Making Whole: Line Drawing: Tree

by Diane Steinbach

"Making Whole" is a bi monthly column focusing on art therapy to help heal inner trauma or promote healing and personal growth.

The tree image is a profound symbol. We plant a tree to memorialize big events: births, deaths… We stand in awe at the roots of giant Sequoias trees or Redwoods and witness them as testimony to the very power of nature or God.

Trees are perfect in all their imperfections, just like us; in fact, it is their very imperfections that make them interesting and complex. The organic shape of the bark, the knotholes, the scars, the twists and turns of the branches, our eyes are transfixed.

Imagine yourself as a tree.  Using a pen, marker, crayon or pencil, draw your tree. 

Once done, look at your tree. Does it look full and thriving or dying off? Is it scarred or smooth? Does the tree represent how you feel about yourself?

What could you do to nourish or improve your tree? What does the tree need? Over time, do more tree drawings and strive to nourish and care for the tree that you create. Feed the roots and protect them. Allow the tree to have foliage and provide shade. Add more things to the surrounds of the tree, a sun, grass, and animals… provide a glorious environment for your tree – you- to thrive and heal.  

Diane is the author of: Art As Therapy: Innovations, Inspiration and Ideas:, Art Activities for Groups: Providing Therapy, Fun and Function and A Practical Guide to Art Therapy Groups

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5 Life Affirming Things My Mother Taught Me

by Diane Steinbach

My mother was a joy. She was funny, creative, loving and giving. We didnt always get along, especially as I entered those teenage years, and then again, when I went from one bad boyfriend-choice to another, but she always had an affable way about her that meant I could always come back no matter what was said.

I was crushed... beyond words when she died after a 2 year battle with cancer.

Even during her battle she had a sense of humor. She loved life, and although she only had 2 children, my sister and I, she also had a foster son for a short while, and wished she could have had more.
It was not to be.

However...her light shone brightly and even before I looked around that crowded church when we all said our final goodbyes I knew her life touched many.

She had hoped to share her special ways... her sense of humor, her joy of life, with others, and so it is with that thought that I share with you all some bits of wisdom she taught me.

1. Always have fun with what you are doing. If you are smiling and having fun, that fun will be contagious. People who see you, will begin to feel better and happier even if they are blue.  Share your happiness.
2. Reach out to others.  If you see someone who looks lost or confused, try to help. Even if you don't know the answer, two confused people feel stronger and less afraid than one confused person. You will make a friend for life, or at the very least help alleviate the stress from someone in that very scary moment.
3. Don't try to be the center of attention. Step back and let others sparkle. The satisfaction you get when you support your friends and watch them succeed ...well, that is better than being the center of attention yourself.
4. Be a caretaker to living things. Always stop to help out an injured animal or stop someone from hurting any living thing. Life is energy, and energy is all around us. We are all caretakers of nature and should treat all life with respect.
5. Love freely. Always return love given to you, and give love to those who need it. Love is free and heals our souls. It is the light within you...let it shine.

God Speaks: Real Stories of God's Guiding Hand...

The book "Treasuring Grace" was inspired by a dream in which co -author Tracy Roberts feels that God spoke to her and directed her hand in the writing of the story. Many people feel God's special influence in their lives in direct or indirect ways.  This recurring column seeks to bring you some of their inspirational stories.

"John's Story"

“ I remember it was a Dark street with a lot of people walking, looking for something.  Jesus looked at me and asked “what do you see John?

 I said, “I see a lot of people who look poor and need help.”

Jesus said to me “you’re right, these are my children. What they are looking for is help.” A tear came to my eyes because I could not help his children.

I saw next to this street a series of brightly lit yards and nice sidewalks leading to the doors of churches. Each one was beautiful, covered with gold and embellishments, filled with followers. At that time that gave me hope in my heart.  

 Jesus said to me “John, look.” and some people came out with food and gave to the street people and then they were walking back to their church’s very happy with what they have just done.

They were being followed by a few of the people. Now, they were not dressed nicely and they asked if they could come in, they wanted to belong to the churches on the block but they didn’t know or look right for the church they were asking to enter and after a while the doors were closed and no one enter from the street. 

Now it was raining and terrible weather outside and I ask Jesus what happen? He said to me “Is it the children in the church or the children in the street who need to learn?”

Just after he said this I didn’t have time to ask him enough questions when a chariot landed right in front of us.  The doors opened and the doorman held them open then all the Church doors opened and the people inside came out to see what was going on.  They quickly jumped into the chariots, pushing the people who were on the streets off.

 As the last car was being filled Jesus reached out his arm, saving the last seat for me and said “John, do you wish to go with them? 

I waited for a short time and said “I don’t deserve to go Jesus I am not worthy” and I backed away from the car I turned to Jesus and ask if he was going he said “No John, My children need to learn and there is still time” and then The Chariot lifted off the ground and soared into the sky. 

A bright light began to build in the sky and the people in the chariot were excited because they were going to Heaven. Suddenly the bright light turned into a hot and fiery Volcano, and the Chariot rode right into the middle of it, with all the Church people inside.

 After I saw what had happen I didnt know what to say, so I asked, “how do we enter into heaven Jesus”. 

As tears ran down my face and I found my self kneeling in front of him for I was one of those people doing what was being ask of me. No more but no less. In my heart I know I was doing works just to get my place in the chariot to heaven.

As Jesus leaned down to me he asked me to stand.  As I look through my tears I could see we were no longer on the street.  It was still raining and windy but in front of us was a rocky mountain with water running down it and a cable like off a crane but it was frayed he told me to grab the cable and put my hand on it and said “John this is the only way.”

 So I started to pull my self up the cable it was ripping through my skin on my hands and the sides of my feet were bare and the rocks did not help much.   

 “The road to heaven is not easy John it takes a lot of hard work and must give your body and soul to your work” that was the last thing I head from Jesus.  

  As I was squeezing through a tight hole I could see at last a bright light and I felt peace falling through the hole onto me. My hand was ripped up and bleeding but as soon as it reach the light it was healed and then I woke up feeling the pain in my hands and turning on the light I could see little cuts all over my hands. I fell to the floor and prayed.   The next morning I showed my wife and told her of what the dream was and where I thought the cuts came from .”

Have you been touched by God or inspired by a dream? Share your story with us here.

Laying Down Your Life for that of Anothers: The Truth of Life

Read this article on Lifenews.com and was reminded of what sacrifice and Motherhood is really about. What a great role model this woman is, and a true believer in the meaning and value of life. Although her choice was a difficult one and her family would be grieving her loss, she also left them a beautiful gift and legacy: Read on...

Mother Dies Who Spared Her Baby From Abortion When Cancer Struck

by Elizabeth Scalia | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 6/24/12 8:03 P
28 year-old Chiara Corbella has died and at her funeral in Rome, there was joy amid the sorrow. In fact, there was a kind of triumph, of love over life and life over death — one of those contradictory signs that makes no sense to an efficient world but is transcendently reasonable to the mind of faith:
Chiara was happily married to Enrico Petrillo. They had already suffered the loss of two children [born with birth defects] in recent years. . .The couple became popular speakers at pro-life events, in which they shared their testimony about the few minutes they were able to spend with their children, David and Maria, before they died.
In 2010, Chiara became pregnant for the third time, and according to doctors the child was developing normally. However, Chiara was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was advised to begin receiving treatment that would have posed a risk to her pregnancy.
Read the rest of the article here: 

A Message and A Prayer from Treasuring Grace

I hope you are enjoying Treasuring Grace and have laughed through the first two chapters.  Rob with his witty way of writing helps keep the story light and humorous.

 

Many of you know that Treasuring Grace is inspired by a dream.  On the morning of October 19, 2007 I awoke from a vivid dream.  It was as if I were watching a movie.  I got up and jotted down the main ideas while they were still fresh in my mind.  I felt compelled to share the message of the dream with others.

 

Thanks to the collaboration with Rob Plumley, the first copy of Treasuring Grace was printed exactly 3 years after the date of the dream.  Coincidence?  I don't believe so!

 

Enjoy reading,

Tracy

 

A prayer from St. Teresa of Avila

 

Lord,

 

Grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by you, always follow your plans, and perfectly accomplish your will.  Grant that in all things, great and small, today and all the days of my life, I may do whatever you require of me.

 

Help me to respond to the slightest prompting of your grace, so that I may be a trustworthy instrument for your honor.  May your will be done in time and in eternity - by me, in me, and through me.

 

Amen

 

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Great Message Supporting Fathers: California Billboards Campaign

Check out this article from Lifenews.com about an ad campaign that was promoted in California. A quote from the article is perfect for this weekends Father's Day Holiday " When a child is conceived, a Father is born...

Fatherhood Begins in the Womb, New Pro-Life Billboards Say

by Steven Ertelt | Sacramento, CA | LifeNews.com | 9/14/11 10:55 AM

 A new pro-life billboard campaign in California has a clear message for the African-American community:  Fatherhood begins in the womb. That’s what a group of black pro-life advocates want people to know.
Walter Hoye, a pro-life African-American pastor, teamed up with Radiance Foundation founder Ryan Bomberger, a LifeNews blogger who is a black pro-life and adoption advocate, for the new professional billboard campaign.
The Radiance Foundation, partnering with the Issues4Life Foundation, announces a powerful new billboard/web campaign to illuminate the crisis of fatherlessness. The new TooManyAborted.com billboards, “Fatherhood begins in the womb”, have been placed in Sacramento, California, the state that has aborted 214,190 of its children in the last reported year, Bomberger says.
“When a child is conceived, a father is born,” Bomberger told LifeNews.

Follow this link to the full article on lifenews.com : http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/14/fatherhood-begins-in-the-womb-new-pro-life-billboards-say/

Treasuring Grace Online Book Club

  Join us on a summer reading adventure!  Together we will read through Treasuring Grace by Rob Plumley and Tracy Roberts (books may be purchased online from Healthy Life Press or Amazon).

    Treasuring Grace, a novel inspired by a dream, shares a story and a secret that will touch your heart.  You will come to know the characters and gain insight as the authors share their thoughts along the way.

    Begin reading on Wednesday, June 13.  The following week you will get discussion questions for chapters one and two.

    Pick up your copy of Treasuring Grace and join us on this journey!

Men's Rights: Pro Life Resources for Men

Although the pro life cause is often thought of as a woman's issue, men's rights and emotions are equally complex and important. Whether it is post-abortion healing that needs to be addressed, or help planning a discussion with a girlfriend or mate, there are numerous resources for men to help. In honor of the upcoming Father's Day Holiday, I thought a list of some of the available resources might be useful.

Life Issues Institute offers a listing of articles, bible studies and books on the subject:
http://www.lifeissues.org/men/resources.html

Guys For Life is a comprehensive website that offers mentoring and plentiful resources for men in need.
http://www.guysforlife.org/

Men and Abortion Network offers help and healing for men who have lost children to abortion


http://www.menandabortion.net/

The Unchoice has a good listing of resources focused on the needs of men affected by abortion.

http://theunchoice.com/men.htm

Pro Life Men of America is another website that provides resources, links and information relevant to men.


http://www.prolifemen.org/

This list is not comprehensive, but will give you a good start if you are looking for help.  Know of a good resource you'd like to share? please comment here.

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Summer Time is Time to Commit to the Cause

Finding time for the causes you have a passion for is tough, but summertime is a good chance to re commit yourself to the pro life cause, and get your youth groups more involved as well.  Lifenews.com has a great list of ideas of Pro Life Youth groups can do this summer to get involved and spread the good word.  Internships, "training camps," prayer groups, pro-life tee shirts and fundraising car washes are just some ideas in this article that can help get a sleepy-group of teens active and involved.  Check out the full article here and get inspired!
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/05/25/top-ten-things-pro-life-youth-can-do-this-summer/


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Coming Soon.... Can you Read Between the Lines?

"Treasuring Grace" is a great read with a message we want to share... we have an idea of how we can make it fun and easy for you to get involved! ... Get your copy now and get ready for a fun summer .... Stay Tuned!

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Mother's Day ~ a day to celebrate life, a day to celebrate Mothers!

This day may bring mixed emotions for many.

Maybe, it is approached with unfulfilled expectations, sorrow over past mistakes, but also joy in the present.
The could haves and should haves linger in our mind.

It is best said in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, "Perhaps he might have spent the rest of his life in weeping over this one fault; perhaps he might have made this one sin the subject of constant repentance; he might like Magdalen, like Augustine, have made the memory of this fault a motive for more fervent love."

We can let go of the could haves and should haves to embrace the future with faith, hope and love!

"This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm 118:24

Happy Mother's Day!

Tracy


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Mother's Day and Healing

Mother's Day can be a particularly difficult time for women who have had abortions. Although they must live with the decision to abort every day, the Mother's Day holiday rubs salt in the wound for many, and reminds them of the regrets and what-might-have-beens had they made better choices.

There is no going back, and many have used their mistakes to help other women avoid the pitfalls of what can seem like an "easy"choice in a time of desperation. However, if you talk to any post-abortion woman, chances are she can tell you how old her baby would have been, had she carried it to term.

 The unsaid things are all the imagined girl scout meetings, trick or treating and sporting events she wishes she had gone to.

No matter what your political point of view is, there is no understating the number of victims of abortion...both unborn children and those who may have been great mothers had someone believed in them or supported them.

 Promoting healing is one of the things we believe in here at Treasuring Grace, and Mother's Day is just another opportunity to encourage those with broken hearts to reach out to any number of resources to finally heal your wounds and become the whole person you were meant to be.

Whether you choose one on one counseling or online support, private journaling or working through your pain in other ways, please do something that brings love and light into your heart. Ignoring your past does not work, and will not help you avoid the inevitable reminders of the love you were meant to share with the world. Share your love - now- in some way and forgive yourself, and heal.

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Mother's Day Letter: a Touching Testimony

Hi Friends,
I found this letter on the Priests for Life website, and wanted to share it with all of you in honor of the upcoming Mother's Day:







Dear Friend:
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I am 48 years old and every Mother's Day since I aborted my two children has been painful. Some years, and most of the days in between, I muted the pain by listening to the cultural messages around me that there had not been life present anyway. I tried to talk to my female therapist about what I was feeling after the first abortion. She told me that women who give up their children for adoption suffer trauma but women who have abortions generally do not. So, in addition to feeling regret and sorrow unlike anything I had ever known, I then felt there was something wrong with me for being as affected by the abortion as I was.

I stopped talking about it. What I did was what some of us do after having an abortion… I got pregnant again the very next year. Even then, I understood my unconscious wish to undo what I had done.  I thought about carrying this child to term, but my cowardice and shame overtook me once again. I chose to stop the process of life for a second time.

Often during the last years, I would think, "How old would my children be now if they had lived?" But last November, at a Project Rachel retreat, I let myself realize the full truth ...that they are alive, that they exist today. I met them in my heart and did what I never thought in a million years I would be able to do -- I named them. Rachel and David. I finally began my relationship with them six months ago. I acknowledged their eternal existence, and I love them.

I have heard it said that our children are the ones who keep after us, pushing us on toward healing and reconciliation. I think this is true. I was led to the retreat which was the single most powerful, profound and life changing event of my life. I knew I had been reconciled with God before the retreat. Nine years ago I returned to Him and received His forgiveness through one of His priests. But I did not feel reconciled to myself, or my children. God's love flooded me during the retreat and led me to the reconciliation and internal peace that had always been out of reach.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. In my church on this day, the priest asks all the mothers in the church to stand at the end of the Mass for a blessing. It has always been agony for me; as women all around me stand, and I sit. You see, I never had a pregnancy again, I have never given birth. And until last November, I never let myself know that I have two children, that I too am a mother. So when the priest asks tomorrow, I will kneel for my blessing. The women who gave birth deserve to stand -- I am at peace receiving my full blessing from a more humble position.

Friend, please try. Trust your heart, trust God and your child to lead you where you have always needed to go. For my part, I will pray for you and will ask Rachel and David to look out for your little one until we join them there, surrounded by God, who is Love.
God Bless You,
A Mother

originally printed:  http://www.priestsforlife.org/postabortion/casestudiesb/casestudy2110.htm

The Right to Choose? An Argument about Rights

Whatever you think about the pro-choice camp, they don't want for cleverness. The idea that abortion is a woman's right is very powerful. We are a nation of rights.  They are prominent in our founding documents.  Our hearts beat a little more quickly when we think about liberty.  The mere suggestion of abortion as a right conjures an image of battle-weary women marching behind a flag, fife, and drum. 

Embrace the fiction for a moment and suppose abortion is a woman’s right. Instead of mere cleverness and an appalling Supreme Court decision, suppose it was actually listed in the Bill of Rights along with the other freedoms that we hold dear: speech, religion, assembly, press, etc. We would be basically where we are, except we would be spared the “safe, legal and rare” mantra spewed by pro-choice politicians when giving full-throated support to abortion and a deceptive nod to life.

Of course, a corollary to this right would have to be the right to actually have the baby.  They are two sides of the same coin.  Intrinsic in these rights is the notion that the unborn baby has no rights whatsoever.  It can’t, or they might interfere with the mother’s right to abort.  Also, the unborn babies must have no inherent value.  They can’t, or the father might have grounds for an objection which might interfere with the mother’s right to abort.

Not all countries are as free as us, though.  So, maybe some of the more outspoken abortion activists should visit a clinic in China.  There they can comfort one of the mothers undergoing a forced abortion.  As she wails hysterically for the child she’ll never know, they can pat her hand and explain that it’s no big deal.  It’s not infanticide or an atrocity of some kind.  The baby had no value.  Her government is just a little more restrictive, and this is simply one of the rights she doesn’t enjoy.

~ Rob

Born Alive Infant Protection Act: Thoughts....

We’ve got a link here to “October Baby” but that’s as close as I’ve gotten to the movie.  I’d like to see it, but we do live in the UP.  For sure I’ll see it on DVD.  Don’t expect it to be screened at the White House any time soon, though.  While a state senator, these were the very lives that our president was voting to end: survivors of abortions.  Three times he opposed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act in Illinois.  Read more here http://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/index.html.  He’s given lots of explanations, and they’ve changed many times, but the bottom line is certainly that he wouldn’t even risk the appearance of doing something to discourage abortion.

~ Rob

Abortion Laws Around the Globe...

Have you ever wondered what abortion laws look like around the world?  You can do a quick Google search or you can go to this site http://www.pregnantpause.org/lex/world02.jsp.  There’s a wealth of information, but it’s presented as a color-coded table which makes it very easy to read.

Brace yourself.  We are the most permissive, along with human rights abusers like China, Cuba, and North Korea.

Mark Steyn wrote an interesting but terrifying book a few years back called America Alone which discussed how many countries were in decline because they weren’t maintaining their populations.  From the chart, many of those countries also have some of the more permissive abortion laws.

Do you know what’s even more interesting, though?  Our recent enemies, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya have some of the most restrictive abortion laws.  I don’t pretend to understand what’s driving these laws, certainly a combination of tradition, religion, and culture.  But how is it possible that countries that sponsor suicide bombers and terrorist acts against women and children can hold unborn babies in higher regard than we do?

 
~ Rob


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A Message from Rob: Co Author of Treasuring Grace

I think it’s important to start by echoing what Jake says in Treasuring Grace.  “There are two victims in every abortion.”  That’s our belief.  Our greatest hope is that the story may lead victims to understanding and forgiveness and help others to avoid the heartache completely.  No strong words on this site will ever be directed toward a woman who has suffered through an abortion.

However, on occasion, there will be strong words.  There are forces within our society that have an agenda that is abhorrent to the cause of life.  They are deceivers, and more of us need to be aware of them and their lies.

Take care,

Rob


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Treasuring Grace: A Call to Action

People have asked me after reading the novel Treasuring Grace, "What can I do"?

First, I tell them to pray!  We can begin in prayer asking God to guide us and others to the truth.

Then, we need to be informed of what is the truth.  I have mentioned how the precious feet (tiny feet the size of a baby in utero at ten weeks) amazed me with the truth.  It wasn't enough for me to know the truth, but that I needed to share it with others.

Next, share the truth!  I did this by wearing the precious feet and explaining them when asked.  The truth may not always be easy to accept, so again go to God in prayer!

Above all, love others.  It is not our right to judge.

"Guide us, we pray, as we go forth and proclaim your truth, always doing so with a spirit of love and compassion, as was demonstrated to us through the work of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  In His name we pray, Amen."  A Prayer from the 40 Days For Life

Believe,
Tracy

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  John 1:17

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Inner Healing: The Message of Renewal for All

Part of the mission of Treasuring Grace is healing for everyone touched by abortion. I found this great article on Great Bible Study.com titled Inner Healing 101 Healing Emotional Wounds that deals with identifying our wounds and how the bible can direct us towards healing.
"Open up those wounds, and give the pain to Jesus. What you want is to open up those wounds before the light (Jesus), so that they can be healed. As long as you hold them in darkness, they will never fully heal. If you had a physical wound, and it turned into an infection, and you merely put a bandaid over the wound, would that solve the problem? Of course not! You need to take that mask off, expose it to the light, and apply the healing and germ-killing light of Christ into that wound so that it can heal."

I encourage all my readers to go to http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/inner_healing_101.php  to read the entire article and apply it to your own lives. No matter the source of your inner wound, (we all have something) this is the perfect time of the year to shed our sorrow and be renewed.

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