SPIRITUAL GRIT

Holding the Tension of Grief and Gratitude During the Holidays

By RobinBarnes Saturday, December 9, 2023 Community, Grief, Loss Permalink

Today's guest post is from Dr. Renee Davis, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and owner of Spark Change Wellness Center. She is licensed to provide care in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. She has the pleasure of serving school-aged children, adolescents, young adults and their families. She also teaches graduate level courses for counseling students at McDaniel College. Raised on the east coast, Renee is proud to call Maryland her home. She enjoys exploring new cuisines, staying active in the gym, and building community through her church. I remember growing up thinking that the unofficial start date to begin ...

Two Ways to Take Psychiatric Medication

By RobinBarnes Sunday, March 5, 2023 Uncategorized Permalink

Today's guest blog is written by Esther Smith, LCPC and owner of Christian Trauma Counseling. She has an MA in Professional Counseling from Liberty University, a certificate in biblical counseling through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, and has completed advanced training in trauma-informed therapies. She is the author of A Still & Quiet Mind: Twelve Strategies for Changing Unwanted Thoughts, The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-care (co-author), and Chronic Illness: Walking by Faith: 31 Day Devotional. Psychiatric medication is a controversial subject. It is also a very personal subject for many people. Perhaps you experience depression, anxiety, or other ...

Rest is Not a Reward for Productivity

By RobinBarnes Monday, January 9, 2023 Anxiety, Counseling, Depression, Family, Feelings, Humility, Identity, Idolatry, Life in general, Maternal Soul Care, Ministry, Pastors, Soul Care, Spiritual Grit, Spiritual Growth Permalink

It’s a new year and now is the time we hear a lot about “A new year, a new you!” The holiday season in the West is focused on activities, concerts, parties and getting as much done as one can to prepare for guests or to be out of the office. All this preparation is important to us for various reasons. For some, it can be a desire to celebrate the season with others. For others, there can be a desire to impress others or be perceived a certain way by hosting these activities, leading them, or landing that final ...

Author Q&A: Equipping Biblical Counselors

By RobinBarnes Wednesday, July 20, 2022 Book Reviews, Counseling Permalink

Today’s post is an author interview with Bob Kellemen, Th.M., Ph.D. Dr. Kellemen is Academic Dean, Dean of Students, and Professor of Biblical Counseling at Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, Indiana. Bob is also the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries through which he speaks, writes, and consults on biblical counseling and Christian living. Dr. Kellemen served as the founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. For seventeen years, Bob was the founding Chairman of and Professor in the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship department at Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, MD. Bob has pastored four churches and equipped biblical counselors in each church. Bob ...

Scripture Memory Cards for Teens: Identity, Security, and Strength in Christ

By RobinBarnes Monday, February 28, 2022 Bible Study, Teens Permalink

As the pandemic continues into its third year here in the United States, there is definitely a general sense of weariness and fatigue that you can feel ebbing and flowing throughout our culture. Different generations of the population have been impacted differently as well, but no matter the struggle, these challenges lead us all back to our need for Christ and His hopeful work in our lives. For teens in particular, the pandemic has resulted in an increase in anxiety, isolation and seeking fulfillment and meaning in various places, especially online. What is it teens need to hear right now? ...

Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World [Book Review]

By RobinBarnes Tuesday, January 11, 2022 Parenting, Sex Education, Teens, Uncategorized Permalink

As parents of teens and pre-teens, that first conversation about sex, sexual identity, and pornography can be discussions that we feel ill-equipped for, nervous about, and may even want to avoid. As Christian parents wanting to disciple our kids to have the mind of Christ about these things, we must be proactive discussing these topics with them. If we are awkward discussing sexuality with them, it can make them feel even more awkward discussing it with us. No matter how apprehensive you may feel or lost about where to start, there are tools for us to learn how to dialogue ...

Author Q&A: The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care

By RobinBarnes Tuesday, July 27, 2021 Anxiety, Book Reviews, Christian Women, Counseling, Emotions, Maternal Soul Care, Pastoral Counseling, Pastors, Paternal Soul Care, Self-care, Soul Care, Spiritual Growth Permalink

Today's guest post is an author interview with Counselors and Co-Authors, Eliza Huie and Esther Smith about their new book, The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care. Eliza Huie, MA, LCPC, is the Director of Counseling at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA and the Dean of Biblical Counseling at Metro Baltimore Seminary. She is the author of Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World and Raising Kids in a Screen-Saturated World and is the coauthor of The Whole Life. Esther Smith, MA, is a biblical counselor at Life Counseling Center Ministries and is a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland. ...

Author Q&A: When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough: A Shooting Survivor’s Journey Into the Realities of Gun Violence

By RobinBarnes Monday, June 28, 2021 Community, Counseling, Gun Violence, Gunviolence, Trauma, Uncategorized, Violence Permalink

When Thoughts and Prayers are Not Enough Book

Today's post is an author interview with Taylor Schumann. Injured in a shooting in 2013 and left with wounds both visible and invisible, she weaves her own story into the larger conversation about gun violence in America in her newest book, When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough: A Shooting Survivor’s Journey Into the Realities of Gun Violence. She writes the truth of her own story, and the stories of the countless precious lives affected daily by the crisis of gun violence, to implore others to join her in meeting the suffering around us with whole-hearted attention. She writes to ask, simply, ...

3 Ways the Pandemic and the Transition Back to “Normal” May Affect Your Teen

By RobinBarnes Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Anxiety, Counseling, Depression, Family, Family Counseling, Grief, Kids, Parenting, Pastoral Counseling, Self harm, Soul Care, Suffering, Suicide, Teens Permalink

Michelle has been on staff with Heart Song Counseling for over 8 years. Prior to moving to the Tampa Bay area, she served as a counselor for Heart Song in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. in Speech and Communication Studies at Clemson University and her M. Div in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In her spare time, she enjoys running, spending long days at the beach and Clemson football. It’s no secret that the pandemic has impacted our teens in a myriad of ways over the last year. Some teens found themselves back in school full throttle, others ...

Who’s Got Your 6? 6 Reasons Why You Need A Prayer Posse

By RobinBarnes Monday, March 29, 2021 Community, Discipleship, Spiritual Grit, Spiritual Growth Permalink

Are you familiar with the question, “Who’s got your 6?” Or the phrase, “I’ve got your 6”? For us non-military folk, it’s a military term used to describe the 6 O‘clock position of a pilot’s plane—or your backside, aka what makes you vulnerable to an enemy sneak attack. This is powerful imagery of life on the battlefield and a great metaphor for the spiritual battlefield. If someone says, “I got your 6,” they are saying they’ve got your back, they’ve got you covered. You are not vulnerable because they are looking out for you. It shows that you and the ...