Life is hard. And for many people life is hard every day. No let-up.
I make my living helping others sort through pain in their lives. Some problems we create for ourselves with poor choices. Consider the person who drinks and drives resulting in a DUI.
Other difficulties occur because of things outside of our control. A diagnosis of a debilitating autoimmune disorder such as multiple sclerosis.
And other trials are a little of both—poor choices mixed with factors beyond our control. Consider a friend who becomes involved with a man who has a history of cheating. Months later your friend’s heart is broken from betrayal.
No matter what the cause of our hardships--we each have a choice on how we view our problems.
Let difficulties refine us not define us. Zig Ziglar
We can make a decision to not let our trials become our new identity.
A wife loses her husband in a fatal car accident. Fifteen years later is she still known by her friends as the widow who is rarely goes out even when invited. Spending her time alone with little outside interests.
Or do we learn the lessons from our pain and let those lessons refine our character?
Becoming a healthier not weaker person having gone through difficulty.
Changing our focus from pain to purpose.
The great thing about God is that he never wastes our pain. The Christian worldview teaches that pain and suffering have value. God is in the business of redemption.
God can use the heartbreak from loss, rejection, cancer, bankruptcy, divorce, and injustice to refine us.
But let it never define us.
1 Peter 1:6-8
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now; you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy . . .
Good Grief
4/11/2019 1:00:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The Truth About Grief
4/4/2019 11:03:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Is It Ok for a Christian to be Depressed?
3/27/2019 3:10:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The Truth about the Good Old Days
3/22/2019 10:13:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Do You Struggle with What God Allows?
3/13/2019 4:15:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Healing through Rest
3/5/2019 8:05:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Keep Walking
2/26/2019 8:15:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Embrace Your Season
2/23/2019 1:13:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
How to Have Peace in a Chaotic World
2/12/2019 9:06:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
There's Always Hope
2/5/2019 3:00:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Prayer the Solution to a Common Condition
1/29/2019 5:09:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
The Connection Between Health and Loss--My Personal Story
1/22/2019 12:00:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
How Not to Be Cranky
1/16/2019 11:30:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Does God Promise Healing?
1/8/2019 1:41:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
An Answer to a Desperate Prayer
1/1/2019 7:00:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Santa on Social Media?
12/26/2018 9:02:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren, M.A., LPC
5 Myths of Christmas
12/17/2018 3:05:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren, M.A., LPC and Patricia Durgin
7 Tips on Handling Family Drama
12/12/2018 9:35:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
God's Promise to the Weary
12/4/2018 9:24:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Hope for the Frazzled Part Two
11/27/2018 3:30:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Hope for the Frazzled
11/20/2018 12:00:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
8 Pitfalls to Avoid being Stuck
11/14/2018 8:00:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Problems as Gifts
11/5/2018 10:55:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Breaking Free from Past Losses
10/30/2018 8:30:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren, M.A., LPC and Patricia Durgin
God's Bootcamp
10/23/2018 8:35:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Time Out
10/16/2018 8:50:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA, LPC
Freedom through Forgiveness
10/9/2018 8:06:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
What Not to Do When Dreams Turn to Nightmares
10/2/2018 8:35:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
God's Detours
9/25/2018 9:00:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The Craziness of Grief
9/18/2018 11:00:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
My Personal Grief Journey--Part 2
9/11/2018 8:20:00 AM by: Abbigail Kalaf MS LPC BCPCC
My Personal Grief Journey--Part 1
9/4/2018 8:05:00 AM by: Abbigail Kalaf MS LPC BCPCC
Where is God in the Storm?
8/28/2018 10:30:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Getting to the Other Side of Grief
8/21/2018 9:25:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Billy Graham's Insights on Grieving
8/14/2018 9:00:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
When Doing Right Turns Out Wrong
8/7/2018 11:20:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The Connection between Clutter and Grief
7/31/2018 8:34:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
A Simple Quiz on Grief
7/24/2018 8:30:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Is There Purpose in Pain?
7/10/2018 9:05:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Weathering the Storms of Life
7/3/2018 8:35:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The #1 Gift to Give to a Grieving Friend
6/26/2018 9:04:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
10 Things Not to Say to a Grieving Person
6/19/2018 9:00:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Do Christians Grieve Differently?
6/5/2018 8:25:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Press on Toward the Goal
5/22/2018 11:30:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
From Brokenness to Wholeness Podcast
5/8/2018 10:10:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
The Blessing of Walking by Faith
5/1/2018 1:20:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Grief Ten Years Later
1/20/2018 1:35:00 PM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
Welcome, My First Blog
1/19/2018 11:08:00 AM by: Dee Lundgren MA LPC
