Recent reports say that nearly one military personnel dies by suicide daily, marking more suicides than deaths in the war in Afghanistan. Both those who have been deployed and those who serve stateside are at risk. They face tremendous stressors; they often return home unable to find employment or to find relationships severed. Many soldiers refuse to admit their struggles for fear of being dubbed…
I’ve been thinking a lot about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Just when they though their suffering was at its peak, they were thrown into a fiery furnish but to their astonishment, they were not burned. What kept them from being burned? The Lord’s presence. What kept them from frantically losing their mind and endless worries? The Lord’s presence. Recently, I feel as though I’ve been…
Fear. We’ve all experienced it. Fear can be crippling. It can paralyze us. Fear can also be good; fear keeps children from touching a hot stove. Fear keeps us from jumping into the lion’s den. So how do we keep a healthy fear from turning into a consuming fear? Several years ago, I was struck by lightening. It was a terrifying, death-defying experience. For months…
Ever wonder where an author gets her motivation to write? Ever since I was a child, I always dreamed of being a writer. When I was about nine years old, I spent months writing a story to give my parents that year for Christmas. A year later, I asked my parents, “Do you remember the story I gave you last year? Did you like it?…
I’ve always heard big things come in small packages, but I never dreamed this small package would get so big. Last year we went on vacation as a family of four (me, Jorjanne, our dog, and our cat) but we came home a family of five. We adopted a pet turtle named Polkala (Pokey for short). He came with a cute little “habitat.” It didn’t…
Ok, call me crazy but when I get that special outfit or some fantabulous perfume, I can’t treat it like something normal. I have to save it for special occasions. It is very rare that I splurge on an outfit that’s not on sale, but the crazy thing is when I do, it’s like its sacred or something. I never wear it because I don’t…