What Does Family Recovery Look Like?

14 years ago, I didn’t think that I had a problem. It was my loved ones who needed help. Not me. Boy was I wrong. If you are new to recovery, this may come as a shock, but we all need recovery. But, what exactly does that look like? Let me share some thoughts, but […]

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Accompaniment: Breathe In, Breathe Out

“Every human being has a true genuine authentic self. Trauma is the disconnection from it and healing is the reconnection to it.” Gabor Mate, MD There was a story that made its way around social media platforms about a kindergartener who returned from the bathroom exclaiming, “I pottyed” only his pants and underwear were still […]

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Following Christ Crucified

I remember the day that I decided to stop being afraid. Even though it was a quiet decision, deeply held within my being, everything shifted. I try to remember what brought me to it but it remains elusive. Maybe it was a shift in tactic; from fleeing to fighting. Maybe it was a mustard seed’s […]

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Love Them Where They Are

On a particularly crisp Autumn night, our meeting-room filled to capacity. There were no available seats left in the rows of tables arranged together to form a square. We started our meeting with the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things […]

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The Way I See Others

This thought came to mind the other day… What if each of us is a tiny sliver of a mirror that has been broken? And suppose the image that each and every human, collectively makes up, when put back together, is the face of God? Does that change the way that I view others? And […]

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Fear or Love: Which Will You Choose?

I love surprises. But I’m finding that the best ones come to me in waves instead of a jump-out-from-behind-the-furniture-shout-of-surprise kind of moment. These waves wash upon me, revealing a little more with each visit, unveiling a life-changing truth that I need to absorb. I believe this is always a visit from the Holy Spirit. A […]

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Take a Breath

My husband’s heart went into atrial fibrillation last week, so we spent twenty-four hours in the hospital to treat his problem. His nurse during the last few hours there, told us that even though she had become a nurse late in life, she still had one last dream to pursue: being a writer. “Oh wow, […]

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The Examen Prayer and the Trash…

If you grew up in the country as I did, you didn’t just wheel the trash can to the curb each week. We lived on seventy acres. The garbageman didn’t come to our home. Instead, we had a burn can. Of course things were different. We didn’t have aluminum cans. We drank Coke from glass […]

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Let’s Talk About it…

Yesterday, I traveled a hundred miles to visit with my sisters in my hometown. It’s always good to reconnect with family. When we get together time feels irrelevant. It’s just me and my sisters being who we’ve always been. Alone, I often feel burdened by the struggles that life brings me but when we are […]

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Family Safety

I always dreamed of living in another place.  My dad never understood.  Why would I ever want to leave Kentucky? His dad was an alcoholic. He was a sharecropper who  rented his house from the farmer that he worked for. Because they didn’t own their home, there wasn’t much stability. When my dad turned eighteen, […]

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