Not too many years past, a marketing campaign proclaimed, “You are what you eat.” The premise being that the food choices we make have a profound impact on our physical bodies and dictate to a large extent the quality of our health and well-being. I wouldn’t argue with that mindset. Making an effort to eat healthy food can and does play an important role in the quality of our health, just as physical exercise can increase stamina, strength, and physical dexterity. As the book of Timothy points out, care of our physical body does have merit. “For physical training is of some value…” (I Ti ..read more

I’m just old enough to remember a time when an attempt to manage the life of another was likely to be met with a resounding…mind your own business!  People didn’t take kindly to others freely, or intrusively, offering their opinion about what they should or should not be doing with their lives. The general feeling was, you take care of your life, and I’ll take care of mine. My how times have changed. Today, people seem to have an exaggerated sense of entitlement that supports both private and public declarations about how people should run their lives. This blurring or lack of differenti ..read more

One of the most troubling trends I see in the American family is the elevating of the parent-child relationship above that of the marital relationship. This trend has resulted in a usurping of the marital bond’s priority or covenant bond and a lessening of the value couple’s place on marriage. It is quite common to find couples who have directed so much attention to their child(ren) that they have effectively lost their ability to function as bonded partners. And while I am certainty an advocate of strong parent leaders who provide guidance and attentively raise their children, I stop short o ..read more

The intact family unit is under attack.  As more and more couples succumb to the pressures of modern society and cultural correctness, the traditional family system is systemically being redefined and restructured.  Harried lifestyles and shifts in basic value structures have reconceptualized the two-parent family as an antiquated if not ineffective means of rearing children and sustaining strong couplehoods. As co-habituating, divorced, remarried, and never-married couples become the new norm, children are being increasingly subjected to the inherent instabilities that result from ..read more

For a country attempting to collectively catch its breath, even subtle signs of hope are a welcome relief. These moments of optimism restore confidence and allow people to forge a new vision of life and the future. As the nation begins to jointly exhale and entertain the idea that life will go on, we can only hope that our country will soon return to a more balanced and normal way of life. I pray that as we heal, we will find ourselves a stronger, more united, and healthy society with the energy to freely laugh, love, work, and worship without fear. That is… if they will let us. The Power of ..read more

There are times in life when words fail us.  This can be especially true for people who have experienced some type of traumatic event. The loss of a loved one, an unexpected accident, a devastating diagnosis or inflicted harm can render even the most resilient person speechless, panicked, and emotionally overwhelmed.  And because humans tend to be empathetic beings, observed trauma can quickly become the internalized trauma of those who watch, read, or are otherwise exposed to the originating traumatic event. While none of us can pr ..read more

For the Sake of the Children  “All children are uniquely created in the image of God and gifted with both purpose and unlimited potential. We can and must relentlessly protect our children, homes, and communities from the scourge of these shameful tragedies and support families and communities to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their potential.”  ~ President Donald J. Trump This quote, taken from a proclamation issued by our President, declares April 2020 to be National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It is a ..read more

In the past few weeks, we have seen fear and panic on full display.  Empty store shelves speak of the collective concerns people have of being without essential products, necessities, and familiar comforts. In the midst of this current crisis, it seems as though the greatest fear of all…is the fear of being without. To some extent, this is a perfectly normal reaction.  As human beings, we all have a natural survival instinct. When threatened, we tend to protect ourselves and the ones we love.  It’s only natural. But, and this is the ..read more

If you’ve been feeling a little anxious in the midst of the current state of affairs, you might take comfort in knowing that you are having a very normal reaction to an abnormal set of circumstances.  It is completely normal to experience a wide range of emotional responses when presented with an unsettling and potentially life-altering narrative. In fact, in the midst of the general fear-based narratives flooding our social media platforms and news outlets, anxiety, sadness, irritability, and maybe even a little anger would be a re ..read more

There seems to be an ongoing effort in this country to pathologize just about every reaction, response, distress or experience to which a human being can be exposed. If I hadn’t read it myself, I would have thought the article I recently reviewed about the development of a pill for loneliness was a parody, until I realized that it was not.  Evidently, the new “normal” is to be disordered or mentally ill. The New Norm: Mental Ill-Health It has become the norm for clients to sit down in my office and share the rather jaw-dropping list ..read more