Welcome to my new website and blog!

As I write this today, Minnesota has just experienced a shift from a warm week with temperatures in the 90’s to rainy and cool in the 60’s.  Drastic change in temperature, pressure, and humidity are, of course, all part of living in the Upper Midwest. Seasonal change is one of the reasons many of us enjoy living here - and the weather always gives us something to talk about!  However, the seasonal changes also mean new adjustments to the way we live our lives. My clients arrived for morning sessions in shorts and t-shirts, and by evening they arrived wearing fall jackets.

Seasons in life are like that too - often welcome, due to the variety and new experiences, but also requiring sometimes very quick adjustments in our lives.  Sometimes, the seasonal changes are painful and difficult, so much so that we wish we could go back to another time, another season.

This new website is illustrative of the new season for me, personally.  When my first website went live, primarily as a means to get the word out about my practice and also my then-new book, The Illusion of Control, I was Director of the Center for Christian Psychological Services, and busy in my role as psychologist as well.  I was an Associate Pastor at North Heights Lutheran Church, Director of the North Heights Counseling Clinic, and traveling as a conference speaker with Ruth Graham and Friends.

At home, we had four of our five children still living at home, with our oldest deeply involved with YWAM in Australia.  Managing home life meant Sherry was a full time mom, homemaker, administrator, taxi driver, volunteer, with a family calendar color-coded for each kid’s activities.

Ten years on, I am no longer on a church staff, no longer directing and training volunteer counselors, and no longer part of a larger psychology clinic, and Ruth Graham and Friends is no longer active.  We are down to one at home, and our youngest in her sophomore year in college. The oldest three are married and living in Australia, South Dakota, and Minneapolis. And Sherry is working full time in the Forest Lake Area High School as a Special Education Paraprofessional finding a new, exciting and rewarding career.

The seasons have changed, and changed, and changed again in these 10 years.  

Now, as you can see on the website, I am working alone out of a small office Roseville, grateful for the billing and support services of Aimee Petra and her staff at Professional Services Consultants so I can focus on helping my clients.   A different season indeed! With those seasonal changes, there have been struggles, heartache, and challenges, as well as wonderful moments of encouragement, gratifying work with clients, and opportunities to look for new opportunities.

While going through these seasons of change, I continue to hold onto my life verse, as being true for me, and for those with whom I work:

Ephesians 2: 8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Emphasis mine).

My hope is that I will continue to be guided by God and his Holy Spirit to those good works he has for me, and to encourage, prepare and support others as they discover what He has for them as well, and that this new website and blog will be an encouragement to those who find their way here.

And, may we all celebrate the many seasons of life as we experience and grow through them!