Mental Health
Posted on December 20, 2024
by Ruth Barz, tLMHC
Like the Jews of the Old Testament, many of us assumed that the Messiah’s birth was supposed to protect us from all the pain and struggle of this world. We thought you moved into the neighborhood, Lord? All the pain, disappointment, fear, and uncertainty in life can leave each of us wondering where the hope is this Christmas.
Mental Health
Posted on December 2, 2024
While there can be a lot of stress associated with gift-giving, studies have shown how thoughtful generosity boosts happiness. This is especially true when you throw a bit of creativity into the mix! Lutheran Family Service has a few tips to ease your gift-giving anxiety.
Mental Health
Posted on October 17, 2024
by Rev. Jonathan Conner
If you want to avoid being swept down the cultural river toward the ocean of disordered minds, fractured relationships, and listless lives, these are the significant life changes you need to do. If you want richly meaningful lives defined by a mature spirituality, robust relationships, and profound wonder and gratitude, these are the changes you must make.
Mental Health
Posted on September 30, 2024
by Rev. Jonathan Conner
Since 2010, when smartphones became ubiquitous and social media usage began to explode, we have seen double and triple digit percentage increases in loneliness, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among young people. Imagine if we discovered that something in our water was causing similar increases in cancer. Would you remain indifferent?
Church Worker Wellness
Posted on August 15, 2024
by Toni Larson, LISW
The start of the new school year is a great time for church workers to regroup for the coming seasons of the church, especially in the area of self-care. Take the time to organize and assess the supplies you need for your wellness backpack. It will be well worth the effort.
Church Worker Wellness
Posted on July 12, 2024
by Rev. Nathan Grewe
The ironic thing about change is that we cannot change the fact that we will, in fact, experience change. Transition and change are a universal realities. We rely on the promises of God in a way that surpasses all our human understanding.
Mental Health
Posted on May 3, 2024
by Lindy Hinckley, tLMFT
If you’ve ever been on a trip to a specific destination, there is nothing more troublesome and annoying than seeing a detour sign or even worse, a roadblock. A detour sign can take you miles out of your chosen way, and a roadblock usually doesn’t offer any other alternative but to turn around. Shame can be at best a detour, and at worst a roadblock to our emotional and spiritual well-being.
Mental Health
Posted on March 8, 2024
by Lindy Hinckley, tLMFT
Wearing someone else’s shoes, walking around in their skin, even borrowing a different lens are all metaphors for the same thing: learning to view circumstances or events from a new perspective. One of the ways in which we can view circumstances or events in a new way is by developing empathy.
Mental Health
Posted on February 28, 2024
by Rev. Jonathan Conner
Nobody enjoys bad days, but everybody has them. Sometimes it’s only one. Sometimes it’s several in a row. Other times they pile up. So when bad days come (not if!), what do we do? Because you are going to have bad days, you need a plan for them.
Mental Health
Posted on February 13, 2024
by Virginia Strubbe, MSW, CSW-PIP
1 in every 3 deaths in the US is related to cardiovascular disease. There is a documented connection between heart health and mental health. Daily stressors, social isolation and loneliness, anxiety, and depression are linked to increased risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Maybe you or someone you love could be the “1” in 3.
