BLOG
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all been pushed to the end of our ropes. So much of the news media has focused on the detriment COVID-19 has been to the recovery community. Don’t get me wrong, there have been – and will continue to be – devastating consequences.…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
Over the weekend my social media feed has been filled with quotes from civil rights legend U.S. Representative John Lewis, who died on Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Read David Halberstam’s book The Children to learn how a young Lewis was profoundly shaped by his experiences in the Nashville Student Movement.)…
Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spirtual Wellness Coordinator
As summer gave way to fall in 2002, the “wild, praying women” were hard at work finalizing a proposal to present to the leaders of First Baptist Nashville that would transform an empty building the church owned into a transitional living center for women in crisis.…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
In her memoir We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life, Laura McKowen recalls a cellphone conversation with her friend Holly the day after Laura almost attended a party where she knew she would relapse.…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
Do you ever stop to ask yourself why are you doing what you are doing? In her book Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky writes: “Amid the trials and tribulations of our work, it is possible to lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing.…
Human trafficking is the second biggest growing criminal industry in the world. When we think about human trafficking, we often think of women sold into sex slavery in other countries, the movie Taken, or high-level international crime rings. In reality, trafficking happens locally, as many people are trafficked by those they know and love.…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
Years ago while traveling through the West, I paid a memorable visit to Kartchner Caverns State Park. Located in the Whetstones, a mountain range in southeastern Arizona, this pristine limestone cave is decorated with speleothems – spectacular mineral deposits with whimsical names like cave bacon and soda straws.…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
Where do you turn when you are struggling to survive, when you are experiencing oppression, when you are fighting forces and feelings that threaten to overwhelm you? For 1,000 years, people have turned to Psalm 18 to give voice to their experiences.…
– Written by Elizabeth Scoville, Family Interventionist
A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine was putting her eight-year-old son to bed, and he was crying.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.”…
– Written by Rev. Tambi Swiney, Spiritual Wellness Coordinator
Last Wednesday night, the clients at The Next Door took a deep dive into the story of Zacchaeus, as recorded in Luke 19:1-10, when they completed their Spiritual Wellness worksheets. Many of us first heard this story as children in church – I was certainly attracted to the idea of climbing a tree to see Jesus!…
