Growing up, I was one of those bubbly, almost-always happy little girls who found delight in chasing lightning bugs and drinking fresh lemonade on the back deck. I had fear like any child, especially when faced with being apart from my parents overnight, but I tended to live my life cheerful and smiling.
Read MoreFor the month of August, we’re going to be talking about anxiety and how to combat it God’s way. I’ll be grouping anxiety disorders in with “non-disorder” anxiety for the purposes of this article, even though I realize they’re very different but because spiritually-speaking, the treatment is the same.
To prepare for the month ahead, I want to start by laying down a very basic understanding of anxiety.
Read MoreThe truth shall set you free.
My husband says I’m pretty, down-to-earth, sweet and sometimes, a little bit offensive. Being true to myself, I’m going to go ahead and publish this article.
I know this is a highly-criticized point of view but I'm going to say it anyway... The biggest (and most dangerous) lie about addiction is that it's a disease.
Addiction is not a disease.
There. Said it.
Read MoreDon’t rush, no pressure.
Everyone who knows me well, knows I love Justin Bieber. I’m sorry if you just lost all respect for me but I'm Canadian so I’m going to claim ignorance. The Biebs has gotten wiser in his trials and there’s some real nuggets of wisdom in his songs (albeit grammatical errors but wisdom nonetheless). One of my favourites is, “You ain’t gotta make your mind up right now, don’t rush, no pressure”.
Read MoreOh Jonah, what have you done?
There's a popular belief that being a Christian means we should be living exceptionally blessed lives. A belief that simply believing in God will open up the heavens and solve every problem. While God can solve every problem, not everything has a simple solution. Changes almost always come after a period of suffering.
There's also a belief that once we become Christians we are expected to stop sinning completely and anything less than perfect is simply, no good.
Read MoreHe and I met at a concert on New Year’s Eve and little did I know it at the time, but my life was about to dramatically change. We were married and I relocated to New York with my then, four-year-old son. For the most part, the change was slow and went mostly unnoticed. With moving and the excitement of the city, I was too preoccupied to see anything out of the ordinary about my marriage. It wasn’t until I became pregnant that I noticed my husband’s facade of lies start to crumble.
Read MoreGet up, be baptized and wash your sins away.
My husband, my oldest son and I were all baptized on the same day. We also publicly dedicated our one and a half year old to Jesus. It was beautiful.
Why did I get baptized, you ask? Honestly, I've just never done it. This is going to sound really stupid but I didn't want to get wet in front of all those people. I have this hair, you see.... let's say, it was an act of obedience.
Read MoreForgiveness is one of those things I think we all have to struggle with at one point in our lives. No one is immune to being hurt so forgiveness becomes an important part of our human relationships.
To get a better understanding on this often very difficult subject, I asked some of my favourite fellow bloggers, writers, speakers and Christian influencers: “What practical advice would you give to a women who’s really struggling with forgiveness?”
Read MoreHello, friends 🙋🏼!
Addiction is a heavy topic and sometimes we forget to celebrate the women we were before/after the addiction. In an effort to get more personable, I'm going to tell you some things that have nothing to do with addiction and make me, me!
Read MoreEmotional abuse isn't something we can see. It would be obvious someone is hurting us if they always left bruises, but when our emotions are bruised, it can be confusing to identify abuse.
It's a, "If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one around, does it make a sound?” situation.
Not surprisingly, there are plenty of experts who believe emotional abuse is more damaging than physical abuse because it often happens every day.
Read MoreWho is the most inspiring woman you know?
Think for a moment about a woman in your life or past who you think of being an absolute inspiration. Now, how would you describe them?
They are/were ____________. They always ____________. When I was ____________, they ____________. I’ll never forget the time they ____________.
Read MoreDo you REALLY know the difference between prayerful and pushover?
If you’ve lived with an addict, you may have found yourself becoming the unofficial peacemaker. You learned how to manage tension and prevent tempers from flaring. You may push away your feelings or overlook wrong behaviours because your world revolves around keeping other people happy.
If you’re like I was, you probably didn’t see it in the beginning (or now!). But the "peacemaker" mentality is more than likely there.
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