When choosing to do work for the Lord, it comes at a cost. A cost that the payer knows will come due, just not how or when. Or, frankly, how many times because it is certain to be more than once.

What are you hoping for this Holiday Season? Is it a renewed marriage, a reunified family, conquering an addiction, relief from anxiety and depression, or maybe being able to be free from the haunting trauma of an abusive relationship? If you are hoping for one of these things to happen than you have much in common with the clients at Beacon of Hope.

Learn more about how you can support Beacon this summer!

The forecast in Michigan has been known to go through all four seasons in the same day. We get it, those of us that have basically called Michigan home for most of our lives are well aware that the weather is unpredictable.

For the month of March, I wanted to share with everyone one of the tools that I use in session with my clients. This tool is referred to as the cognitive model.

Out with the old; in with the new. We say good-bye to 2022 and hello to 2023. With this greeting comes the unmet expectations of ’22 and the new unproved expectations of ’23. Is it fair to put expectations on a complete year? What would you like to see happen in 2023?

Have you ever had to forgive someone that’s hurt you? Maybe this wasn’t physical pain, but emotional, or some other kind of grievance. How did it feel to say, “I forgive you”? Let’s flip this around: how does it feel to have someone say to you: “I forgive you”?

Beacon of Hope was founded in 2002 in Holland, Michigan, a stone’s throw from Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by water volume and the seventh largest lake in the world by same measure

However what true trust allows, is in itself a gift. It allows us to be vulnerable, love boldly, and give to others freely. It allows us to live with an open, unguarded heart.

God asks you to do something – do you do it?

In the process of counseling, our clients can find confirmation of the value of their own humanity and glimpse the presence of Christ in our midst.

Among the ways humankind determines to find hope, whether in physical might, personal autonomy, or morality, none is as powerful or effective as the loving action and attitude of forgiveness.

I must admit I did not stay awake to see 2022 become reality at midnight on January 1. I did not have a good excuse for why this was the case – however, a certain football game just did not quite go the way I was hoping it would.

I love this time of year and, at the same time, I do not. Like many people, I live with the tension of holding conflicting views of the blessed holiday season which celebrates the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ in a beautiful and broken earthly world

One of the biggest lessons I have learned during my time here at Beacon of Hope has been patience. Patience with myself. Patience with clients. Patience with the process of counseling.

On your mark, get set, GO! With music playing in the background and people cheering along the start line, runners and walkers take off for the 2nd annual Be the Light 5k.

This summer, I have had the incredible privilege of serving (and being served) at Beacon of Hope. Observing the way this beautiful ministry ebbs and flows from day-to-day, and being a part of that, has been an honor that is quite hard to quantify.

Asking for any type of mental health help is hard at times.

When I was seeking a place to do my internship in counseling, I wanted to make sure it would be a place where I knew I could give back to the community that I grew up in. Beacon of Hope was an answer to that prayer.