We can embrace suffering and use it as a platform for flourishing in God's grace. Twenty five years of farming potatoes has underscored this vital truth...

I am not creative with my workouts. In fact, I like to do exactly the same routine with little to no variation. Boring.

It was dusk and I was in my pajamas, my arms wrapped around a rose bush in the front yard. I heard my son’s truck pull into the driveway.

“No big deal!” I yelled out, “Just hugging a rose bush in my nightgown!”

I think he was tired from work, because he didn’t even blink as he passed me on the porch. Plus, he knows I'm a little eccentric anyway.

I've heard this message several different ways over the last few weeks-

*Our thoughts can be a source of life or death*

(And why they won’t quite do the trick)

The following are some of the basic stress-coping strategies you’ve probably heard over the last few weeks.

How you view yourself (your sense of identity) is directly tied to how you view God.

Do you see yourself as beautiful, confident, courageous, and made in the image of God?

The nemesis of all social anxiety sufferers is Post Event Processing (PEP). We have a social interaction- and then when it's over we replay it, examining our words and actions. This is always done with a judgmental slant- as in:

Anybody else get a little overwhelmed during the holiday shopping season? My thought is- how can I adequately express how deeply I love my people- through a gift, or something I make or do? There is no gift big enough (or at least- not one I can afford!)- to communicate all my love.

1. Be too busy
2. Never ask for help
3. Don’t reveal your true self (wear a mask)

I recently watched a documentary on Warren Jeffs, former president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was horrifying and left me sick to my stomach.

This morning I did a search on my bible app for the word “despair.” The first verse that popped up was from Psalm 88. I slowly read through the verses… yes, wow, that’s most definitely despair.

Humans are the only creatures who tell stories about our lives. We are made in God’s image, and a significant component of God’s character is acting, and then judging those actions.