How we interpret our experiences is more about the state of our hearts
An excerpt from “Stop Waiting for Permission: Harness Your Gifts, Find Your Purpose, and Unleash Your Personal Genius.” The founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, is thought to have said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re
How to listen deeply and 3 ways to start
An excerpt from “The Connected Leader: 7 Strategies to Empower Your True Self and Inspire Others.” Let me start with a story about how not to listen. When our son Matthew was eight, I traveled to London on business, accompanied by
Moving from ‘complaining victim’ to walking in freedom
An excerpt from “Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads.” Having lived in Southern California for over 35 years, I have grown accustomed to two types of weather: sunny and warm, and sunny and cold. We experience a
Are social disconnection and our experience of God linked?
Many of my early relational experiences left me feeling fundamentally defective in some sense. I wasn’t conscious of this feeling a lot of the time, but I developed a set of implicit beliefs about relationships and deep feelings about myself.
What am I being called to say and do?
An excerpt from “Your Calling Here and Now” Vocation is always particular; this person, at this time, and in this place. Vocation is never discerned in a historical vacuum; it is always in the specifics of the world in which we
Everyone can grow
The universally popular appeal of the concept of mentoring is a sign that there’s something about pursuing growth and development that is wired into us as humans. The Bible points to the fact that God expects every human to grow,
How The Salvation Army can use creative arts in trauma ministry
#LoveBeyondTrauma: An opportunity for the church to mitigate the pandemic’s collective trauma The pandemic, and what it’s left behind, challenged everyone in some way, author and speaker J. Scott McElroy said as he spoke to the ongoing trauma during the 2022
The single best way to start practicing self-compassion
My husband, Aaron, and I and our boys, Henry and Mac, are lifelong Midwesterners, but three years ago we moved to Manhattan. We made the move from a house in the suburbs of Chicago to an 825-square-foot apartment on the third
An invitation to an examined life
Do you have a mind that is always seeking to make sense of things? Does your heart have a deep longing for a sense of order and belonging? Have you ever experienced a sense of wonder that thrills to the
5 mental health lessons in Disney’s ‘Encanto’
Have you seen Disney’s “Encanto”? The movie caught the attention of people of all ages and backgrounds over the past few months with its catchy songs and relatable messages. As a Colombian-American mental health therapist, I found the movie’s many layers
Exposing myths about what cures excess busyness—and discovering what really works
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom. —Søren Kierkegaard If you listen to much of the advice dispensed by friends, advisers and online gurus for people who are overwhelmed and stressed out, the standard tips for beating your crazy busy life often
4 tests to discern God’s voice
As a pastor, I’ve encountered so many stories about people who claim to have heard from God but who really haven’t—or who have misused their proclamation of it. Maybe Tom is sure he’s heard from God that he’s going to