• : Author

    With 30 years of experience in pastoral counseling, it is my privilege to hear people’s stories and come alongside individuals to encourage them and help them find hope that’s real. Lasting change and meaningful growth are possible even when you are feeling stuck. Whether you’re struggling with career changes, relationship struggles, family drama, tough decisions or painful, personal issues, I will work with you to overcome the challenges you face with God’s help. I strongly believe that God is at work in each counseling session, both in me as a therapist and in you as the client. Together we will depend on Him for direction as we use proven therapeutic techniques and guidance from His Word to reach a place of healing and wholeness in Christ.

  • : Curator

    Kate Motaung is the Senior Writer, Editor, and Content Manager for a multi-state company. She is the author of several books including Letters to Grief, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times, and A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging. Kate is also the host of Five Minute Friday, an online writing community that equips and encourages Christian writers, and the owner of Refine Services, a company that offers editing services. She and her South African husband have three young adult children and currently live in West Michigan. Find Kate’s books at katemotaung.com/books.

  • Expectations in Marriage

    Whether you can voice them or not you entered marriage with expectations. You had a picture in your mind of what your marriage would look like. It may have reflected your parent’s marriage, or the marriages of close friends, your own hopes and dreams, or even TV and movie depictions of marriage. At some point, however, your expectations for marriage didn’t match reality. There was a gap between what you expected and the reality of your daily experience. When

  • Practicing Good Self-Care: Part 3 – Accepting Jesus’ Invitation to Rest

    Many go through life exhausted, craving rest for their physical body while others are longing for rest for their inner life, their soul (their mind and emotions). Still others are searching for spiritual rest and redemption, spiritual rebirth, and transformation. Jesus has invited you into a personal relationship with Him. A life-saving friendship you enter weary and heavy-hearted where you find deep, lasting peace and rest. It sounds too good to be true. Author and pastor, Dane Ortlund, in

  • Practicing Good Self-Care in a Hurry Up Culture: Part 2

    Have you ever seen a basketball halftime show where this amazing lady balances plates on her head while riding a unicycle? It is the best halftime show ever. This lady is amazing. She should get paid more than the players. Do you ever feel like your life is like this performer – you are trying to stay upright without falling on your face but you’re balancing too many plates in the air? Stop for a moment and think about

  • Practicing Good Self-Care: Part 1 – Experiencing Bio-Psycho-Social-Sexual-Spiritual Wholeness

    Practicing good self-care is an important priority for me as a person and a practitioner. I am often working on self-care in my own life. I will say things to myself like, “Eat slowly, enjoy dinner time conversation, there is no need to rush.” Or “Take a deep breath, pray, don’t worry.” I also remind my clients of the importance of self-care as an important strategy to combat stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. In Part 1 of

  • Resolving Conflict in Marriage

    In the early years of my marriage, I didn’t have any experience resolving conflict. I viewed any argument as a threat to our relationship. I wanted to shut down any disagreement early on. I can only remember my parents arguing twice during my growing up years. Both times Dad retreated to his desk and Mom went outside and smoked a cigarette in the car. Then life would resume without any kind of public resolution or reconciliation. Needless to say,

  • 3 Strategies to Help Teens Reduce Anxiety

    Anxiety has now surpassed depression as the number one reason teenagers seek out therapy. Teens have many reasons to be anxious these days – global fears, COVID disruptions, school pressure, peer pressure, social media fatigue, body issues, and helicopter parents, just to name a few. I was talking to with a teen recently who described his anxiety as “a constant pressure, closing in on me, a low-grade tension that never goes away but sometimes gets more intense and scares