by Lucy | Feb 3, 2015 | biblical counseling |
My refreshed website’s tagline of my God-ordained passion says it all: Counseling Hope to the Heart.
In a sec, I’ll tell you about the book giveaway: Due to Rising Energy Costs, the Light at the End of the Tunnel Has Been Turned Off.
First a story snippet from me.
Years ago I began a blog and dove in. But I got turned around looking for. . .a book deal? recognition? more Facebook friends and Twitter followers?
Yes, the main thing — loving God first and helping you, sweet sister — bumped to who-knows-where. Eyes off Jesus, I sunk
and lost hope.
Then I found HOPE! The light at the end of the tunnel turned back off. God flipped the switch. Or maybe the light was on the whole time — and my eyes were shut tight?
Have you lost hope too? Does life seem dreary, even dark?
I felt like giving up. God wouldn’t let go.
Hope Came Back
After much prayer, chatting with online friends, and waiting waiting waiting, I heard, “Come.” A beautiful invitation, this “Come.” Hope gave me hope.
Hope gave me hope.
Jesus encouraged my heart: Forget the book deal and the sprint toward vanities. Rather, fulfill your call to counsel hope to the heart of hurting Christian women and families.
Embracing my call brightened my smile, deepened my sleep.
Help Me Help You
Would you help me help you?
1. Enter my book giveaway to celebrate my website’s face-lift (with more nips and tucks to come)!
How? Scroll to the end of this post (on my website) and click COMMENTS. When you leave a comment about my website face-lift and a suggestion to improve it, you are automatically entered in the give-away. I’ll announce the winner next week!
The book: The crazy-long-titled book by Karen Linamen, an author with wit and God and chocolate. My kind of girl.
OR
2. Sign up for a complimentary biblical counseling session with me. Discover how counseling hope to your heart transforms you and changes your life for the better.
God’s light shines in the deepest darkness.
by Lucy | Oct 3, 2013 | biblical counseling
Kim de Blecourt experienced real hurts in a most unusual way.
She traveled to Ukraine to adopt her little boy. And then. . .
Paperwork disappeared. A strange, old woman wielding a cane assaulted her near a McDonald’s. The police arrested her while trying to cross a border into a safer Eastern European nation.
Her months of loneliness and fear drove her to the real hurt of spiritual despair.
Are you experiencing loneliness and fear? How about spiritual despair?
God pulled Kim close. She breathed hope. Again.
Give-Away Celebration!
Celebrating my website’s new look — and soon-to-release “Real Hurt, Real Hope” resources for you — I chose this true-to-life story proving that God’s light shines in the deepest darkness as this month’s giveaway. I’ve received great comments on last week’s posts inviting YOUR SUGGESTIONS for improving this website, here and here.
God’s light shines in the deepest darkness. #RealHopeForYou
Now add your comment. When you comment, you’re automatically entered in the giveaway for Kim’s book. Simply scroll to the bottom of this post, click “Comments,” and make a suggestion. 🙂 Easy, fast, fun.
PTSD Experience
Kim experienced symptoms fitting the psychological diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder during her 11 months in Ukraine. The flashbacks and other anxiety symptoms carried on once home in Michigan.
We’ll cross into politically IN-correct ground and ask, “What does the Bible say about PTSD?” and “What are bible-based solutions to it?”
God sprinkles your hurting heart with a rain shower of hope.
Meanwhile, I’ll finish my “FearLess” hope booklet and share it with you soon.
God sprinkles your hurting hear with a rain shower of hope. Lift your face. Know your Creator loves loves loves you, right here right now.
by Lucy | Apr 10, 2013 | biblical counseling |
Are you struggling and wondering, “Where’s God?”
Steve Reed, author of Transformed by Tough Times and an cross-cultural missionary, shares compelling stories and insights in his new book to help readers be transformed not just in spite of, but actually because of our tough times. He calls this answer the “suffering clause” of Christianity: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” John 16:33.
From his football playing days under legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson, to his hiking treks in the jungles of Guatemala, Reed has a passion for helping men and women go through hard times.
Book Giveaway!
Want your own signed copy of Transformed by Tough Times? Enter the giveaway! To enter the giveaway, comment and connect.
1. Comment! Simply leave a comment on
2. Connect!
- Subscribe to this blog by email or RSS feed, if you haven’t already. The sign-up box is at the top. (Easy unsubscribe.)
- Sign up for my Cup of Joy e-newsletter, and get a complimentary download of one of my readers’ favorite e-books. The sign-up box is on the upper right of my website. (Easy unsubscribe.)
An Author Interview
A book about tough times usually implies that the author has had some personal experiences that connect to that topic. Where did the book start for you?
In college, I was a kicker and punter at Oklahoma State University under a demanding head coach, Jimmy Johnson. (Football fans might recognize him as the coach for two college national championships in the 80’s and a couple of Super Bowls in the 90’s for the Dallas Cowboys.) Just playing for Coach Johnson was tough enough, but my sophomore year, I got my knee bent backwards in a Junior Varsity game in Lincoln, Nebraska. When surgery and rehab efforts didn’t get me back to playing football, I eventually had to hang up the cleats. Looking back now, that experience made me more aware of how other people dealt with adversity and caused me to pay more attention to how I could respond when faced with tough times.
Your book transitions pretty quickly from your football days to life as a church planter and how that actually prompted you to write this book. How did that all happen?
When football didn’t work out, I found myself drawn to ministry in a great church near the OSU campus. Charlie Baker, the pastor of that church, invited me and other college students to partner with him in creating a weekly worship service for students. In doing that ministry I fell in love with the church and decided to go to seminary and be a pastor myself. After getting married and going through seminary training, we eventually moved to Kansas City to start churches. For nearly 20 years we were involved in the roller coaster rides of starting five different churches in our region. Most days, I absolutely loved it. But in one of those church starts we had a train wreck that knocked me for a loop and out of a church that I loved perhaps more than I loved my wife and family.
So after that you went on an even deeper quest for figuring out what was happening to you?
Right. With a new intensity I began to systematically search the scriptures to find some help for my pain. And I collected information and stories from others wiser than me and from many who had suffered greatly and come through with amazing faith and character.
You write about a day in Costa Rica that changed your life. What happened?
After the break up from the church, I wound up going to Costa Rica on a mission trip with my parents. My parents, by the way, were missionaries when I was a kid and 30 years prior we had actually lived in Costa Rica. For me, going back was a fun, blast to the past. But more than that, the people there were cathartic for me. I was an emotional mess much of the time. And one day I must have cried with three or four people who needed to know Christ, but who were in pain. God used my pain and my weeping with others to both minister to them and to me. That day I discovered something about God’s ministry of tears and how sometimes He does more through our weaknesses and frailties than He does with our strengths.
Where can people find your book?
For now it’s only available from the trunk of my car! Or, more conveniently, it can be ordered from the website www.TransformedbyToughTimes.com. It will be on Amazon soon. The Kindle version is already available.
Please note: I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview and/or book review on this blog. CSS Virtual Book Tours are managed by Christian Speakers Services (http://ChristianSpeakersServices.com).
About Steve Reed
Steve Reed is the Chief Encouragement Officer and Cross Cultural Catalyst for Daybreak International, a missions organization he founded that is dedicated to planting churches for the marginalized and forgotten peoples of the world. Currently, his two major projects focus on cowboys in Central America, and Kekchi Indians in the jungles of Guatemala. Those who know Steve best speak of his relentless encouragement and undying loyalty to people who face tough times. When not traveling in Central America, Steve comes home to Kansas City. He is married to Nola, and they have three young adult sons, a beloved daughter-in-law, and a grand baby on the way.
Blessings and Hope!
by Lucy | Apr 9, 2013 | biblical counseling, biblical counseling, emotions |
Today is the big, book giveaway! You can win one of three signed, hardcover copies of A Broken Heart by Kc Christman Hutter. Delivered to your doorstep. Fun, easy, cool.
How do you enter?
Great question. Easy answer. To enter the giveaway:
1. Connect!
- Subscribe to this blog by email or RSS feed, if you haven’t already. The sign-up box is at the top. (Easy unsubscribe.)
- Sign up for my Cup of Joy e-newsletter, and get a complimentary download of one of my readers’ favorite e-books. The sign-up box is on the upper right of my website. (Easy unsubscribe.)
2. Comment!
- Leave on comment on this blog post below. Click on “Comment” and type “I want A Broken Heart book!”
- Also leave comments on the other blog posts in the “Mending a Broken Heart” series. To see them all, click the square water-and-lemon graphic at right. I also list them below for you to click and comment
3. Share!
- After you comment, SHARE this post on Facebook and/or Twitter. Copy and share this with the link: “I want A Broken Heart book! #ABrokenHeart #LucyAnnMoll”
4. A Bonus: Free Counseling Webinar! Get the details on Friday.
Quick links to the posts:
Wholeness!
Healing from Addiction
Healing After the Death of a Child
Grieving When Someone Dies
Mending from Divorce
Grieving Divorce
Mending from Abandonment
The First Post
Remember: The more comments, the more entries you’ll have in the giveaway. To increase your chances, comment and share! The winners are selected randomly. All are welcome to enter.
The winners will be announced at www.LucyAnnMoll.com on Friday.
Blessings and Hope!
by Lucy | Nov 19, 2012 | emotions |
A book giveaway! Find out why I loved and hated this book. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment (below) on this blog post.
Of all the books I’ve read the year — many, many dozens — none has stirred me like Until We All Come Home by Kim de Blecourt (with Ginger Kolbaba). You can see the cover and read the first pages here.
Why I Loved It
Kim’s true story reads like a suspense novel. When I finished, I thought: This would make a fantastic movie. Intrigue, a child’s future, the Ukraine mafia, a foreign land, a mother’s unfair arrest, a family’s escape to freedom, and finally a homecoming.
It all began with a dream, a hope. Adoption.
As an adoptive mom myself, I have felt this hope coursing in my veins too. I bled hope.
The de Blecourt’s expected challenges when they began the process of adopting a little boy from Ukraine. Every adoption, domestic or international, has crazy twists and turns, and umpteen hoops to jump through.
What they absolutely could not foresee was delay after delay. It took Kim and her son almost a year to come home. Highly unusually, underlined a hundred times. Nor could she expect physical assault by an old lady in public nor bold-faced lies nor arrest nor the need to escape to safety.
The ordeal messed with Kim’s emotions while in Ukraine and on American soil as her mind and body healed from stress.
Through the book she credits God for giving her strength and comfort in Ukraine in the darkest times, for orchestrating their escape, and for bringing home her son, Jake.
Why I Hated It
Some couples considering international adoption may read this book and decide against it. This would be a travesty. There are 160 million orphans worldwide. Each needs a home.
While every adoption has bumps, as does pregnancy, the de Blecourt’s experience is exceedingly rare.
Yes, corruption exists.
My husband and I ran into this in Russia where we traveled to adopt our youngest. The Russian police stopped our driver as we approached the airport — in broken English and hand signals he told us what would happen in advance — and he gave the police cash in order to proceed.
Yes, screw-ups happen.
When we traveled to Russia to adopt our middle child, our driver/translator Igor showed up two hours late. We also faced a tricky situation in our first adoption — a domestic adoption — when the attorney had to do legal stuff upon discovering that the birth father’s signature on a certain document was improperly notarized.
Such is adoption. Messy, beautiful, and well worth it.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27a).
“In love (God) predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:5).
Love an Orphan
God esteems orphans. He values adoption, for he has adopted us who trust in Jesus to be his children.
Kim de Blecourt has become an orphan advocate and fights for orphans and children who need families that will love and care for them. She strongly supports Food for Orphans, contributing her profits from the sale of her book to this organization.
If you are considering adoption — domestic or international — and want someone to talk to, feel free to contact me and we can chat (my gift to you, by the way). I feel very strongly about adoption, from the birth parents, to the adopted person, to the adoptive parents, and I’ve learned how to avoid the most common mistake.
P.S. To enter the giveaway of this book, leave a comment. The winner will be selected on Friday, November 23.
