Roe V Wade was overturned yesterday and my social media feeds have been permeated with Pro-Choicers spewing arguments that are complete nonsense, whether I was a pro-lifer based in Christianity (or any religion) or a pro-lifer based in atheism. I will present those arguments and provide logical and scientific reasons why they are invalid. You may say “there is no absolute truth, truth is subjective.” If you do, you just contradicted yourself already and made a poor argument. To say definitely that no absolute truth exists, you are defining subjective truth as absolute truth…
There is a trend in psychology going around about understanding and healing your inner child. I have never understood it until today. I think a reason seasonal depression hits me, is it brings back feelings and memories that were uncomfortable or negative for younger me. I sat on social media and observed the “memories” that it had for me for today. That only exacerbated my mood. Lost friends, past failures, broken relationships, etc. Nothing changes if nothing changes, so I took action.
Today, I chose to listen to my inner child. I chose to serve my inner child. I chose to embrace my inner child.
Picture this. It is Sunday morning. You are attending your Sunday morning church service, yearning to experience God, working to deepen your knowledge of God, and aiming to deepen your relationship with God. You are in the middle of the musical worship portion of the service when people slam through the sanctuary doors with a ruckus. But it doesn’t stop there. They loudly speak to people throughout the congregation. Would you be distracted? I would be. Would it interrupt your worship? It would for me.
The Stages of Change Model is a key tool in addiction counseling and recovery. We can see the Stages of Change model active in more than just recovery from substances, but instead in any type of change we are endeavoring to make. This model even describes when the Holy Spirit starts convicting us for things in our life that are not of God.
Recently, I have encountered many Christians who say that addiction is not a disease it is purely a matter of choice and self-control. As somebody in recovery and finishing up his Masters in Addiction Counseling, I firmly say that is bologna, and can be a very dangerous and harmful thing to say.
The Stages of Change Model is a key tool in addiction counseling and recovery. We can see the Stages of Change model active in more than just recovery from substances, but instead in any type of change we are endeavoring to make. This model even describes when the Holy Spirit starts convicting us for things in our life that are not of God.
First of all, I think recovery groups work miracles for many people. I have seen many people achieve and maintain sobriety in groups like NA and AA. I have no problem with the recovery groups and I often use the principles I learned in them in ministry and counseling. It is a great tool. That is what recovery groups are; they are a tool. Just like any tool, they do not work in every situation. In other words, what works for one person may not work for another. It is important to have several tools in your toolbelt, especially in sobriety.
Self-awareness is important when we are trying to improve in both our areas of strengths and areas of weaknesses. We have to make sure we are building our strengths, while also working and acknowledging our points of weakness. Through many years of getting counseling, taking spiritual formation classes, and taking time to get to know myself, I have come to the realization, that I am a unique person. There are very few out there like me, which is not a good or bad thing. It is just a thing. I appreciate and love myself for who God made me to be and is still making me into. I have taken so many personality exams through my schooling and written reports about my “style” to take some time to sit back and reflect on who I am. Now, I am not saying these labels defined who I am, but they help me see blind spots and help me realize areas where I shine. Here are a couple of those labels.
It took me 4 years to find a medication combination that worked for my depression/bipolar/adhd/anxiety. After being on the medication (sometimes inconsistently), I can say I am medication free. I know God can heal, but just because he can does not mean that He will. Ultimately, it is for his glory. I always viewed my healing story as one where I would have to take medication for the rest of my life. Every time I tried stopping my medication, I got really sick and my depression got really bad.
