The Banana Peel It was nearly eleven o’clock at night when the phone rang. I had just slipped into my pajamas after a regular 14 hour Sunday – and I was tired. It had been a good day, and I had just taken a bunch of youth out for pizza and dropped them off at…
The Victim Inside From a young age I have struggled to have my own sense of identity. I tried to listen to all of the voices and demands telling me who I should be and perform my way through life. A part of me wore a religious mask to spin the image of who I…
For so long, I thought that my battle was against the church leaders and others who had caused pain in my life. I was offended by the ways that they hurt me and the things that happened. The painful memories kept me trapped in the story with a bitter residue. I had felt powerless trying…
Breaking the Silence Years ago, when I was fresh out of bible college, I was passionate about God’s call on my life. I had a resounding YES in my heart and was willing to go wherever I thought that He was leading. One of those times led me to a solo move across the country…
It took me a long time to stop living in denial, but I was finally willing to embrace the whole story. I sat with the pain, admitted to it, and acknowledged the reality of my past. But inner healing comes in layers… There came a point where I looked back – seeing all – and…
Oftentimes when we tell stories from our past we talk about what happened to us – the events or circumstances that we faced and how we overcame them. Like a narrator, I spent years recounting the details of my testimony. But I had no idea that there was another version to my story that I…
As I slipped into the back, the speaker had already begun. I can’t remember the name of the class that night, but as I walked in she was telling a story about the Holy Spirit. Her eyes lit up as she recounted her adventures of hearing His voice so easily and simply, and how she…
Even as an adult, I was still feeling paralyzed by ghosts from my past. I was trying to move forward, and do life well, but I felt like a prisoner inside of my own mind, and could not figure out why. I didn’t understand how something from decades ago could still be haunting me today. …
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” – Maya Angelou Over the past few years, I have been opening up a part of myself that I never wanted to see again. It started when I began seeing a counselor to help me “deal” with the current problems in my…
I grew up in the Church and I must have heard the salvation message hundreds of times. My parents planted the church in our home when I was two, and they faithfully pastored there for nearly 40 years. As a pastors kid, I grew up going to multiple camps, conferences, and mission trips. I was “saved”…