Dear Friend, As family and friends begin to make plans for Thanksgiving, the observance is expected to be filled with food and laughter, celebrating the holiday that started with the pilgrim’s grateful hearts, way back in 1621. As this year’s celebration draws closer, plans to celebrate with a big and fabulous meal go into motion. Turkeys, fresh and frozen, fill grocery store refrigerators and freezers, and soon find their way into homes, as families await the big day. Consumers purchase loads of pumpkin pie filling and whipped cream. Thanksgiving decorations are hung on doors or arranged on shelves above the…

Healing and restoration is a process. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t happen as quickly as many of us wish. I had to first begin to painfully expose my secrets to trustworthy brothers and sisters in the Church. While I fully expected their rejection, I experienced instead their love and care, acceptance and compassion. This simple act of exposing my true thoughts and struggles took the fuse out of the interior bomb of my wounded soul. I began implementing the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, slightly adapting the principles to fit my own situation. I took my journals, opening up my “dark…

We come to God’s Altar and we make our marriage vows. I said, “I choose you, _________ to be my beloved husband. You said, “I choose you, _________, to be my beloved wife. Together we said. “From this day forward, to become one with you and to share all that is to come, and I promise to love you, to care for you, and to be faithful to you until death parts us.” We get into the car, the Marriage Car. You are in the driver seat and I am on the passenger side. Later there are children are in…

Like so many others have done, do now, and will do when they search for their identity, I was looking for my core sense of who I was. Is one’s identity tied inexorably to his or her genetics and genealogy? Are we destined to be the product of our ancestors’ genetics and parenting styles? Can we rise above bad parental examples? I come from Polish and Indian roots. My family was deeply broken and full of pain. And, had I not met and married Mark Shick, who introduced me to my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, I suspect I would…

Job seemed to have an established, solid identity: blameless, upright, God-fearing, wealthy man. For a time, Satan stole that identity from him. But Job’s identity—and his wealth—was restored when he came to fully understand God’s identity as the sovereign creator and judge. But something much bigger was going on in Satan’s attack on Job. Satan was actually attacking God. Essentially, Satan accused God of bribing people to obey and follow Him Satan often still does the same thing when he attacks us—he attacks God through us. When we think of an enemy, we often look at another person. But remember,…

The Bible tells us God created the world and everything in it, including humans; the Bible reveals both human sin and every person’s need of a savior from sin. The Bible also plainly states God created just two genders: “When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them” (Genesis 5:1-2). When a person claims to be of a third gender (or of the gender opposite of his or her birth), then we can be certain that demonic forces are behind that person’s confusion. Those demonic forces are attempting to…

Everyone is on a journey of self-discovery. For me, that journey involved a period of crossdressing—and also in finding comfort in God’s deep love. The first incident I can recall of moving in the direction of crossdressing was at about age 8, when I painted my face, as if I were a woman wearing makeup. A bit later, at a scout pageant celebrating knights of old, we wore outfits that looked like dresses. I wore mine again at home, and when I did it felt more like a dress to me. Following that episode, for several years, I secretly wore…

Have you ever admitted to God, “I’m done. There’s nothing left of me”? What can we do? The Word of God directs us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Yet we often forget to pray consistently, passionately. In fact, we may pray only when we feel desperate or hopeless. How can we move toward more meaningful, intimate conversations with God? First, avoid “meaningless repetition” and “empty phrases” (Matthew 6:7). Anyone can fall into this trap. Instead of repeating words and phrases that sound spiritual, use honest, sincere words that reflect your actual feelings. God cares about your heart, your…

H4F Blog Childhood hurts are not forgotten How important is the influence of each parent to the overall health of a developing child? Molly, a former female to male transgender, wrote, “I really believed that somehow my parents divorce was my fault, that if I had been the son my father wanted, he would not have left. I knew at a very young age that the only name chosen prior to my birth had been a boy’s name.” John White in his book Eros Redeemed states that tour gender identity has to do with our sense or perception of our…

Even as a child I suspected something was different about my dad—and not only because he was so distant from my siblings and me. He seemed to be unable relate to children, and he had no idea how to express love to any of us. Even when he was physically nearby, he wasn’t really there. Sometimes I longed for a dad—a real one who would want to spend time with me. I couldn’t understand why we kids had to be like statues—never allowed to show joy or happiness.         As a young teenager, I wanted to find a replacement for…