Christian Counseling & Educational Services

As counselors, we see people nearly every day who are looking for some type of change in their lives. In studying the Scriptures, we find that there are five elements necessary for complete healing and change. These are woven throughout the text of nearly every chapter of The Search for Significance—my favorite book next to the Bible. Author Robert McGee stresses that all five ingredients are absolutely essential for lasting change and complete emotional and spiritual healing to occur. Those elements are:

By Heather Anne Kehr

Recently week I had the privilege of planting 10 tomato plants, 5 different varieties of pepper plants, sweet basil, and also doing some general watering of other plants and flowers. The days are beautiful, and I have to admit that I love a project when I’m outside. Especially if it doesn’t involve weed whacking or weed pulling . . . let’s just say I hate weeds!

“Rainy, cold and dreary today,” the radio weather forecaster announced as I stood in front of my kitchen window, doing the mindless task of washing dishes. All the while I was rehearsing painful scenes from the past and feeling sorry for myself. The weather matched my mood perfectly.

It was a sunny, crisp spring morning as she stepped out the back door with multiple tasks circling her thoughts - the items to be purchased at the store, the people to call, work waiting to be accomplished. And then, she stopped because just breaking through the ground . . . there they were.

I’ve been sitting here writing thank you notes. From the window I see a beautiful blue sky, my roses blooming, and squirrels running through the back yard. It’s a pleasant seen. Indeed, when it’s all said and done right now, life is good. It’s easy to be thankful.

As beautiful as yesterday was here in Pennsylvania, it was easy to see why people were out walking. I noticed one couple in particular moving briskly with bounce in their step. “What a great way to spend time together,” I thought. Then I noticed she was talking on her cell phone, and I wondered how he felt about that. She was with him, right by his side, but her focus was elsewhere. Was it a random thing that interrupted their time together? That can happen easily enough. Or was it something she did often? Was she frequently with him physically, but listening to someone else’s voice?

During Christmas break of my junior year in college, I was visiting a friend in North Carolina for about a week. We had a wonderful time and stayed up late visiting every night. When it came time to travel to my home in Pennsylvania at the end of the week, we were exhausted! So we made an agreement that while one person drove, the other would talk to keep the driver awake; then we would switch. During my “talk time�? I read from a book and shared some thoughts about the upcoming semester. Then it was my turn to drive.

Let’s face it, I’m one of those sloppy sentimentalists and anniversary dates are always a big deal for me. This being the second anniversary since our first edition of A Light For My Path went out, I’m thinking back over these two years and rejoicing in what God has done. So will you praise the Lord with me? Will you thank Him for the technology that makes it possible for me to sit in southern Pennsylvania and type out a few paragraphs, and then send them all around the world? Will you praise the Lord for the faithful work of Marc, our webmaster, who sets it all up and does the actual sending and keeping records? Will you rejoice that each week we get wonderful feedback from our readers who express their appreciation for these devotionals?

Keeping a consistent daily quiet time with God is one of the hardest things we face in our Christian life. Why? Because our adversary the devil, knows that therein lays the secret of our strength and victory as believers. If he can get us off track, our power and wisdom are diminished, therefore, it’s essential to develop the habit of regularly meeting with God.

Determine the time of day that works best for you and don’t put anything else in its place. Every day I write in my appointment book things that need to be done, meetings to attend and places to go. Shouldn’t my meeting the King of Kings be important enough to put on my daily agenda?

November 12-18 is Children’s Book Week. It’s a time set aside to encourage children in the enjoyment of reading. As a former elementary school teacher, I know the value of teaching a youngster to read, and the challenges that sometimes go with it. For years I’ve said, “If you teach a child to read, you equip him for life.�?

Reading is something that we take for granted in our country because public education offers it to everyone; however in many countries that’s not true. At this Thanksgiving season, let’s stop and thank God for this precious gift. Let’s offer Him praise for the many resources and materials we have available to us. Let’s take advantage of this time to encourage our young people to develop and enjoy the ability to read, and let’s provide them wholesome materials to enjoy and to bolster their faith in God.