Tag: Health

“…but, she’s an addict”

I get it.

I was sheltered, blah blah blah. I haven’t ever spiraled into worldly darkness at the mercy of a bottle nor have I ever hung out with people who have.

Maybe that’s what keeps a steady hope hanging out under my eyelids. Maybe that’s why I’m pushing against the callouses people wear around like fashion in this line of work.

“Go to rehab? She’s not going to rehab – 100 bucks says she used this morning and she’ll use tonight.”

“He used once? No, he’s an addict. Addicts don’t just use once.”

“They’ve been clean for 10 years, they said? Still addicts.”

The conversations are circular because I want so desperately to believe that people can change, that they can tell the truth, that they can love their kids more than they love their addictions. But people in this line of work have watched people never change, never tell the truth, and always choose their addictions over their children.

So, experience says I’m foolish and green and too wide-eyed.

I get that.

And I don’t want to be foolish about my hope. But, there is one thing I wish was more culturally acceptable to introduce into conversations about addicts.

“…but, she’s an addict.”
“But, have you met my Jesus?”

And so I pray. I pray that things work out differently – for softened hearts and humble spirits. I pray for the addicts who are helpless against their vices. And in them I see me. I see the human condition. I see that we need Jesus. And so I pray.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy
Posted on by Caroline 12

if it doesn’t break your heart it isn’t LOVE

I just want to say something… a simple something with switchfoot as accompaniment.

Few things hurt more than watching beautiful, amazing, inspiring, lovely kids live without the unconditional love of their parents. It can be a kid on the street or a kid in my office. Oh, boy… it HURTS to hear of empty houses and awkward dinner conversations and all sorts of cover-ups that make it seem okay.

it’s NOT okay.

This is a link for a free download of a Switchfoot song covered by Darren King of Mutemath. It’s called, “Yet” and these words keep playing over in my heart today:

If it doesn’t break your heart, it isn’t love.

what is breaking your heart today?

let LOVE fly like CrAzY

Posted on by Caroline 0

Whom Shall I Fear?

 

Is this the way ?
Image by Lionoche via Flickr

 

If you have ever been near me when a door slams or a bell rings or a balloon pops or a loud noise sounds, you might know of my irrational reaction. It is safe to say that surprises often end with me on the floor or clutching the nearest person’s sweater.

Even if you don’t have an extremely embarrassing, undiagnosed and somewhat questionable condition like mine, you still might find yourself, at times, afraid.

We shouldn’t be surprised. A life completely void of fear would be … well, it would be heaven and we can all admit we’re not there yet.

So, what do we do with this thing called fear? There are so many things in this world that make us want to hide under the table or curl up under the covers or find a friend for comfort. Everything in our world seems impossibly broken, which has us constantly running for cover.

Maybe you fear grades or parents or the weekend or strangers or your future plans. Or maybe you fear the things you hide deep down inside yourself – those things you’ve allowed no one to know.

In Psalm 27, David shows us that fear is not something to get over or pass through, but rather something that requires daily persistence to live confident of God’s protection. He writes, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

However easy this sounds, David does not stop with these questions. He vividly describes some of the worst enemies – the things in his life very worthy of fear. In light of these, he writes, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”

David knows the only safe and secure place for his soul is where the Lord dwells. The Lord fears nothing, for He created everything.

What better place to find shelter from our fears? “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” Find yourself safe in the Lord today.

This appeared in the last High School Guidance Newsletter.

are you going to

let LOVE fly like CRAZY
today?

Posted on by Caroline 0