Journal Gently: Helping Introverted Women Find Healing After Grief, Hurt, and Trauma

When I say the word journal, the image that might very well pop into your mind is that of a woman sitting with a notebook at a quiet desk, writing for 20 or 30 minutes about her deepest thoughts and…

Diligent.

Rooted.

Ask.

Unhurried.

Those are some of the words I’ve held through the past four years as a way to set an intention for the year, a focus or theme to keep me moving in a particular …

One of the things my clients often ask about is how to journal while they are on vacation, or if family is staying over, or even now, over the holiday season, when schedules and routines are differe…

"Start noticing what you enjoy." That was my journal entry for September 10, 2023. And to be honest, it wasn't even handwritten in a journal. It was on the Notes app on my phone. I had been read…

How are you getting ready for the mystery of Christmas? 

That is a question I learned to hold when I served as a children’s ministries director. Our curriculum described Advent as the time to get rea…

There are times when people come to us and end up interrupting something we were already doing. 

Like when our kids need help filling up their water bottles.

Or when a dear friend is having an especi…

I have an announcement for you: I wrote a book. An actual book that you will be able to buy in paperback form that I plan to launch this book later this month, right as we’re going into the holiday s…

It is now November, and that simple change in month means that so many of us are starting to think about the holidays—planning and buying gifts and decorating.

But for some of us, holidays also bring…

Can I confess something to you? I don’t always look forward to the holiday season.

Perhaps it’s my previous years in ministry, planning ahead for the events and programs and using every last ounce of…

“I want to journal; I just don’t know what to write about.” 

Is that you? Do you want to journal and reflect on life and maybe record some important experiences that you’ve had, but once you sit down…

I was reading a book a few weeks ago about a Christian woman who lost her husband to melanoma. While hard to read at times, it was also very enlightening and inspiring.

But then I got to a part where…

We’re all familiar with symptoms that let us know we are not feeling well physically. A fever, cough, or runny nose sends us running for medicine to help us feel better.

But I’ve noticed that we each…

Have you ever tried to grow stronger by lifting weights?

I’m not much of a weight-lifter myself, but I know the drill. Start with a low weight and slowly increase it, making it a bit heavier each tim…

Grief impacts all of us in different ways. And today, I want to share a special conversation I had with Natasha Smith.

Natasha has a book that is releasing today called Can You Just Sit With Me? And,…

I’m not sure where you live, but it seems like every location these days is experiencing some sort of disaster: wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods.

It’s one thing to experience that o…

Healing has layers. No, not in the physical sense, like you can pile one layer on top of the other. But we heal from different parts of grief at different times, and sometimes even revisit some areas…

Today’s conversation is going to be a bit of a heart-to-heart. Because I’ve seen something in my own life that I’m guessing might be happening in yours.

It’s something that is hurting a lot of my rel…

I don’t know about you, but I love me a good book. There’s just something about sitting down and getting lost in another world for a while—and often gleaning a lesson or two along the way.

That’s why…

About six weeks ago, we adopted a puppy. We weren’t necessarily planning for it, and so when we brought the dog home, we had a lot of changes we needed to make.

And I’ve had to learn to ask for help …

Bible reading is one of those core spiritual disciplines you think about when you think about the Christian life, right? We are encouraged from a young age to read the Bible every single day.

Reading…