Mentally Preparing for the Holidays

While every family is unique, we here at Morning Light Christian Counseling can only imagine that your holiday gatherings will look somewhat different from last year’s. For some that may only mean minor changes, but others may be facing larger adjustments such as canceling events, paring back Christmas spending, or preparing for family dinners knowing there will be less faces around the table than last year.

Boundaries in Marriage

We all have expectations in regards to how we want to be treated or how we want life to go. Conflict can arise however when those expectations go unspoken or unnamed. Expectations are not bad things, but in today’s culture, both expectations and boundaries can get a bad rep.

One Partnership, Different Needs

Has caring for someone ever felt like a tidal wave that threatens to overtake you? Ignoring the symptoms of compassion fatigue can lead to frustration, burnout, their own health issues, stress, and anxiety.

Everything You Need to Know About Compassion Fatigue

Has caring for someone ever felt like a tidal wave that threatens to overtake you? Ignoring the symptoms of compassion fatigue can lead to frustration, burnout, their own health issues, stress, and anxiety.

Grieving During a Pandemic

Our whole world has entered into a collective grieving over the COVID-19 pandemic. Since early 2020, people have experienced grief over a wider spectrum of losses, often compounded with multiple losses at the same time:

How to Improve Relationships Using Boundaries: Part 2

We all have expectations in regards to how we want to be treated or how we want life to go. Conflict can arise however when those expectations go unspoken or unnamed. Expectations are not bad things, but in today’s culture, both expectations and boundaries can get a bad rep.

How to Improve Relationships Using Boundaries

We see the benefits in setting boundaries when it comes to the quality of our air or food or keeping wild animals away from the public, but when it comes to boundaries with parents, spouses, children, or coworkers, it’s easy to miss the role they play in building healthy relationships.

Four Easy Ways to Listen to Your Teenager Better

The dreaded teenage years. Ever wonder how you got here? Suddenly your mostly well-behaved, respectful kid is a landmine of emotions just waiting to explode.

One Key to Prevent Childhood Abuse

Ashamed, I avoided eye contact with the teacher and pretended to not pay attention.  It was easier to pretend I wasn’t listening than to acknowledge the truth.

I did not want to admit that I couldn’t read as well as my other classmates.  I felt behind and stupid. Each time I had to read aloud, my face felt hot and my palms began to sweat.  How would I ever be able to read?

Everything changed when one teacher took the time to really help me.  She began using a different curriculum and I immediately started to get the hang of reading.  She believed I could read, equipped me to do so, and told me I was doing a good job. That teacher’s empowerment made all the difference to my first-grade self. 

4 Steps to Achieve Bigger Goals

I remember the first time I tried lifting weights.  I was a kid and my dad had some weights stored in my playroom.  I thought lifting weights looked fun. My sister and I asked my dad if we could try out a few bench presses.  Despite our objections, my dad removed the stacks of weight from either side. He told us to start with just the bar.  We rolled our eyes at his suggestion. Just the bar? Really? That sounded like baby stuff.

Well, to an experienced weightlifter, yes, just a bar is baby stuff.  However, to two elementary school girls, it was not baby stuff.  We were able to lift the bar…a couple times.  A few lifts and we were done. Exhausted. Wiped out.  Compared to our dad, we were weak. We wondered how we could ever lift weights like him.