Endurance: The Encourager Magazine

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Encourager: Who Am I Now?

Articles

Who Am I Now?
Battling cancer is hard enough, but for many survivors, and I am one, cancer leaves us with an even tougher battle to fight. That battle has to do with our identity. When the storm of cancer sweeps into our lives, the landscape can change dramatically. Everything familiar may be wiped away or changed beyond recognition. So some of us come out of cancer as very different people. We may have lost the relationships, skills, and resources that have been an essential part of who we are and have given... (continued)

Who Am I Now? Assessing the Damage After the Storm

At what she calls the naive age of 20," Sally quit school to marry her college sweetheart, Wayne DeRue. Wayne was a natural leader who rose through the ranks to become a U.S. Air Force Colonel. As is true for many military wives, Sally's life revolved around that of her husband. During his 29-year military career, the family moved 17 times, including a stint overseas. Between the frequent moves, the demands of raising a family, and the expectations of her as an officer's wife, Sally never had... (continued)

What am I Worth?
What Am I Worth?

Our worth stems not from what we have or what we do or what we control or whom we know, but from what God has done for us and in us. This was great news to me, because I always felt that my worth stemmed from my performance-if I performed well, I was worth a lot; if I messed up, I wasn't worth much. But when I finally started to discover that my worth wasn't tied even a little to my abilities or my performance, but rather depended entirely and forever on what God had alre... (continued)

What Am I Now That I Can't Be What I Need To Be?
As a psychologist and hospital chaplain, Dr. Ari Shreffler was well aware of the challenges of battling advanced colon cancer. No academic training or clinical experience, however, could prepare her for the impact cancer would have on her personal life. First she dealt with the radical surgery that left her with a permanent ileostomy. For months, aggressive chemotherapy and radiation rendered her completely exhausted and bedridden. Then a long and difficult recovery robbed her of what little ene... (continued)

Who Am I -When Life Spins Out of Control

Few of us like the out-of-control feeling that comes with change, but life is rarely as predictable or controllable as we would like. Our health fails, a loved one dies, a relationship is broken, a job ends. One moment we feel safe, secure, and in control. We know who we are and how we fit into life. The next moment everything changes. We're unable to manage our time, activities, relationships, emotions, and decisions. We lose our sense of identity and purpose. We feel helpless, confused, and... (continued)

Who Am I When It Seems God Has Forgotten Me?

For more than a decade he was Tom the fireman. Then his wife got a new job that required their family to move more than a thousand miles away. Tom had no doubts that it was God's plan for his wife to take the new job, so he trusted God to work out the details of his job.

But firemen don't transfer, so it wasn't easy to get a new job. Openings were few and far between. Even experienced applicants had to test for every job. Weeks, months, then years passed. Tom the fireman became T... (continued)

Who Am I-When a Friend Suffers a Loss of Identity

When we face a loss of identity, we don't need someone to give us a list of "right things to do." Instead, we need a friend with a gracious and understanding heart who can say, "I care for you and accept you where you are today. I'm not here to 'fix' you, but I do want to comfort and encourage you as you journey through this place of sadness." The principles below remind us of the heart attitudes that can help comfort a hurting friend.

Minimize Minimizing. One of... (continued)

Facing the Pain of Our Losses
From our earliest days of life, we humans avoid pain. We pull our inquisitive fingers away from the hot stove. We avoid fights with the schoolyard bully. We wear seatbelts, kneepads, and helmets. We don't run with scissors. We quickly learn that some pain is avoidable, and we conveniently conclude that all pain is (or should be) avoidable.
Unfortunately, our conclusion is false. When the winds of adversity wreak havoc on our lives, loss and pain will result. What do we do when the pain and l... (continued)

God Understands
In our most desperate moments, when our losses feel overwhelming and inconsolable, there is nothing more precious than being with someone with whom we can identify. I can still envision the close companionship my aunt and brother-in-law shared at a family gathering. They had met only once, years before, so I didn't expect them to become such fast friends. But they were the only people in that room who were battling cancer, and they shared a bond that the rest of us could only imagine. They walke... (continued)

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Recommended Quotes

Oswald Chambers once wrote,
"Beware of harking back to what you once were when God wants you to be something you've never been." If we allow God t (more...)

We do not always have the freedom to choose the roles we must play in life, but we can choose how we are going to play the roles we have been given. . (more...)