The app is open. I am logged in. Now I wait.
I bounce my leg under my desk and tap my pen impatiently. You would think this was my first time talking to a someone through Zoom, let alone a counseling client.
Lights. Camera. Action. The counselee signs on, I add him to the room, and boom, we’re “live.” What could possibly go wrong now?
For some odd reason, counseling through a screen can create more anxiety...
Breaking a sinful habit can take a lot of faith and work.
The prophet Jeremiah asked a provoking rhetorical question when he wrote in Jeremiah 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil." He was making the point that evil that is so ingrained in our being that it can seem impossible for change to happen.
But the grace of...
Walking into a person’s crisis is an intimate experience.
The pain of suffering is exasperated when met with the unknown. Fear increases when we do not have answers. Some environments are prone to more waiting and questioning and therefore fear. A hospital is a place of questions, waiting, hoping, and longing for comfort. As we minister to people in the hospital, we need to help them find the hope they need. We can bring the...
Fear can punch you in the gut and take your lunch.
You least expect it, never desire it, and what you do with it is important. If we stay in a place of fear and therefore do not trust God, we forfeit the peace He offers. Yet, if your fear is a catalyst to move you to greater trust, it will end with a life of praise.
Something that struck me when I read Psalm 56:3-4...
Incredible things are done, one small step at a time.
When we stay committed to the small things, they add up to impact beyond measure. Take, for example, author and blogger Tim Challies.
On October 31, 2003, he committed to writing a blog post every day for one year. He has now written more than seven thousand of them. When explaining his blogging story, he wrote,
October 31, 2003, was a pivotal day. I decided that day...
