Anxiety

It’s become so easy to bemoan the imperfections of our lives, and especially our childhoods.  I hate to be a Debbie downer, but when I watch some of the competition shows on tv these days, I think some of the contestants get voted through, not because of their talent or voice or skill, but because…

Passing Through the Desperate In-Between As God moves us from the brokenness of our past to a future filled with His wholeness and purpose, we will unquestionably experience times of uncertainty, anxiousness, and fear.  Gifted author Lysa TerQuerst, in her amazing book entitled Uninvited, describes this season as “moving through the desperate in-between.”  Look at…

The Brokenhearted In the Bible, the brokenhearted are people who are deeply aware of their spiritual bankruptcy and helplessness, and long for someone or something to save them.  Theologian Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle writes, “Broken hearts are embodied in the Hebrew scriptures as crippled legs that have walked deviant paths, stumbled, and fallen against the God’s…

The Word of God God’s word empowers us and enables us to go all the way in our pursuit of Jesus.  In the passage from Romans, Chapter 2, nonconformity to the world does not simply mean avoidance of worldly behaviors.  If that were the case, Jesus would have been affirming the Pharisees as opposed to…

Everything Begins in The Heart All of our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors originate from our hearts.  In his book, The Search for Significance, Robert McGee describes this internal hierarchy “hardwired” within each of us.  I’ve taken the liberty to add elements to it, while being careful not to compromise the author’s original intentions. anxiety…

Prior to the twentieth century, adults demanded strict adherence to a very stringent code of behavior and conduct – privately and publicly – for both themselves and their children.  Despite many of their techniques appearing harsh and primitive by today’s standards, history appears to show that the effects of these methods were not as emotionally…

Concealment I’m guessing that the words “concealment” and “secrecy” might be listed as synonyms if you were to search them online.  For the purpose of describing the shame cycle though, I see them as not quite the same.  Secrecy, which we discussed in great detail a few pages back, has to do with hiding ourselves:…

Toxic Shame False beliefs tend to activate the shame messages internalized from our past.  From that irrational yet familiar place, we begin to relive the “old tapes” that have played over and over in our minds more times than we care to admit: I’m fat I’m ugly I’m unlovable I’m worthless I’m stupid I’m unacceptable…

Toxic shame is experientially acquired more than it is cognitively learned.  It evolves from an unmet need, into a chronically unmet need, into a false belief, into an altered self-image.  This will develop in uniquely different ways in the lives of individuals who have been exposed to the very same environment.  For some, it may…