I like to think of the painful emotions we feel as the check-engine light on a car. The check-engine light is the warning sign that something is wrong. The check-engine light does not tell us what the problem is; it simply lets us know there is one.

To fix a check-engine light requires work. We will have to pull the car over, pop the hood, identify the problem and then decide what to do to fix it. Some problems we can fix on our own. Other problems, however, will require we take it somewhere.

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If you are anything like me though, you are probably willing to drive quite a distance with the light on before you get it checked out. You may even put a piece of black electrical tape over the light on the dashboard for a while. You may try to disconnect the battery cables for 10 seconds and hope the light never comes on again (done that before ;)). You may try a number of quick, albeit temporary, fixes and your car will likely drive fine for a while. But if you never pull over; if you never open the hood; if you forever ignore the warning emotions on the dashboard of your heart, eventually you will break down.

If you feel as if you have been driving through life with the check-engine light on inside, let me encourage you to finally take it in. The only way to service the human person is to be willing to share the deeper things of the soul with another. Breakdowns are ugly. I’ve seen them. Why not instead come and engage in healing together? With the Lord’s help you can become whole again.

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In Christian love,

Shaun

(Counselor and owner)