Welcome to my blog! I am wife to Seth and mama to twin daughters, author of Unashamed: Healing Our Brokenness and Finding Freedom from Shame (Crossway, 2016) and Domestic Abuse: Help for Victims (New Growth Press, 2019). I enjoy writing, coffee, deep conversations, travel, the beach, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. I work as a counselor at Mountain View Christian Counseling, enjoying the privilege and opportunity to walk alongside others in their stories and struggles. My husband is a Ph.D. and the dean of a seminary, and together we raise our daughters, with the accompanying piles of laundry, homework, dishes, and to-do lists.
Home for us could be any place that owns a piece of our hearts and stories – like Philadelphia, where we attended seminary, met and spent the first few years of newly married and new-in-ministry life together; Norfolk, Virginia, where we had our twins and our pastoring/counseling ministries for almost a decade. But for now “home” is South Carolina, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the same city where I was raised – where most of our extended family now resides as well.
In this blogging space, I write to find the wonder in the every day, to seek connection that comes with being fellow humans created to make sense of the broken beauty of our hearts and this world. Broken because of sin; beautiful because of its Creator and Redeemer who has left his stamp of grace on every day.
Why hidden glory? Because we are glorious beings. Yet the glory is hidden. Beneath sin, failings, and the frailty that comes with being human. I want to explore the beautiful and the broken, the glorious and the ordinary, and to invite you into this journey with me. I hope you’ll return and will find words of life and grace here, and that you’ll walk away with courage to live and love more freely.
hidden glory 
Thanks for stopping by, Debby! I will certainly have to visit your blog more regularly, too. Love how similar our stories are!
Heather – My name is Athena and im reading your book. It is tough to get through because your writing is very authentic and I resonate w so much of what you have penned.
Wondering – per your definition of guilt vs shame does everyone deal w shame?
I feel i know people who seem to never experience shame. May that be because their background experiences don’t teach them what some of us “know” to be shameful? Im just very curious about your topic.
Thank you for your writing.
Athena, I just made the connection that we’re now at church together! Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement. In terms of your question … my experience is that everyone has shame to some degree, but there are different levels of awareness of shame and different degrees of intensity of shame. I never thought I struggled with shame myself, but then when looking at all the things I did to AVOID shame (perfectionism, people-pleasing, etc.), I realized shame had a stronger hold on my life than I thought.
Just discovered your blog and at 66 yrs. old finally learning about my shame and trying to find healthy ways to deal with it. Looking forward to reading your book and your blog! God Bless!
I’m honored that you would stop by and join in this journey. It’s never too late to be healed from shame!