Ways I'm Coping

It's been a painful season. Here are some things that are helping me through it.

1. Psalms 

2. Time outdoors - a bit hard in February, but always life-giving. Walking, snow-shoeing, taking the kids ice-skating.   (We use this 1000 Hours Outside printable tracker.) 

3. Blogging - I read in a book this week, "If you do it right, blogging can be inexpensive therapy," and I resonate with that.   Writing forces me to think through things clearly.   Trying to understand what happened at Bethlehem feels like this giant puzzle.   I'll work on one issue in a post, then it frees up brain space to go off and think about the next piece. 

4. Listening to breakup songs.  It's been so cathartic to just emote.  I love how these songs cover the gamut of emotions: anger, betrayal, hurt, isolation, grief. 

5. Meeting with others who have concerns - helps reassure us we're not crazy 

6. Escapist fiction (Dorothy Sayers, P.G. Wodehouse) 

7. Untangled Faith podcast - 3 different former Bethlehem folks mentioned this podcast to me, and like them, I'm finding it helpful in processing the dynamics at Bethlehem.  The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast has been helpful too.

Note:  when Mickey saw a draft of this post, he said, "Can you please avoid using the word 'us'?  I'm not listening to breakup songs."  :-)