“My husband left. He wants a divorce” These familiar and heartbreaking words break my heart each time a person comes to me, describing what is happening in their marriage when their spouse wants out. Their pain and desperation is palpable. I know some hard days lie ahead for them, but I also know there is hope if they can reign…
My husband and I recently watched the movie “Parent Trap” on TV, in which two eleven-year old girls randomly meet at a summer camp. When they discover they are actually twins, separated at birth by their divorcing parents, they contrive together to reunite their mom and dad. By switching places and working together, they ultimately succeed, and the family comes…
When you feel your marriage beginning to crumble in crisis, fragments of unresolved issues, confusion, and pain can shatter your dreams and expectations for the life you thought you had. You feel all alone. You look around and see two camps of people: One camp with marriages intact, happily moving forward in their lives; the other camp with people who…
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus as our Savior. That, of course, is the most important thing about Christmas. But Christmas is also a time we want to be with family and perhaps—for just a moment—linger on memories of Christmases past. Two months ago I lost my brother. During my years as a young girl, he was my…
IN THE WEE HOURS of Tuesday morning I sat beside our much-loved 15 year old Akita as he passed from this life. With grief flooding my heart, I prayed that he was entering into a Heaven where God promises that “the wolf will live with the lamb.” Although scripture doesn’t specifically say it, I interpret that to mean that our…
My friend looked visibly shaken as she crossed the floor of the restaurant to join me at the table. When I asked how her family was doing, she burst into tears. “Melanie and Ron are getting a divorce,” she said. As she continued telling me the story of her daughter’s marital collapse, I could hear the pain in her words….
Recently I sat at a table having dessert with four women who are presently in different stages of transition after marital crisis, some in recovery, others experiencing continued uncertainty and/or upheaval. One of the women whose marriage had made tremendous progress toward healing, began talking about the importance of “letting go,” a subject I also talk about frequently. The young…