Protected: Managing Anxiety: A Course for Christian Women

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Lions and Elephants and Hippos…oh, yeah!

Generally speaking, I'm a person who doesn't take unnecessary risks just for thrills.  This isn't because I'm scared of such activities, but because they simply don't hold a lot of appeal for me.  Thrill-seeking just isn't my thing. I'm not interested in bungee jumping, BASE jumping, or skydiving.  I wouldn't be excited to walk the…

Letting Go of Our Earthly Tents

Maybe it's because I'm getting older.  Maybe it's because my social circle has widened in recent years.  Whatever the reason, I'm more aware every day of how much suffering there is in the world, particularly physical disease and death. Of course there has been death and disease in our world since that episode with the serpent…

Let’s Talk About Relapse

I try not to share too many personal stories on this blog, not because I want to hide anything, but because I want the focus of my posts to be on practical, useful information and tips.  But I also want to offer encouragement, and I'm hopeful that this story will do just that. It was…

Cognitive Distortions: When Your Thoughts Don’t Reflect Reality

Although so far on this blog, I've generally used photos of nature, on this post I couldn't resist using this picture from one of my top ten favorite books of all time, Ramona and Her Father.  Poor little Ramona is sitting by herself, already feeling forlorn, when she catches a glimpse of herself reflected in…

Apps for Emotional Health

I didn't intend to take the whole month off from writing, but here we are on December 31, and I'm just now sitting down to craft a quick post.  December is right up there with May when it comes to the months that test my ability to manage both my time and my emotions! I…

Thanksgiving Every Morning

The Jewish faith has a beautiful tradition of saying a prayer of thanksgiving to God upon first waking up in the morning.  The prayer is called the Modeh Ani, and it is traditionally said before even rising from bed. The first part of it acknowledges God as the eternal king of the universe, and it…

Sabbath Musings: Gratitude During the Tough Times

More than once lately, I've had heartfelt discussions with friends about how to obey the Biblical instruction to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18), to "rejoice in the Lord always," (Philippians 4:4), and to "consider it all joy" when we're faced with trials (James 1:2). In our humanity, as natural beings, it simply…

Counterfactuals and Gratitude

I recently learned about a concept called counterfactual thinking.  Put simply, it's the thought process of looking back in time and asking "what if?" What if I had chosen to go away to college instead of going to the local state school? What if my parents hadn't divorced? What if I hadn't accepted that invitation…

Gratitude is Better When Expressed

With November upon us, and Thanksgiving as the month's focal point, it's natural to reflect on gratitude. I haven't always been a grateful person.  I wasn't a spoiled brat as a child, but I don't remember feeling a lot of gratitude for all of the blessings that my parents provided for me.  My teens were…