In March 2016, I launched a blog. Technically, I started puttering around in November 2015, but it took me some time to launch.
I didn’t expect the size of my readers to grow to the number it has today. To date, my website has reached over 500,000 people. My courses on boundaries, resources for wives of addiction, and blog posts on topics like divorce, abuse, and marriage have helped many a woman searching for answers at midnight when her husband has not come home (again).
Read MoreThe majority of pastors I saw through my husband’s addiction suggested I pray, stay faithful, and never give up on my husband. In truth, that advice was without boundaries. Most relationships that don’t use boundaries won’t last.
My husband’s addiction was damaging to my family and my emotional health. Meanwhile, much of the Christian advice I was getting was lacking in Godly wisdom. What’s a girl to do?!
Read MoreWhat is mom guilt? Mom guilt is when you feel like the world's meanest, fattest, angriest, ugliest, most unsuccessful mother. You have day-mares about your kids ending up in jail and sleeping around when they are teenagers. You wear sweatpants all day and want to give up. (Just me?)
Read MoreThe publishing world is robust, complex, confusing and can be daunting for a new author. In fact, some stats claim only 1% of submitted manuscripts get published by a traditional publisher. ONE PERCENT! I don’t know if that number is true, but what I do know is book publishing is a long and arduous process.
Read MoreThere's no secret that living with an addicted loved one is HARD! There are a thousand complications and nuances that make these relationships different from those we experience with the healthy and free people we love.
Read MoreThe conversation is as vivid as if it happened yesterday. A few high school friends and I were discussing what we wanted to do in life. I surprised myself and everyone else by saying, “I want to be a brain surgeon.” It wasn’t a lifelong goal. It was a spur of the moment boast but it stuck in my head. Those careless words directed much of my life for the next decade.
Read MoreI fell into a marriage with addiction, by fall, I mean, fell head over heels. I didn't want to live a perfect life, and I loved the party. I have always found going to a bar to be more enjoyable than Bible study. When I was first introduced to drugs, I thought they were fantastic. Aside from the fact that my parents were going to kill me, for the first time in my life, I wasn't shrouded in insecurity. The alternative crowd, the everything-in-moderation mentality, the excitement of the rave- it made me feel like I could be myself; darkness and all.
Read MoreI'm not exactly sure when my food obsession began, but looking back at pictures I see I was overweight by the time I was 3 years old. I remember when I was about ten, and my mom left me home alone for the first time. Scared yet excited about this new freedom, I sat on the carpeted floor in our kitchen (carpeted kitchens were a thing in the 80s) crying and eating ice cream out of the container.
Read MoreHave you ever been trapped inside of a house with nowhere to go with a raging alcoholic? No, me either, but I don’t want to be. I can imagine it feels much like a poor child would being trapped inside with a raging parent. Not much food. School is gone. What is happening?
Read MoreTwo very different types of marital relationships need to be acknowledged when we're talking about alcohol; the first is a marriage that has not suffered the effects of addiction, the second has.
Before I met my husband, I had been in a few relationships. Ahem. None were like the one with my husband. For the purpose of this article, and so I don't confuse you, let's call them "typical" and "atypical" relationships.
Read MoreI dated my husband for almost 10 years before we married.
Well, on and off but still it was quite a long relationship. When we finally got married in 2010, l was over the moon excited like any new bride would be. But once we started living together I realized he had a few habits that rubbed me the wrong way (and l probably had habits that got to him too, but he never mentioned anything to me).
Read MoreI used to think bravery meant fighting for victory. I’d push my way forward, take the leap and conquer my fiercest fears. My bold actions were the “proof” of my courage. And while it’s true that bravery can be found in doing these things, the most recent years of my life have revealed a quieter form of courage. It’s a silent strength that comes in the shape of surrender, something I’ve never been great at.
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