Browsing Tag

healing

Abuse and Self Care, Encouragement, Health

Emotional Abuse: Recognize the Early Signs

Last week, I touched on emotional abuse and pointed you to an article for more information. As I mentioned, verbal and emotional abuse are often erroneously categorized as “not real abuse.” Friends, it’s real.  The words are real. The pain from being the target of lies, manipulation, and verbal battering is real. 

It’s usually quite subtle at first. It might be a backhanded comment. You know the kind: “Those jeans don’t make you look too fat” or “at least dinner isn’t burnt this time.” Thanks? You’re left a little confused: was that a compliment or an insult? There’s usually a dig in every comment, a veiled threat or insult. The self doubt starts to set in… Continue Reading

June 29, 2015
Encouragement

Josh Duggar: Beyond the Scandal

Unless you’ve been on an extended vacation on a remote island void of newspapers, television and internet access, you now know about the Josh Duggar molestation scandal.

What he did, of course, was unthinkable, unbelievable, and disgusting.  But is it entirely unforgivable?

The debate begins apparently with how his parents handled it, what should have happened to him, and what should happen now. Continue Reading

May 25, 2015
Encouragement, Health

How to Help Your Children Cope with Grief

Grief is a challenging, confusing struggle. As adults we wrestle with it, so how much tougher must it be for children? Last week, I wrote about grief over at Defying Shadows. It occurred to me later how differently we face things as adults than children do and that I’d be remiss if I didn’t share what I know about grief and children.  

Children aren’t just “little adults.” In fact, the way they function and process are quite different than how we operate as adults.  When my children lost their father, we were all reeling from the shock and grief. I had lost both my parents by then and was no stranger to grief, but I was very much a stranger to dealing with significant loss as a child. I learned a lot from my children during this process just as I learned a lot about them. That support was absolutely vital to their healing and mine. Continue Reading

January 19, 2015