Category: mental health
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Emotional Hangover | FaithFacts
I received an email yesterday thanking me for my contribution to an online forum depicting real stories of chaplain experience. To be honest, the email threw me because I had no recollection of submitting any stories to any forum. I had to look back through the email to see the date I sent the original…
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The Great Awakening
*This is the longhand version of the sermon I preached on Sunday, March 16, 2025. I first write it out in longhand to organize and memorize my thoughts. I then create an outline from which to preach, backward from how most people write. I refer to my actual sermon as the cliff notes version. It…
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Gethsemani Journal
After cancer, I made a new birthday rule for myself. Every year, I would celebrate by either doing something I have never done before or something I fear. Post COVID, I expanded this to include taking a trip by myself, something reminiscent of trips I used to take to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky.…
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Advent Hope
(Longhand sermon notes for the first week of Advent: December 1, 2024) I scrapped my sermon twice, once because it started to feel more like I was gathering research for one of my seminary theology courses, and again after I heard a new song. As I prayed about it, God gave me very clear guidance:…
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Suicide?
Disclaimer: this post is about my personal mental health journey. It is not intended to be an in-depth or all-inclusive summation of suicide. If you or someone you love has an immediate need, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 9-8-8 or visit https://www.mentalhealth.gov/get-help/immediate-help. The tragic death of a young celebrity recently ignited rumors about what may…
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Audio Versions Now Available
I finally did it! All three of my completed works of fiction are now available in audio formats. The process was quite fun once I figured out what I was doing. I greatly enjoyed working with the producers. I loved listening to Life Before Me and One Step Away as Sawyer completed each chapter. I…
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I Promise. I Am Fine
I write this for those with whom I love who got understandably stuck on the first portion of my previous post – especially those who have experienced the grief and trauma of losing a loved one to suicide. I hope this post sets their mind at ease. I hope those reading with mental health issues…
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Revival
I suppose it began on my birthday during my Galveston retreat with God when He revealed to me the extent of my unhappiness. It has lingered even in my safe place – work. Click HERE to read the post mentioned above. There is a long underground walkway connecting the building where the main chaplain offices…
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Never Meant to Be a Rock Star
As I adventure into drumming again, I contemplate what life at almost fifty would look like had that little girl never given up on a dream. Could I have made it as a rock star? Doubtful. Two memories vie for top billing as excuses for my dream deferred: ONE: After an argument with my sister,…
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The Morning After
I woke up this morning with a hangover, without the usual prerequisite of too much alcohol consumption the night before. What I experienced is what is referred to as an emotional hangover – after an emotionally charged day, I often wake up the next morning with hangover-like symptoms. I have been reading a book by…
TRA.Perspective 