“I am your only shot. No one else is coming for you.” I remember a friend of mine recounting these words. Her sister-in-law heard them from the man she was then-dating; and, worse, her sister-in-law believed him. Before she knew it, she was his wife... and he was everything you would expect him to be: demanding, unkind, belittling, and a complete, hypocritical fraud who presented well in public and not in private. As a teenager, I felt so sorry for this woman even though the event had occurred twenty years prior. She eventually divorced him and managed on her own with her children; but, the … [Read more...]

As his hands approached mine, tears sprung to my eyes. “Breathe, Heather, just breathe.” Slowly I reached out and took the balled-up snake. My friend came with me to the Pet Aquatic Wearhouse to witness this event (though she surprisingly did not ask for a turn holding the snake), and to take my picture “snuggling” my new snake friend. For a few minutes, I stood there feeling a bit shocked and a bit thrilled. Anyone who knows me knows snakes are near the top of my no way list. To be fair, I have a Biblical reason ~smile~… The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, … [Read more...]

Do you ever have recurring dreams? Dreams which show up randomly, sometimes year after year, and take your mind and emotions for a ride? If so, you have my empathy. I have experienced the same genre dream for about twenty years. The settings are different, but the dreams always end the same way. Dressed in white, I start walking tentatively towards the altar and groom-to-be when I realize, “I cannot do this! I cannot marry this man!” (note: these men are not Eric) Then I turn, flee down the aisle, and I can see his face and feel his anguish and rejection in my sleep. It is gut-wrenching. … [Read more...]

One Sunday on the way home from church, I remember verbally processing a recent conversation to Eric. While I talked, he patiently listened and I said, “I just wish I knew what she really meant by what she said.” After a while, Eric responded, “Do you know why men do not struggle as much as women do with this? We assume the person talking to us means what he or she says.” Oh, the jealousy. I thought, “How nice it must be not to overthink everything!” A few years later, I finally got the nerve (mostly motivated by hurt) to confront an old friend of mine who I believed was pushing me … [Read more...]

Most people I now talk to agree that this world is on a fast boat to crazy town. Yesterday, I was watching a TV show from the 1980s and they portrayed a young man with a short, green-dyed ponytail as a problem child. Considering today’s issues, that hair choice being problematic now seems laughable. Over the last couple of years, it seems like we see the book of Revelations unfold daily. When I look at the world around us, my heart seizes in fear; but, then the Holy Spirit reminds me of Who holds the world and my heart eases. The below passage is a beautiful reminder that true freedom comes … [Read more...]