How God Met My Pain

By Desert Stream
March 26, 2014
Our lives are indeed journeys through valleys and mountaintops. Before coming to Living Waters, my journey seemed more like driftwood floating through the ocean. I was waiting for the next wave to move me along. My heart was hollow. My walls were thick. Life was painful. When I ...

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Overcoming Same-Sex Attraction

By Desert Stream
February 27, 2014
As a worship offering during Lent I watched The Passion movie. Of my “fasts” and “feasts” this year, one fast was to abstain from movies unless I was in the company of others. So I invited men and women from my community to join me for this “feast&rd...

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Finding True Identity

By Desert Stream
February 27, 2014
“Things will be different for you.” These were the first words that were uttered into my ear the day I was born. They were said by my mother, who was motivated by a desire to break the cycle of oppression of women that had defined my family for generations. While she ...

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Confession Opens Ways Grace

By Desert Stream
February 26, 2014
In my legalistic upbringing in a conservative church, there wasn’t room for imperfection. The love I received was in response to the perfect, compliant image I could convey. I felt great shame for my failings and imperfections, and I was afraid to be known for who I really ...

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Feeling Not Quite Right

By Desert Stream
February 03, 2014
As a little girl growing up in the 60s, I felt twinges of things being “not quite right” with my interests. Dolls seemed lifeless and boring, as did playing house. My best friends were the boys in the neighborhood, and we played all kinds of sports and made up excitin...

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