Monday Meditation: Why Are You Doing What You’re Doing?
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator Do you ever stop to ask yourself why are you doing what you are doing? In her book Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky writes: “Amid the trials and tribulations of our work, it is possible to […]
Addiction and Trafficking
Human trafficking is the second biggest growing criminal industry in the world. When we think about human trafficking, we often think of women sold into sex slavery in other countries, the movie Taken, or high-level international crime rings. In reality, trafficking happens locally, as many people are trafficked by those they know and love. And […]
Monday Meditation: Seeking a New Narrative
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator Years ago while traveling through the West, I paid a memorable visit to Kartchner Caverns State Park. Located in the Whetstones, a mountain range in southeastern Arizona, this pristine limestone cave is decorated with speleothems – spectacular mineral deposits with whimsical names like cave bacon and soda […]
Monday Meditation: A Cry For Help
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator Where do you turn when you are struggling to survive, when you are experiencing oppression, when you are fighting forces and feelings that threaten to overwhelm you? For 1,000 years, people have turned to Psalm 18 to give voice to their experiences. The psalmist begins this timeless […]
Talking To Your Children About COVID19 (And Other Hard Things)
– Written by Elizabeth Scoville, Family Interventionist A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine was putting her eight-year-old son to bed, and he was crying. “What’s wrong?” she asked him. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.” Raise your hand if you agree with him. When COVID-19 pushed […]
Meditation Monday: Zacchaeus’ Transformation
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator Last Wednesday night, the clients at The Next Door took a deep dive into the story of Zacchaeus, as recorded in Luke 19:1-10, when they completed their Spiritual Wellness worksheets. Many of us first heard this story as children in church – I was certainly attracted […]
Meditation Monday: Running on Fumes
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator The Parable In Matthew 25:1-11, Jesus uses a parable about ten bridesmaids to describe the kingdom of heaven. In this story, the ten bridesmaids have gathered to await the bridegroom’s arrival, for they will accompany the groom in a festive procession to the wedding banquet. All ten bridesmaids have […]
Peacemakers & Justice Seekers: Responding to Recent Events
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator On Sunday, Christian churches around the world marked the holy day of Pentecost as they worshipped. Pentecost is commonly referred to as the birthday of the Church – the day when the Spirit of God was dramatically manifested through wind and fire and speech. This was […]
Monday Meditation: Disappointment
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator Disappointed. This word has been popping up repeatedly over the past few months as a result of the physical distancing necessary to minimize the impact of the pandemic. High school and college students are disappointed that they were not able to celebrate their academic achievements at traditional […]
How to Turn Unhealthy Coping Skills into Healthy Coping Skills
– Written by Morgan Coyner, Grant and Communications Coordinator It’s safe to say that the whole world is on edge right now. We watch as numbers of positive coronavirus cases increase and as the number of deaths continues to climb. Some of us are stuck at home, knowing it’s the right place to be, but […]
