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Karen Ruth Shock

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Progressive Christian

Mental Health

Select a Category anxiety comparison deconstruction faith Family Fear Driven Faith god homeschooling marriage Mental Health Misfit My momma parenting prayer Purity culture Rapture Theology Theology Uncategorized When church hurts

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January 2024

January 02, 2024

Is It Really So Simple?

Simplify. My word for 2024. Already doing it's work on me and it's only day...

March 2023

March 09, 2023

Living in Fear is Exhausting

Living in fear is exhausting. I've spent too much of my life being afraid. Driven...

January 2023

January 11, 2023

All I Thought I Knew

Looking back through journals. All the prayers. All the crying out to God. Years. And...

August 2022

August 21, 2022

Winning At All Costs

I couldn’t play the game anymore. Honestly, I didn’t even know what game I...

July 2022

July 28, 2022

All of These Years and He Never Told Me?

Kev just schooled me on the topic of “grace”. I was sitting out here on...

July 26, 2022

Here’s The Dilemma

Somewhere along the line, I learned to beat myself up. Put myself down. The more...

July 25, 2022

When You Just Don’t Fit In

Everyone longs to belong. I’ve spent my life longing to belong. To fit in. The...

July 20, 2022

So, Why Isn’t All of This God Stuff Working for You?

I sat across from my friend. We had met at the studio where our daughters...

July 19, 2022

When Nothing Makes Sense

Lots of tears last therapy session. Ugly crying, in fact. “I just don’t get it”....

July 12, 2022

Are We Doing This Here?

“Oh, so we’re not doing that here?”. I heard this quote by Glennon Doyle...

July 07, 2022

When The Lines Begin To Blur

I’m a performer. Always have been. The baby of our family. Always being told what...

May 2022

May 10, 2022

Please Be Pleased With Me God

Striving This is how I used to spend my mornings with God My “quiet times”...

April 2022

April 25, 2022

Fitting In

Misfit. Imposter. Too much. Not enough. Too old. Too young. Always there. Never belonging. Walking...

March 2022

March 27, 2022

There’s No Turning Back (and no reason why I would ever want to)

I can't un-know all I know. I can’t un-see all I’ve seen. There’s no turning...

February 2022

February 27, 2022

When The Depression Hits

When depression hits Everything seems bigger The dark gets darker The night gets longer The...

January 2022

January 20, 2022

Is Anyone Seeing Me?

How did I do it? How did we do it? Just sat there. Week after...

January 18, 2022

Does God Take All the Fun Out of It?

Fun. I love fun. Fun is good. I’m having to relearn this. When I was...

January 07, 2022

Stop It With The Guilt Thing

I used to feel so guilty. When my kids were young. I remember having a...

January 05, 2022

Finding A Safe Space

I lost my voice. I knew it was coming. I went beyond the point of...

January 03, 2022

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

So why has most of my Christian faith been based on fear? I’m not even...

November 2021

November 23, 2021

Ok Then… I Hate My Life.

Don’t be confused, Karen. God is not the author of confusion. If in fact, you...

November 18, 2021

Why Are We All So Afraid?

Someone listen. Please. Anyone. Why does it seem like everyone around me has their head...

November 08, 2021

Is There Any Value in It?

Values. Everyone has them. Each person, their own set. Changing throughout our lives. Depending on...

October 2021

October 31, 2021

Whose Kingdom Are We Talking About?

A world of contradiction. Thinking back to the church debacle of 2008. Maybe that’s a...

October 28, 2021

Then… I Blinked

Grown up kids. Who would have thought? Just yesterday they were in my arms. Depending...

October 26, 2021

Can I Be Real A Second?

I’ve been told I’m brave for being vulnerable. To be honest, I look at it...

October 24, 2021

When Sundays Aren’t So Easy

I have to admit, Sundays have not been easy for most of my life. When...

October 21, 2021

The Weight of It All

The problem with my weight has never actually my weight. It’s how I’ve perceived my...

October 06, 2021

How Is This Brave?

People say I am brave. It is ironic. Me, brave? How does anyone even become...

October 01, 2021

New Mercies

Here comes Friday. With all it's going to bring. I'm sure new mercies are part...