My friend Jennifer (you can read more about her and her books at the end of this post) has provided this post, describing her experience with a friend who showed symptoms of mental illness. It’s a heartbreaking story that represents the confusion, helplessness, and guilt so many of us feel when we don’t know how [...]
My new book is officially out: Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission. I’m excited to see this project come to fruition; this has been a long and heartfelt process for me and has involved so many conversations with others about their experiences. It feels great to see all these stories get out there [...]
Jenny squeezed the book against her side and tried to look bored. She wanted to avoid her mother’s gaze, lest she be marked as idle and pressed into further service. It was one of those days when Mom had a seemingly endless list of household projects, made more annoying by her personal enthusiasm for them. [...]
It was Broncos game day. John Elway and Rod Smith were on TV, working some mile-high magic, as they say in Denver. My husband, Trevor, and I were 1000 miles away from home, at a ministry conference in Chicago. But our team was on the road to the Super Bowl, and we weren’t about to [...]
I can’t believe I have to take the stupid bus. Lauren tripped over an uneven crack in the sidewalk, further souring her mood. She shoved her hands into her pockets and ran her finger over the nametag she had stashed away for her shift at work. It was bad enough that she had to spend [...]
On New Year’s Day back in 1994, I stood up with a guy named Trevor and we promised to spend our lives as partners, doing what is good for each other and for the world around us, and loving each other whether we feel like it or not. Because our anniversary is on January 1, [...]
Beth turned on the car radio and turned her attention to the headache she had been ignoring all day. It was sitting behind her eyes, pressing on them maliciously and at the same time hammering at her temples. It was the kind of headache that must afflict the people on TV commercials for pain medicine, [...]
One day a squirrel and a blue jay, who often saw each other foraging for food in a secluded corner of the park, struck up a conversation. The squirrel had noticed that, like a typical blue jay, the shy bird fled and hid in the foliage each time a human came near. Curious, he asked [...]
Let me tell you about one of my heroes. My sister Cheryl is three years older than me. When we were growing up, we rarely got along. In fact, I’m having a hard time remembering any warm, fuzzy sister moments between us. I do remember several screaming matches and some punches, but fortunately things have [...]