Posts
It Felt Like My Faith Was Part of the Problem
This post was originally published on incourage.me. I had gotten my two kids and myself dressed for church and finished filling two huge cookie jars for the church coffee hour. Other than the presence of some more-than-usual tension in my chest, I would’ve thought it was any other Sunday morning. But then, everything went wrong….
4 Mantras For When I’m Overwhelmed
If life is really hard for you right now, I wish I could reach through the screen and give you a giant hug. Since I can’t, I wrote down my 4 Mantras For When I’m Overwhelmed; you can print it out and hang it where you’ll see it often so you can be reminded that…
10 Ways To Prepare For The Next Hard Thing
At this point in my life I have experienced more loss and hardship than most. And I’ve learned to accept that there will still be hard things to come. Sometimes people tell me I’ve had more than my fair share of suffering. Maybe that’s true, but it’s not comforting. Because there isn’t a suffering quotient….
15 Questions To Ask When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
I ran to my room, flopped down on the bed and screamed into my pillow. I don’t even remember what triggered it, but in that moment, I knew I was overwhelmed to my breaking point and almost past the point of no return. I needed a major intervention or I was going to fall face…
Brave is a Choice
I’m not exaggerating when I say my life feels more like a Lifetime movie than reality. My dad died eight hours after giving birth to my first kid. My husband battled one kind of cancer the year we were engaged and died from another kind a month before our kid number two was born. I…
When You’re Feeling the Damage of Burnout
Until recently, I thought burnout was a normal part of life. I had never even thought there could be a life without burnout. I would stoically push through stress and challenges until I crashed. Then I’d rest and recover only to do it all again. I’ve been learning a different kind of living in the…
What You Need to Know About Burnout From a Single Parent
When I was in graduate school, I remember constantly hearing the burnout statistics for teachers. I don’t remember what they were then, but they weren’t good. Most people entering the profession weren’t staying longer than three years. I was determined to do better. And then I found myself resigning after two years; teaching for a…
For When Grief Hits You From Out of Nowhere
It’s been almost four years since my husband died. I’m mostly doing great. I still get sad sometimes. Other times I’m disappointed or angry that this is my real life. But, on the whole, life is good. We’ve found new routines and ways of doing things. We feel settled. I skirt the edge of grieving,…
BRAVEtogether Manifesto
As BRAVEtogether we agree to… 1 Participate in deep, heartfelt, and honest community 2 Practice compassion in order to create a safe space 3 Honor each other by listening and walking through life together 4 Dream and develop our passions 5 Push each other to grow and be confident in who we were created to…
Good Things Are Scary; Disappointment is Comfortable
I have a very serious fear of good things happening to me. You laugh, but I’m dead serious. I have a few really big dreams that feel completely impossible and I have no idea how (or if) they’ll ever work out. And so when some of these dreams started inching forward last week, I had…