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Finding Help Shouldn’t Be This Hard, Should It?
By Vanessa Rasanen I am not the most private person — classic oversharer, here. It’s pretty easy to open up, to let people in, and to yammer on about even the hardest of situations with others, and I have always processed situations — especially difficult ones — by talking. If I try to keep it inside and handle it on my own, it seems stifling, suffocating. Yet, I have also spent years upon years individually processing and analyzing my life experiences and the resulting scars. Tirelessly. Endlessly. That horse? It was beaten to death long ago. After years of self reflection, some growth, and much prayer many of my scars…
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Jesus, mental health, and shame
By Heidi Goehmann The choice to take any medication is a big one. Popping a Tylenol in for a headache in our daily life may not weigh heavily on us, but even deciding to give our child an antibiotic or drag our adult selves to the doctor is a big one. Breadth of need, side effects, and co-pays all factor in to our decision to take or avoid a medication. But I see a not-so-new trend rearing its head in the matter – shame. The reality is that we all have an opinion. We want to care for ourselves and our families, the very best that we can. We want…
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Sexual Abuse and Marriage
I am a new “convert” to the LCMS because of my marriage. I was raised Baptist, in a very strict home. My parents seemed intent on keeping ALL things sexual in nature from our home. Not a mention of it, not in movies, music, nothing. I rebelled a ton as a teenager and wound up being sexually abused by a couple of men, one of whom was double my age, when I was only 15. My husband, likewise, had several one night stands during a short phase in college. We never realized how these things affected our marriage until recently. Neither of us feels any palpable jealousy or upset over…
