Kate Motaung

Sometimes life knocks you down like a ton of bricks and you are left feeling like you are in a desert, unaware of where to go and how to find your way back home. Maybe you feel tired, angry, and alone right now. Or maybe you feel lost and uncertain of what the future holds for you. Perhaps people have laughed in the face of your hopes and dreams. Maybe you grew up in a home where you were

If there is one thing that is constant about life, it’s that there are always changes and challenges for us to meet. While many of these can be exciting to overcome, others may prove too much of an obstacle. Perhaps this is because we cannot adapt to the situation, or simply because they threaten our sense of well-being. Stress is how the body and mind respond to pressure or any kind of demand on them. Many different situations, challenges,

Dealing with grief can be difficult, and it presents challenges specific to adolescents. While teens may experience the same stages of grief as adults, they experience unique difficulties related to their age at the time of their beloved one’s death. Other important factors will likely have implications on how teens deal with grief as well. For instance, during the process of a chronic illness that results in a loss, family members may have already begun grieving while the beloved

Do you feel like you are a house with a picket fence around the whole yard that people keep stepping over or knocking down? Then you may need help setting healthy boundaries, so your personal property is better protected. With better boundaries, you’ll feel stronger in your self-esteem, relationship with God, and in your relationships with others. What is a Boundary? Let’s return to the picture of a house with a surrounding picket fence. This fence line defines the

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 If you’ve ever had to do a chore or errand you didn’t find particularly pleasant, you probably know that the experience feels interminable. When you go into something expecting it to be bad, it can feel like it’s going on forever. Trips to the DMV, the grocery store, or an unpleasant conversation with an unpleasant character

Our society is marked by busyness. Bursting schedules and activity-packed days squeeze out essential time for rest and rejuvenation. What suffers? Our sleep, peace, and healthy connections with God, self, and others ultimately pay. The high cost of loss mounts in our attempts to keep pace with the bustling world around us and can result in anxiety. We sometimes succumb to the lure of multi-tasking, trying to recoup losses. Doing too much in too little time yields the opposite

It can be difficult to know what our “best” looks like in the workforce. It can be so easy to compare ourselves to those around us and set a standard based on what someone next to us is doing. The truth is that our professional development goals should be based on God’s Word rather than what someone in the cubicle next to us is doing. The reality is: You will work around people you do not always agree with.

Anxiety and panic attacks have certain similarities, but they are two different conditions. How can you tell which is which? The main differences between them are the way they present themselves at their onset and the intensity, severity, and duration of the symptoms. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) describes a panic attack as “a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause.” It does

Conversations around anxiousness and stress management are becoming more and more common in our society’s public dialogue. From A-list celebrities talking openly about their mental health struggles, to friends and family admitting how hard it has been to get back to normal after the isolation of early-COVID quarantine, people of every class and creed seem to be experiencing greater feelings of social anxiety and fear than they have before. Many mental and emotional health conditions have been exacerbated by

Are you feeling depressed? Everyone feels depressed from time to time. Whether you’re dealing with situational depression (perhaps you got passed over for a promotion you worked hard for or caring for an ailing parent) or seasonal affective disorder, or chronic depression, depression hits everyone. God knows what you’re going through, God is ready to listen and to comfort you, and God provides resources to help you when you need it. Below are six Bible verses you can meditate

As a parent, watching your children suffer is one of the worst forms of heartache. Whether it is the common cold, a bump on the head, or deep issues of growing up and navigating the world, parents want to soothe the sickness and relieve the pain. When your child struggles with bad dreams and anxiety, you will feel stress creep into your own life. 4 Ways to Help Children with Anxiety and Nightmares Here are four ideas you can

When someone hurts us, and their words and actions ring in our ears and minds causing wounds to deepen and fester, it can seem all but impossible to extend forgiveness and mercy. To forgive, by definition, means to stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake. As followers of Jesus, we are called to forgive just as Christ chose to forgive us. We are the most like God when we choose to forgive others.