Have you ever seen the movie, Tangled? It’s a modern-telling of the fairytale, Rapunzel. This movie is a favorite in my house, and recently it has helped to teach me an important lesson. In the movie, the mother hides her beautiful daughter away in a tower in an effort to protect her from harm; in doing so, the mother has prevented her child from…
Today I will be teaching law enforcement about suicide prevention and postvention. The irony is that eight years ago today I was sitting in my living room waiting to hear from the police as they searched for Michael. I’ll never forget seeing the priest standing in my doorway. Just seeing his collar told me that what I’d feared the most had come true. Michael was…
In the past two weeks, I’ve received texts about one attempted and one completed suicide. My heart aches for the families of both of these individuals. I recently found out that Michael’s death began a string of suicide attempts in our community. This absolutely breaks my heart. When we lose someone to suicide, we are often so overcome by our own grief that we fail…
Day 7 of the new exercise regime – sprained ankle. I wish I had some elaborate tale to share about how this happened. You know, like I fell from a zipline as I was careening over Tallulah Gorge or how a boulder came crashing down on me as I pushed a crying infant to safety. The truth is that I missed the bottom rung of…
It’s amazing how quickly physical stamina and muscle strength can turn to mush. Now that I have completed my qualifying exam for the PhD program, it is time to resume my exercise routine. I was disheartened to realize how out of shape I’ve gotten in such a short time. It takes continuous workouts to maintain physical strength, and the same is true of spiritual strength….
Toward the end of 2012, I began asking God to make 2013 a year of jubilee in my life. January 2013 would mark seven years since Michael’s death. In the Old Testament, the seventh year was associated with jubilee because debts were forgiven and people were given a fresh start. I prayed that this year would be a new beginning in my life. As the…