mark

Leaving Your Mark

Every year from June until November is hurricane season. This year the hurricane season has already been extreme for the Southern states of the United States. It reminds me of one of the first hurricane seasons I ever experienced with my family after only being in Tampa for a couple of years. That year four storms lined up in the Caribbean, one behind the other. They were just lingering and waiting to leave their mark on islands, cities, and people’s lives.

Good Grief

Good Grief

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” – C.S. Lewis

 Often times when we think about grief, we think about the loss of a person, specifically a loved one. While this can be true, grief also encompasses many other aspects of life. In processing grief we will consider not only the loss of that person, home, pet, career, business, etc. but also the loss of future dreams, plans, and hopes, and more expansive ramifications of loss. Some of these things you may be aware of and others might be lying just under the surface.

Peace in the Unknown

Peace in the Unknown

Let me just get it out of the way and say everyone’s favorite word as it relates to God’s plans for their life… UNKNOWNS! Whether you are deciding on a new career, debating a move, have recently lost a loved one or are deciding on a life partner, there are always unknowns in the outcome that will occur.

It’s fair to say that resting in earthly possessions or outcomes will always leave an unsettling feeling. It is through our faith in Christ alone that we will experience a different level of peace, but connecting to this peace can still be uncomfortable!

Wars Within

Wars Within

There is a time for everything, a time to love and a time to hate. A time for peace and a time for war. When we think of the word “war,” we often think about it on a worldwide scale or nation against nation, however there are raging wars within us all every single day. In John Piper’s now infamous sermon entitled “Make War,” he passionately and emphatically declares; “I hear so many Christians, murmuring about their imperfections, and their failures, and their addiction, and their shortcomings. And I see so little war! Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way, Make War!”

Catching Z's

Catching Z's

Although I’m no longer in school, when the kids go back in August, I like to think that I’m about to start a brand new year too. I’m a big fan of summertime fun, but there is something to be said about new routines, more set schedules, and back to business attitudes that come with the start of a new school year. When I was younger, I remember my mom used to make my brother and I practice having an earlier bedtime about a week or so before school started. Rob and I always found this to be a bummer, because it was our last week of freeeedom, and we wanted to soak up all the playtime we could get. But alas, mom always knows best. If we did not prioritize a good bedtime beforehand, that first week back definitely felt like a drag.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The world we live and grow up in surrounds us and shapes us. It influences our choices, our relationships, our careers, our families and where we find ourselves at certain crossroads and decisions we have to make. When we come to those critical junctions, learning more about why we find ourselves where we are can give us the opportunity, as Paul was explaining to the Christians in Rome, to make better, healthier and holier choices.

Embracing Ourselves

Embracing Ourselves

Many of us are in desperate need of embracing ourselves.  Because we know ourselves so well, we don’t think we measure up and our self-esteem and self-appreciation is low.

Instead of being our own best friend, we become victims of a paralyzing fear.  We’re fearful of our need to always be right, of our drive for power, or our need to manipulate others to get what we want.  And our past mistakes make us fearful about what we might say or do under pressure.  If we treated our friends the way we treat ourselves, putting down strengths and emphasizing mistakes, we wouldn’t have any friends left...