Dealing with teenagers can be a real challenge. A typical teenager is concerned with one thing in their lives: themselves. As a result, they tend to make their relationship with their parents very transactional. They expect to request and to receive, and nothing more. Give them the car keys, and they are happy. Give them […]
I stayed in the house with the kids after the divorce, and I decided I needed to spruce the place up a bit. A friend had recommended an interior designer to me, named Betty. I came to call her Crazy Betty because she was always hitting on me, and, invariably after our meetings, she would […]
Have you ever had a time during the course of your divorce when you felt like doing something radical? I’ve spoken to many people who have done just that. Maybe they adopted a totally new look, got a completely new haircut, sold their minivan for a sports car, or started to go clubbing. When we go […]
The pain of divorce can be so intense that people turn to alcohol, drugs, even relationships, to find relief. Sadly, this type of relief is only temporary. Ignoring this, they figure if one drink didn’t work, two will. If one pill helped, two would help even more. If one relationship didn’t last, the next one […]
“I can’t believe I did that! Is this me?!,” exclaimed one of our workshop participants (we’ll call her Jayne) after sharing that she recently defended her ex-husband to her family. Evidently, Jayne’s family was giving her a rather hard time about her ex, and she responded by defending him in his absence. What surprised her […]
I happened upon this quote a few years after my divorce and it has never failed to renew my hope. I pray it does for you, too. As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him-to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, […]
Shortly after my divorce, I found myself in this great tug-of-war with God. I was willing to give my whole life to Him and trust him completely, except for my intimate life. That was mine to do as I pleased. I reasoned that after all I had been through, it was my right to be happy […]
I was so mad I was slamming my fingers down on the keys of my laptop. I was smack-dab in the middle of my divorce, and it seemed like a day didn’t go by where my soon-to-be-former spouse had done something completely outrageous or ridiculous (or both). I was trying to do the right thing […]
I will never forget the feeling of isolation I felt when I was going through my divorce. I turned to my parish and there were no programs for people who were separated or divorced. I tried to talk to my Pastor, and while he tried his best, he could offer me nothing more than the simple […]
“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Those were the famous words that Jack Nicholson delivered so passionately in the movie A Few Good Men. And he was right. Many people can’t handle the truth, especially when it sheds light on poor choices or brings on consequences. This is often the case when a […]