Tag: anxiety disorder
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Holding Space in a Season of Holy Saturdays
Holy Saturday 2019 In the Christian tradition, Holy Saturday is the space between the pain of Jesus being nailed to the cross and the joy that will come with resurrection on Easter. On Holy Saturday we acknowledge that we don’t always know what hope will look like tomorrow. We hold space and we wait. In…
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Hard Choices and the Space Between
It’s been almost 3 years since we made the decision to use medication as a tool to help my son manage his mental health. 3 years of the trial and error that is inherent to the delicate balance between brain chemistry and drug efficacy. 3 years of weighing potential and actual side effects against positive…
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Make a Wish – Part 2
In the first part of this post, I talked about World Mental Health Day and how the significance of that date was different for me this year, as my son was about to turn 13. That was yesterday. Now we’re at today, and suddenly I have a teenager living in my house – a teenager…
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Make a Wish – Part 1
October 10th. World Mental Health Day. Also the day before my son turns 13. When he wakes up tomorrow he will have made another trip around the sun while living with anxiety and depression, and will morph from being a child battling mental illness to being a teenager battling mental illness. The fact that the focus…
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Grace, Grit, and an Unfinished Story
The idea for this blog first took root in my heart as I sat in the sanctuary of Riviera United Methodist Church on Maundy Thursday of 2016. This is the church that has been my spiritual home for 17 years and my place of employment for almost 7 years. It is also the place where…
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Letting Go of the Security Blanket
We are now one week into summer vacation for my kids. Which means we are now one week into being solidly past our elementary school years – a fact I am just beginning to fully acknowledge. It’s not that I am sappy, mushy, and in denial about my kids growing up. Frankly, I enjoy them…
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(Failure to) Thrive…
My son was born tongue-tied. Literally. Many people don’t know that tongue-tie is an actual thing…Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) is a condition present at birth that restricts the tongue’s range of motion. An unusually short, thick or tight band of tissue (lingual frenulum) tethers the bottom of the tongue’s tip to the floor of the mouth. The…
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Note to self…
Dear Dena, Today started with an email from your son’s therapist that included this…”It seems increasingly urgent that we meet ASAP to collaborate more closely and consider what may be needed for O at this time. He does seem to be deteriorating over the last several months now.” It’s not that you didn’t see that…
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Donating My Birthday
It’s my Birthday Week. When my husband and kids asked what I want for my birthday, I told them nothing – actually I told my husband that I want to come home to a clean house when I get home on Sunday evening from a weekend trip with our daughter 😉 But what I’d really…
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Look Closer
Ahhh, TimeHop. It’s so great for a smile or a laugh first thing in the morning. It’s also so great at reminding me of the things a picture can’t capture, but remain true and in my memory even so. On this day 3 years ago we went to the LA Time Festival of Books at…
We're All A Little Broken 