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December 2024

December 03, 2024

The Gifts of Consolation and Desolation

An important part of any spiritual journey is remembering consolation, appreciating the joy and experiencing...

October 2021

October 14, 2021

Discernment Challenge: How Do We Know It’s God?

One of the most prominent questions in spiritual direction and discernment is this: When I...

August 2020

August 28, 2020

Defining Spiritual Direction: An Interview with Dr. Melissa Hofstetter

What exactly is spiritual direction? Shepherd Heart Ministry Consulting's Executive Director Dr. Melissa Hofstetter sat...

July 2020

July 22, 2020

Back To School Pandemic: Choosing Without Obvious Choices

Parents of school-aged children are currently facing the hardest discernment situation one can face: making...

June 2020

June 16, 2020

Getting the Most from your Spiritual Direction Session

You’ve made the commitment. You’ve set aside the time for spiritual direction. But you wonder:...

November 2019

November 11, 2019

Prayer of the Heart: An Excerpt From ’50 Ways To Pray’

Let's sit down and listen to our heart. Western culture tends to reward quick-thinking, fast,...

August 2018

August 17, 2018

The Truth About Spiritual Growth

People usually enter spiritual direction in order to experience spiritual growth. It’s a tough thing...

August 02, 2018

What To Expect When Meeting with A Spiritual Director

Spiritual direction may be exactly what you need, but if you are not sure what...

May 2018

May 22, 2018

Wrestling with My Inner Donald Trump

Part of my task as a spiritual director these days is coming to terms with...

March 2018

March 21, 2018

Spiritual Direction as a Wellness Practice

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I love the practice of spiritual direction so...

November 2017

November 01, 2017

Learning from our Reactions Along the Spiritual Path

There seems to be a universal pattern to life, including the spiritual path. Action →...

May 2017

May 22, 2017

Is Media Overload Dulling your Spirit?

Confession time. I’m addicted to refreshing my twitter feed. And the result is I’m on...

April 2017

April 26, 2017

Spiritual Direction for the Resistance

A young minister colleague came to me last week and said, “we really need spiritual...

February 2017

February 24, 2017

How to Find the Right Spiritual Director

One of the advantages of having a lot of spiritual direction training programs around these...

January 2017

January 03, 2017

5 Ways Spiritual Direction Can Improve Your New Year

Have you included “getting spiritually grounded” on your list of goals for 2017? If so,...

December 2016

December 02, 2016

Discernment as a Visioning Tool

Many churches and faith based organizations do good work in the present but have difficulty...

October 2016

October 31, 2016

5 Spiritual Discernment Questions for the Undecided Voter

With only a few days left before the 2016 Presidential election there are still those...

October 03, 2016

Spiritual Direction and Election Anxiety

For highly sensitive people like me, news in the fall of a presidential election year...

September 2016

September 19, 2016

5 Ways Spiritual Direction Promotes Freedom

Spiritual direction takes freedom very seriously. We want to feel free to be the...

August 2016

August 29, 2016

Spiritual Direction and the Clergy Person

We need healthy religious and spiritual leaders in our faith communities--bright, energetic ministers who embody...

August 08, 2016

Spiritual Direction and Young Adults

Young adulthood is full of adventure and options. So much so that many young adults...

August 01, 2016

Holding our Pain: A look at “The Gift of Hard Things” by Mark Yaconelli

This post is part of a roundtable discussion about the new book The Gift of...

May 2016

May 23, 2016

Spiritual Direction and Transgender Persons

Spiritual direction can be a wonderful, life-giving experience for gender non-conforming people. With the right...

March 2016

March 28, 2016

Spiritual Direction and the Medical Professional

Caring for people’s physical well-being can be highly rewarding and extremely stressful. Medical professionals may...

March 21, 2016

Spiritual Direction and the Specialized Minister

Chaplains, campus ministers, denominational leaders, pastoral counselors and spiritual directors are all ministers with a...

March 07, 2016

Spiritual Direction and the Retiree

Spiritual direction is especially helpful in times of great transition. One of the most common...

February 2016

February 03, 2016

Spiritual Direction and the Business Person

Spiritual directors are seeing more and more people these days who live out their call...

December 2015

December 17, 2015

Viking Discernment

According to history and legend, the people of Iceland converted to Christianity in 1000 after...

November 2015

November 12, 2015

Cardinal Lessons in Discernment

I have not always been sure of what I wanted to do with my life,...

October 2015

October 06, 2015

Money Matters in Spiritual Direction

Never go to a spiritual director for financial advice. Not only would it be unethical...

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