Page 110 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 21
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�ve agenda—his careful work of soul restora�- who she is. Without anxiety or embarrassment,
on—over �me and in rela�onship. Liza’s psy- she speaks of how our working and our walking
chopathology—her fragmented awareness of a together have shaped her. She sees Christ more
trauma�zed past, her negligible agen�c capaci- clearly. She grasps his love now not as a propo-
ty, and her paralyzing self-loathing—stem from si�on to be agreed with but a cherished posses-
aversive rela�onal experiences. The dearth of sion, a treasure. She’s careful to credit Jesus for
affirming support from her family of origin only how he’s healing her! Yet, she thanks him for
compounded her sense of isola�on and help- sending me to embody his love to her.
lessness. Nobody knew then. When they did
find out something was wrong, they s�ll did While wri�ng the last paragraph, I received a
nothing. Her silent cries went unheard, her hid- text message from Liza. She’d just returned
den pain unseen, for literally decades. She from visi�ng out of state with her daughter and
knows God is with her, for her, but her experi- grandchildren. Signs are hopeful that the expe-
ences wage war with her faith. Liza believes, rimental treatment may be working to slow the
but she needs help for her unbelief. She needs growth of her daughter’s cancer. She’s holding
someone who will walk alongside her and not up well a�er her first round of chemotherapy,
leave when life gets messy. She needs a love and Liza is encouraged. Her text included a re-
that endures all things. port on how she handled her son-in-law’s angry
outbursts. Though she recognizes he’s under
Let Love Endure tremendous stress these days, she no longer
Paul’s love poem in I Corinthians 13 is more lets him bully her in front of her grandchildren.
o�en heard at weddings than in any other con- She speaks up gently, firmly, asking him to de-
text these days. It’s worth remembering, howe- monstrate more respect in front of them. She’s
ver, that he’s wri�ng to a church, not a couple. begun witnessing a shi� in how he treats her. I
His le�er is for all believers, not just wives- and wrote back to affirm the growth in her that’s
husbands-to-be. What he says, we all need to bringing about a change, however small, in
hear. Rela�onships between believers, accor- him. Her text reply to me read, “I KNOW I am
ding to the apostle, should be framed and infu- who I am today because of you and the �me
sed by love or else they count for nothing. Mo- you invested in me.”
reover, the kind of love that counts as such is a
love that, among other things, keeps on kee- (1) Around 90% of my counselees cannot afford
ping on—it endures. In the face of resistance, professional therapy and do not have insuran-
weariness, changing circumstances, this love ce. One of my commitments as a pastoral coun-
does not waver or fade. It remains through sea- selor is to fund my prac�ce through other
sons of struggle and uncertainty. For Paul, this means. I have a passion to see Christ-centered
love is love—a love that does not fail. mental healthcare demone�zed in the U.S. To-
ward that end, I recently launched a private
Reflec�ng on the work we’ve done together founda�on in my home state of Georgia, the
over the years, Liza recently observed, “You Cornerstone Founda�on (cornerstonecolum-
know, you’re the one person who’s stuck by me bus.org), whose aim is to offer subsidies to
through everything that’s happened.” In reply I mental health professionals working with indi-
smiled and sighed. The context for her com- viduals and families who cannot afford their
ment was her daughter’s recent diagnosis with services. As the CEO of the Chris�an Psychology
terminal brain cancer. Liza’s trauma work is on Ins�tute in Louisville, Kentucky
the back burner for us as we process through
this latest tsunami of present-day pain. Trust (2) I presented at the 2022 CAPS World Confe-
has grown inside of her—a confidence born out rence on a strategic, image-based exercise I
of years of long-term connec�on and care. She have developed for individuals looking to make
is more se�led now, more secure. She knows a short-term therapeu�c breakthrough. That
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