Doing Life Together

Persevere: Not a word we hear often. But it is especially important in the face of suffering. And most of us have experienced some suffering in our lives. Whether it is a troubled child, a conflictual marriage, a chronic illness or difficult boss, troubles bring up the opportunity to trust and become nearer to God. Our…

Be fit. Eat clean! Sugar free, gluten free, non GMO, no pesticides, grass fed…This is the mantra of healthy living in today’s culture. But Mary took this clean eating strategy too far and put herself in physical danger. She found herself sitting in the emergency department with severe nausea, underweight, hypokalemic and dehydrated.  She had…

Does food influence anxiety? Does diet matter when it comes to anxiety? Can anxiety be treated with food? Remember the saying, “You are what you eat.” Maybe when it comes to anxiety, there is some truth in this statement. While we don’t have robust data to make large claims about diet and anxiety, we do have…

I was sitting at a restaurant the other day watching a family of two parents and two children. The kids looked like they were grade school age. During the 5 minutes of watching them out of the corner of my eye, both parents appeared to be scrolling through text messages. No one was interacting and…

Jenny loves Rick, but is showing signs of  codependency. She needs Rick’s approval and basis her sense of identity on his reactions. She feels she must care for him at all costs in order to be worthy of his love. When a problem arises, she doesn’t confront because she worries he won’t love her or respond well.…

What’s happening on our college campuses? Are our freshman losing their religion and leaving the faith? A recent nationwide survey by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program says, yes. According to their data, the number of college freshman leaving the faith they were raised in has skyrocketed over the past 30 years. The numbers are interesting and concerning. When…

Recently, I was on a Christian radio program. The hosts asked, “Can someone who struggles with mental health issues have joy?” And I thought, “Great question, because joy is not the same as happiness.” Mental health disorders are widely misunderstood in the church. This set of emotions, cognitions and behaviors that cause distress and impairment…

You are going through a difficult time. Someone in the church is trying to encourage you and uses cliches, “I believe everything happens for a reason?” Or how about, “Don’t worry. God’s in charge?” Or have you ever said, “I will pray for you,” but then you don’t? We all hear, and have used clichés…

Carla struggles with anxiety. She sought help from a local community mental health center. When she told the therapist that she recently had a faith experience of being born again, the therapist told her that religion would only make matters worse and probably increase her anxiety. Carla was taken aback and decided to find a…

When I was growing up, there was an embroidered picture that hung in my room. It was the Lord’s prayer…Now I lay me down to sleep…I would look at that picture, be reminded to pray, close my eyes and fall asleep. Today, if I wanted to get that message across, forget the picture, I would need…

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