I sat deep in thought at the nurse’s station as monitors beeped softly from the darkened rooms of the four-bed intensive care unit. “Your patients…
Tears coursed down my cheeks. Why didn’t he call or come home? How could he say he didn‘t remember where he’d been? My chest constricted,…
A rainy day in Texas. The winter wind blew briskly on the wet gravesite. Those of us standing there sang “Amazing Grace” with more true…
The snow was falling as my husband and I drove through the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico. Some snow covered the ground, but we were…
“Going to Texas. Nice knowing you.” The handwritten note on the TV set stunned me. It was from my wife Daneen. Without saying anything to…
Somewhere inside, my brain knew it was cold. I saw white puffs when I breathed. I heard the wind whipping the chains on the courthouse…
I stared in the mirror at the bruises covering my thighs, abdomen, and breasts, then crumpled onto my bed. Those dark bruises on my body…
Pornography. Just the harmless pastime of curious boys and sex-deprived men — or so I thought. My perception of pornography changed dramatically when a friend…
One night while I watched TV with my twelve-year-old daughter, Joanna, an actress appeared on the screen. She was about my age, with a slender…
I was dusting the top shelf when I found it: a brown paper bag resting neatly on top of a row of theology books. Ironic,…
“Can you come with me?” my mother’s tearful voice asked over the phone. “Grandpa’s dying.” The hospital had sent her father home with medication to…
The doors to Mercy Hospital swung open to me – again. For ten years, my husband and I have battled the horror and heartache of…
I lived in a nightmare. I was studying to become a minister but knew I was being hypocritical: I was a sex addict. It was…
Tall, thin, and decided, he anchored our home and gave us a sense of completion. We held Daddy in awe; he taught us the Twenty-third…
One of my mother’s friends prayed over me while I grew inside the womb. Her prayers worked: I arrived a healthy baby girl after a…
Tears stung my red, puffy eyes. My heart felt like a thousand daggers had been thrust into it. As I watched Paul walk away, the…
The final strains of the wedding processional ring through the sanctuary. A radiant bride gazes into the eyes of the beaming groom and vows that…
Pulling my arm back, I heaved a brick through the jewelry store window. A burglar alarm stunned me with its loud, insistent ring. I jumped…
I glanced at my watch: 6:55 p.m. I couldn’t believe there were only five minutes left in youth group. For as far back as I…
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” — Colette [1] On a warm May evening in 1996, Jamie*, a…
I stood behind my bedroom door, fists clenched. “I’ll show them,” I vowed. “I’ll show them I don’t need them. I’ll show them I can…
For weeks I had tried to ignore the scars and open cuts on my sister’s arms and legs, but they stuck out like molehills burrowed…
“She was the largest and most luxurious ship afloat. On her maiden voyage, she epitomized the leading edge of the technology of the time, inspiring…
Life after abortion: Is there really such a thing? Although this thought didn’t consciously run through my mind, it burned deep within my heart. I…
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…
Five beers in under an hour — a new record. I’d lost count of the number of beer cans hidden under my bed. When I…
An insatiable monster crept into my life unnoticed. It started when I lost fifteen pounds. “You’re so thin!” people told me. “You look terrific!” I…
“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…
Most mothers think their children are the best at everything. That’s how I felt about my daughter, Kathy. She was beautiful: tall and slim with…
I was a seven-year-old cutie when I discovered my dad’s pornography. I had seen porn before at my uncle’s house. While it cut my female…
“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…
The letter sat on my desk, unopened. Why was I afraid to open it? Because I knew there was something in that letter I didn’t…
Why did I end up like this? How did my life turn out so wrong? These questions and many others rumbled like a freight train…
Alone in the darkness, tears blinding my eyes, I tried to follow the beam of headlights on the highway. Coming to a decision, I declared,…
Do you find yourself eating until you are out of control or almost sick? Or keeping secret stashes of food, such as chocolate, chips, or…
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler. And whoever is led astray by it is not wise (Proverbs 20:1). The Bible is full…
The statistics are startling. According to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among America’s youth. Focus Adolescent…
We had just gotten home from church when the phone rang. It was the Medical Center South. A nurse in ICU said she had been…
Ophelia, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, illustrates the destructive forces affecting young women. Ophelia is a typical girl, footloose and fancy-free. But she loses herself in adolescence….
The menacing topic came up in college. I arrived late to class and spotted the bright red letters penned on the dry erase board: ABORTION….
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…
Why does it seem so few people come forward for healing from homosexuality? Why do some simply declare it cannot be done and resist even…
While scanning the newspaper, my eyes rested on a short story about a crumbling marriage. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then laughter rose inside me…
The summer after I’d graduated from high school, I realized I was pregnant by my on-and-off-again boyfriend of the previous three years. The doctor advised…
Are you afraid to eat? Afraid of getting fat? Do you restrict what you eat when something in your life feels out of control? Do you regularly criticize…
Do you panic after you eat? Do you sometimes binge and then feel a strong urge to get rid of what you’ve eaten in one…
The rumble of traffic was deafening. Dust and exhaust fumes stung my eyes as I leaned against a telephone pole. Four o’clock on Tuesday afternoon;…
Gambling will consume your last cent and leave you frantically seeking new sources of cash. It has an insatiable appetite, demanding more and more. It…
I sat at the kitchen table, staring at a pack of cigarettes. I took one out of the pack and lit it. After tomorrow, I…
I was unmarried and pregnant. I knew abortion was wrong, but my boyfriend, Bob, insisted I have one. He was a musician, a “free spirit”…