As I cried in my bathroom, I told God how sick I am of fighting against my body. I told Him how exhausted I am of trying to love myself only to fail. I told Him how I didn’t understand how I was good even in my overweightness. I told Him how frustrated I was that I didn’t feel comfortable dressing in the clothes I wanted to.

I got out of the shower and stared at myself in the mirror once more. Suddenly, God said:
“You are so, so much more than the clothes you wear. There is so much more to you than that.”

Confronting the Fear of What Others Think of You

Surrender trying to live up to everyone’s expectations of you as a woman, daughter, friend, co-worker, wife, mother and Christian. Ask God what He wants from you, what He expects of you in any given situation and that will be enough.

Letters, Identity, LeadCorynne StaresinicMarch 1, 2019Well-being, Anxiety, Worry, Living Peace Comments

The Creative Capacity of Motherhood

I want to share a snippet of this journey of overcoming self-doubt and embracing my role as an artist with you. I also want to encourage other women to recognize in themselves their creative capacity, and explore how spiritual and physical motherhood reflect the role of the Creator in the deepest way.

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

“I just don’t think I’ll ever be happy.” Saying these words out loud to my spiritual director changed my life, and I want to reach out to you with some hope if you’ve ever found yourself in a similar situation.

Finding My Worth Amidst an Eating Disorder

(Photo by Jennifer Burk) My eating disorder took hold of my life. I was so drained and numb, like a walking zombie. I was just trying to get by, and I only prayed when I was laying in bed with no energy to move. I had been to a few on-campus counselors while I was in college, who tried to tell me to “just eat” or just believe that my body was a temple of the Holy Spirit. That was the last thing I could believe.

Where There Is Love, There Is God

In times when I can’t find God, I need only search for love. ...Anytime I feel love, or don’t feel love at all, but choose love with my will, God is there in that moment.

Letters, Identity, NurtureCorynne StaresinicJanuary 2, 2019Autumn, Postpartum, Letting go, Expectations, Motherhood, Self-care, Well-being, ResolutionsComment

Mental Illness and Trusting in Christ

The story of Jesus raising Jarius’ daughter from the dead is one I come back to again and again. …How often I’ve been in the shoes of these angry, grieving family members, and how often I’ve been this little girl, pronounced dead to the world.

Letters, IdentityCorynne StaresinicDecember 21, 2018Mental health, Mental illness, Mental Health, Well-beingComment

When You Look in the Mirror

Your identity is not found in your pants size, or the parts you deem imperfect, or in competition with other women, but in being fully known and loved as a daughter of God.

Letters, Identity, ReceiveCorynne StaresinicDecember 19, 2018Body image, Perfectionism, Self-care, Well-being, Beauty Comment

You Are Not the Sum of Your Success

For most of my life, I mistakenly thought that in order to please God, in order to be of any good, I must succeed at everything, and I bent all my energy to achieving my notion of perfection.

Letters, Identity, NurtureCorynne StaresinicDecember 14, 2018Perfectionism, Self-care, Well-being Comments

Overcoming Scrupulosity

I cannot remember a time before anxiety. When I was young, everything had to be just right, and I always had to be in control. As I grew older, the prevailing worry was homework - had I done it perfectly? What if I’d missed something? And then more diabolical fears crept in - and I do mean diabolical in the truest sense of the word. I spent years wrestling with crushing, exhausting, terrifying guilt in my spiritual life.

Who I Am When I’m Alone

There is tremendous power in learning to be at home with yourself.

The Importance of Taking Care of Ourselves

We must not forget that we are body and soul, and our bodies are a gift from God that we must not squander. It would be like if a friend gave you a beautiful plant for your birthday but you neglected it and let it wither.

Letters, IdentityCorynne StaresinicNovember 23, 2018Self-care, Well-being Comment

Learning to Live in Hope with Depression

“It was an ordinary moment on a mundane day when I realized that the darkness was back. I’d run into a friend who works at my doctor’s office, and as she checked me out, she asked how I was doing. I wanted to simply say, ‘Fine,’ but I couldn’t keep the tears from filling my eyes….”

My Faith Journey as a Survivor of Rape

"At 16-years-old, I was raped by a boy who decided that he could determine my worth. For two and a half years, I plunged into a deep darkness. ...I was ashamed and I remember wondering how the Lord could possibly love me like this…”

Seeking Help with Postpartum Depression

"With each successive birth however, I struggled to bond with my babies, and I winced at the barrage of opinions coming from social media, 'experts,' and many well-meaning family and friends."

The Foundation of Vocation

"But before she becomes a wife and mother, friend and sister, she is first a daughter... Everything she does stems from the truth that she is a daughter unconditionally loved and utterly delighted in."

The Grace to Keep Going After a Miscarriage

“Is your life filled with unexpected twists and turns? Have you faced uncertainty in times of hardship when things did not go as planned? My dearest sister, I know this story too well.”

Carrying the Cross of Depression

“We all have different paths that lead us to God, don’t we? At the end of our earthly lives all of us will hopefully be able to look back and say, ‘Ah, so that’s why I went through that.’ For me that path has been depression.”

Solidarity to Women with Infertility

I grew up believing I was born to be a Mother. It was not a question or a wonder; it was something I was certain of. But the things I arrive at 46 years old, both with and without, surprising me.