temparbor

The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 5

[This is the true story of the darkest few months of my life. I hope and believe others can learn from it. It revolves around my daughter Anna, and Anna has reviewed and given her consent for me to post each of the parts in this series. It is her desire for others toContinue reading “The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 5”

The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 4

The plan was to send Anna to an in-patient treatment facility after she was discharged from the hospital. The hospital had plans to send Anna to a place that her mom was not comfortable with. I shared Christy’s opinion, but there’s only one mama bear. Thankfully she stood her ground and insisted on doing researchContinue reading “The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 4”

The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 3

The open house on Saturday came off without a hitch. Other than Christy and I having to make up a reason that our youngest daughter was not at our oldest daughter’s open house, of course. We told everyone she was spending a few days being monitored at the hospital for a reaction she had toContinue reading “The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 3”

The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 2

When Anna woke up I quickly pulled myself together. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I was still scared and angry. I approached her bed and said, “You know that more than anything in the world right now I want to put on my counselor hat and figure out why andContinue reading “The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 2”

The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 1

[This is the true story of the darkest few months of my life. I hope and believe others can learn from it. It revolves around my daughter Anna, and Anna has reviewed and given her consent for me to post each of the parts in this series. It is her desire for others to learnContinue reading “The Almost-Suicide of My Daughter, prt. 1”

Who’s going to call me princess?

My wife teaches in Davison. Several years ago she was teaching 2nd grade at Central, Davison’s largest elementary school. Eric Lieske, current Davison Schools superintendent was principle of Central at that time. Eric had just been promoted to Assistant Superintendent. The announcement was made one day at the school and my wife noticed that oneContinue reading “Who’s going to call me princess?”

Church, the enemy of our solitude

Recent studies have shown that the average congregation on a Sunday morning can tolerate only fifteen seconds of silence before someone feels compelled to break it with an announcement, a song…or whatever. Too often the church is the enemy of our solitude. Too often the church is one more agent in the vast social conspiracyContinue reading “Church, the enemy of our solitude”

Grumblers

The antithesis of giving thanks is grumbling. The grumblers live in a constant state of self-induced stress. …they bellyache about the unfairness of life, the paucity of their gifts, the insensitivity of their spouse and employer, the liberals who are destroying the [country] and the conservatives who have deserted their post, the hot weather andContinue reading “Grumblers”

Pain is our mother

And though we love to numb the pain We come to learn that it’s in vain Pain is our mother She makes us recognize each other — Linford Detweiler I have long said that stories of brokenness and failure bind a community together much more than stories of success and victory. Not there’sContinue reading “Pain is our mother”

Things that are normal

thefallencleric.com is all moved over to the new server. Thanks for your patience. People struggle to know what is normal. It seems everyone freaks out if they find they are not normal in some way, and yet no one wants to feel they are normal in every way. After eighteen years of working with people,Continue reading “Things that are normal”