A helpful hand to those out of work. by Constance B. Fink Even though you may not have personally heard the words “Your services are no longer needed” or “The company is downsizing” or “You’re fired,” chances are you know someone who has. The impact of one pink slip reaches far beyond the individual….
Author: nowwhat
Teaching Shane
A problem student becomes anunusual answer to prayer. by Lonna Enox I recognized the name as I glanced over the temporary roster for third period sophomore English. No! I spent a few moments in private ranting about the injustice before starting on a seating chart. Why did I always get the Shanes* in my…
Dusty Feet
The painful process of leaving the pastbehind and embracing the future. by Candace Simar “This is your thirty-day notice.” My young boss tilted back in his chair and stretched out his legs in front of him. “Your job is being eliminated.” Everything slipped into slow motion. The blood drained from my face. “It’s a…
Encouraging the Unemployed-Resources
Recommended Reading When God Doesn’t Make Sense by James Dobson (Tyndale House Publishers, 1993) This is a practical book for those going through difficulties, such as disease, divorce, rejection, death, or sorrow. Experiences like these are hard to understand and seem unfair. Dr. James Dobson, a Christian psychologist and family counselor, writes this book…
Coping With Job Stress
How we can keep from dreading the workday. by Harold “Doc” Arnett Have you heard that novelty song from the early sixties about the reluctant cavalry member who begged to be excused from the Battle of Little Big Horn? As the troops mounted and headed to battle, he kept lamenting, “Please, Mr. Custer, I…
Surviving the Pain of Suicide
From horror and hurt to healing and hope. by Judy Bruns When my mother took her life, she took a part of mine, too. It felt as though she had rejected me, along with her faith in a God who sees us through. Didn’t she love me? Didn’t she love God? Didn’t she care…
A Quiet Place
A change from the chaos of uncertainty. by Constance B. Fink Wednesday, January 29, 1997, was one of those days that becomes a point of reference for the rest of life, when events are explained as having occurred either “before” or “after.” It started as a typical day in a rural Midwestern town in…
Making Contact
by Anna R. Hageman “I don’t know what to do!” The caller’s voice was racked with anguish. “I can’t go on this way, and I can’t go back and do it again.” “Would you like to tell me what happened?” Diane Steward asked empathetically. Within an hour she had learned of the caller’s financial,…
My Right to Die
by Beth Swain “I have a problem about wanting to die.” I struggled to get the words out while sounding casual. After months of thinking about suicide, this was my first attempt at talking about it. Maybe sounding casual would soften the impact of my disclosure in this, my first counseling session. Odd…
Life, Death, and Euthanasia
by Kimn Swenson Gollnick When Eleanor James’ father developed esophageal cancer in 1990, questions about compassion for the dying and assisted suicide leaped out of the news and became reality for her family. As her father’s health deteriorated, they admitted him into hospice care. Eleanor and her family visited him daily. She later wrote…