New This Month: Links, Quotes, Books & More

Thank you to all who take the time to read my blog, whether or not you comment. I earnestly desire to inspire hope in the midst of despair, healing to the broken, and freedom to those chained down by burdens. I may not know you, but God knows you in every painful detail of your life, and I plead to Him to take you under His wings and care for you in all your needs and to give you hope, healing, and freedom in Jesus Christ!

 

This video inspires hope that anything is possible with God. An elderly man born with severe cerebral palsy creates incredible art key by key with his typewriter. What keeps him going day by day? His faith in God and his finger.

Jesus looked at them intently and said,
“Humanly speaking, it is impossible.
But with God everything is possible.”
~ Matthew 19:26

Books

✎ On the Threshold of Hope (AACC Counseling Library)
      by Diane Mandt Langberg

“On the Threshold of Hope offers hope and healing to men and women who have been traumatized by sexual abuse. Dr. Langberg’s insights and the quotations from many survivors assure readers that they are not alone and that Christ, the Redeemer, can heal their deep wounds. Through stories, Scripture, questions, and encouragement, Dr. Langberg walks with survivors on the road to healing through Christ’s love and power.” (Amazon Review)

I have not yet read this book, but it has spurred my interest when a leader in one of (In)courage‘s abuse support groups cited it: “In Diane Langberg’s book “On the Threshold of Hope” she writes, Healing will come through the power of the Redeemer. And it will come through giving voice to your emotions. Healing will come through replacing lies with truth and it will come through reconnecting with your body and learning to think about it differently. It will come as you are set free from your fears and enabled to move out in love. And it will come through learning the character of God as it is revealed in Christ Jesus.” (Langberg 139, 149, 159, 167, 177).

✎ Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing after Sexual Abuse
by Mary DeMuth

There are so many books on my wish list, so this is another book I haven’t read yet, but I’ve heard good things about it. I know I really identified with her memoir – Thin Places.

“Are you suffering the effects of sexual abuse? There is a way out. In Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing after Sexual Abuse, Mary DeMuth illuminates the way to go from shame-filled to joy-filled, from traumatized to finding enduring peace. This isn’t theory. Mary has lived it. She’s traveled this path and offers a uniquely qualified, insider’s view of the healing process.

Then Mary goes deeper-because often you’re not the only one who has suffered. Her husband Patrick comes alongside her and offers insights into how spouses can love a sexual abuse victim toward wholeness, and how this will bring your relationship a whole new level of strength.” (Amazon Review)

Hope Harbor

❀  GoodTherapy.Org: Helping People Find Therapists & Advocating for Ethical Therapy – “Ranked as one of the top therapist directories on the Internet, GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries worldwide who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy. GoodTherapy.org was founded by Noah Rubinstein, a licensed marriage and family therapist, in an effort to address and prevent therapists from misusing their power, getting their own needs met at the expense of their clients, violating boundaries, and treating clients in punitive and condescending ways. As an advocate for healthy psychotherapy, GoodTherapy.org educates the public about the differences between healthy and unhealthy psychotherapy practices and promotes collaborative and nonpathologically based approaches within the professional community.”

They also have some helpful articles. Here is one I found:

From Victim to Survivor to Thriver

❀ From Victim to Survivor to Thriver by Barbara Whitfield – In columns, Barbara lists characteristics of each one in progression.

❀ 20 Encouraging Bible Verses for the Brokenhearted – Bible verses and quotes for hurting souls

Nature Retreat

Did you know that “more than half of our North American birds are at risk from global warming, with many of them threatened with extinction?”

One Audubon member wrote: “Every morning, I watch the hummingbirds canoodle the trumpet vine, and I am in awe of such tiny miracles. Each of us needs to do our part to preserve the world with which we are blessed. I’m in this to protect my children-but all creatures deserve our compassion and our care.”

Audubon Report Inspires Action on Global Warming

Top Ten Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming

“Nature’s beauty opens us up to God’s holy Presence.”
~ Author Unknown

 ➺ Nature’s Best Photography – Amazing collections of incredible nature photographs

 ➺ Nature Photography Adventures – “Diane Kelsay and Bob Harvey lead photography adventures to special natural and cultural destinations around the planet. They have a long history, as professional photographers and as planners of sustainable tourism, in creating dramatic light images of natural and cultural destinations and using those images to help in the protection of fragile resources and the development and marketing of destination-sensitive tourism.”

 ➺ 35 Amazing Photos of Thunderstorms – Thunderstorm photos that show just how breathtaking nature can be

Quotes

❤︎ “Your Savior knows your breaking point. The bruising and crushing and melting process is designed to reshape you, not ruin you. Your value is increasing the longer He lingers over you.” ~ Charles R. Swindoll

❤︎ “Fear cuts deeper than swords.” ~ George R. R. Martin

❤︎ “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~ Nelson Mandela

“May the Lord bless you
 and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
 and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor
 and give you His peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26