Minibook eBooks

Being a father of boys is a privilege and a joy, but it's also challenging. We know that fathers are an important influence on their sons, and we want to have a positive impact on their lives. But we wonder exactly how we can help them grow to be the...

Raising daughters is a joy. Nothing prepares a dad for the rush of feelings that accompany holding your baby girl for the first time. But along with the joy comes the questions. How do you protect her from harm, set her on a good path, and help her...

A loved one has walked out on you. A car crash has left you disabled and in constant pain. You or a family member just received a serious medical diagnosis. Even worse, perhaps you've just returned from a funeral. How do you begin to piece your life...

Do past failures still trouble you? Perhaps regret over a mistake, the betrayal of someone close to you, an undone task, an angry outburst has left you feeling uneasy. You wonder if God really does forgive you. Sometimes he seems like a dark cloud...

Distracted. Hyperactive. Impulsive. A diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) can explain the challenges you and your child face, but it cannot change the difficult behaviors. But there is hope for change. Edward T. Welch uncovers the truth about...

It starts out as small moments of forgetfulness that can be chalked up to simply getting older. But as time passes and symptoms accumulate, you are forced to face the fact that your loved one has Alzheimer's disease. Now you're wondering how the course...

If you have an angry child you are most likely worn out, confused, and looking for answers to questions like these: How can I restore sanity to this chaos? How can I prevent these anger storms in my child? Why does this rage seem to explode out of...

Suffering from anxiety and panic attacks can feel incapacitating. One minute you feel fine, and the next your heart is pounding, your mind is racing, and your stomach is clenching. Sometimes it even feels like you might be having a heart attack. The...

It's frustrating to be under imperfect authority. And sometimes it's more than frustrating—we suffer when someone's authority is unfair, capricious, or just plain wrong. But does that let us off the hook? Do we have to listen only to those we...

Your child's diagnosis with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may have left you feeling sad, confused, or perhaps even relieved to finally understand why he or she behaves differently from other children. Whatever your initial response to the diagnosis,...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of several neurodevelopmental disorders that can cause developmental deficits or differences in brain processing that impair a person's functioning in many different settings. ASD in the United States is estimated...

Would you like to take better care of your body but aren't sure what to do? Focusing on our souls doesn't mean we should neglect taking care of our bodies. But often we are so busy caring for others and keeping to our schedules that we think we can't...

No matter whether your husband's death was expected or sudden, your loss is a total shock. Your world will never again be the same. You wonder how you can go on without him. And how will you manage the details of a life you built together? How do you...

Everyone feels better some days than others, but some people struggle with exaggerated and unrestrained mood swings. These kinds of mood swings have come to be known as mania, manic-depression, or bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is confusing and...

It's only natural to bristle when you are mistreated. Perhaps you were passed over for a well-deserved job promotion, hurt by a family member, falsely accused, or experienced a severe disappointment. An array of emotions—anger, frustration,...

You are bored or stressed or hurt. Something is hard in life and you want a break. What do you grab for that you hope will protect, soothe, and comfort? Whatever it is—shopping, overeating, drinking, drugs—promises relief, but never delivers...

Violence against women is a growing concern, both in America and around the world. We want to help, but the problem can seem too big, too complex, too overwhelming, or too far away to tackle. Christ calls us to help the helpless, but what can we do to...

Where is your marriage? Newly married, in a rut, coming off a major transition, or coming out of a period of crisis or conflict? Regardless of your situation, it's never too early—or too late, for that matter—to build habits that will...

Often, in our busy world, our lives feel like one long to-do list. It's easy to get so busy that we don't even notice how exhausted and anxious we are. Do you find yourself saying yes to activities you don't have time for? Have you ever said, "If I...

Another conversation ends in frustration or even anger. You want to communicate well and to grow deeper in your relationships, but either you can't seem to find the words or always seem to come up with the wrong ones. How can you develop greater...

There are many voices weighing in on the question of whether you can change your sexual orientation. Yes, no, maybe so—it can be confusing and disorienting to sort through the mess. You want to follow God, but what does that mean when it comes to...

Caring for aging parents is complex and challenging even under the best of circumstances. How do we help them and remain sane when distance, dementia, depression, disaster, divorce, disintegrated relationships, deteriorating health, and discouragement...

How is your church ministering to children in your congregation who have experienced sexual abuse? Jesus told us that whoever received a child in his name received him (Matt. 18:5). Is this the guiding principle that informs how your congregation cares...

Sadness, depression, anger, fear, anxiety, loyalty conflicts; your children are struggling with at least some of these emotions after your divorce. To make things even more difficult, you are struggling too. How do you help your child cope with the...

Children can experience trauma from a variety of experiences, including neglect, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, death of a loved one, bullying, racial trauma, and more. Trauma occurs when children are exposed to an experience perceived as...

Why did I do that? Behind every choice is a motive–like pleasure, comfort, or control. Motives can be hard to identify and even harder to change. In CCEF's Choices: Why Do I Do What I Do?, biblical counseling expert Edward T. Welch shows all who...

Chronic pain is different from other kinds of physical pain because it doesn't stop. It is daily, unrelenting, soul-wearying pain for which there is no end in sight. Can you still experience God's grace and help even in the midst of never ending pain?...

Is it really possible to come clean once pornography has gained control of your life? In CCEF's Coming Clean: Breaking Pornography's Hold on You, biblical counseling expert David Powlison invites you to learn from a man called Bob, who experienced...

Everyone has their own style of dealing with conflict. Some people try to win at all costs and will do or say anything to get their own way. Others hate conflict and will do or say anything to avoid or end it. Sadly, neither fighting nor avoidance leads...

What makes you angry? Sometimes it's small things: traffic jams, a waiter's mistake, or a friend's inattention. And sometimes it's big things: betrayal, injustice, meanness, violence, oppression, selfishness, and lying. How do you deal with your anger?...

You feel betrayed. Someone close to you has hurt you deeply. You want to move past the pain and your obsession with what happened, but how? The usual strategies—trying to get even, trying to forget—just aren't working for you. Perhaps it's...

When your teenager is estranged from you and God and is making unwise (and perhaps downright awful) choices, it's natural to feel hopeless and helpless. Perhaps you have already done everything you know to do—you have talked with them at length,...

Lost ambition. Emotional numbness. Fear and withdrawal. Fatigue. Marks of what is commonly called depression. If you are one of the many people suffering from depression, there is hope and there is help—a way up when you are down. Even if you...

It may be your greatest fear coming true or something you never thought would happen to you. Either way, breast cancer has entered your life and turned it upside down. Now you're wondering how you're going to make it through: Are you going to be...

The pain of divorce has many different faces: the end of your hopes and dreams for your marriage; a life full of unwanted changes; and the daily struggle with a mixture of grief, fear, guilt, and anger. Is recovery possible? Winston T. Smith, using...

Are your personal or relational problems overwhelming you, negatively impacting your daily life or relationships? While all of us face the common pressures of living in a broken world, sometimes those challenges become too much to handle alone, and they...

Do you suspect that you or someone you love is suffering from marital domestic abuse? Is there intentional harm happening to you in your home, whether physical, verbal, sexual, or emotional? What should you do? How do you seek help? Heather Nelson...

What started as an innocent diet has turned into a monster. You eat too little. You eat too much. You restrict. You binge. Some days you wish you could just forget about food. Can someone like you ever learn to eat normally? Edward T. Welch describes...

LGBTQ+ identities and their widespread acceptance have produced a host of questions and quandaries for Christian families. How do you help your child navigate a world where a classmate may be transgender and neighbors are a gay couple? How do you...

Is a life-threatening illness, a major life change, or just plain old age forcing you to face your own mortality? Probably, like most of us, you'd rather not think or talk about your own death. But ignoring your death won't stop it from...

You made a commitment to Jesus (or maybe you didn't), but now you are questioning everything. Is there a God? Are you really forgiven and accepted for Jesus's sake? It sounds too good to be true. And if the Bible really is true and Jesus really did rise...

Do you dread family get-togethers and try to avoid your extended family whenever you can? When you see your family, do you sometimes regret the way you talk and act? Why is it so hard to get along with the people we grew up with? Childhood hurts,...

Right now you are probably feeling guilty about one thing or another–what you said to your spouse last night, those unrelenting thoughts, something you did years ago and regret, actual lying and cheating, the places where you are struggling right...

The pain is often excruciating. You feel hindered from being the person you want to be and from doing the activities you enjoy most. Adding to your struggle is the knowledge that your symptoms may never fully go away. How do you find encouragement in a...

Do you ever get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach in anticipation of something you don't want to face? This sense of foreboding and apprehension is called dread. It could be about an upcoming life change, a conflict to resolve, a difficult...

Are you facing an unexpected financial crisis or anticipating the possibility of difficult times ahead? Financial problems happen for so many reasons, but right now the uncertainty of the future, coupled with unstable economic conditions, means that...

Disability has a way of trying even the best of marriages. The cumulative effects of daily routines that never vary, social isolation, financial pressures, unmet expectations, and a life that is vastly different from most couples can wear on the spirits...

Moms want to be close to their daughters. Daughters (for the most part) want a good relationship with their moms. But when that relationship is strained by one person's attempt to control and manipulate, closeness is replaced by hurt, disappointment,...

Forgiving someone who has hurt you is one of the most difficult tasks anyone ever faces. In fact, it is so hard that most people avoid it at all costs. But when we don't forgive, we pay the price of bitterness that affects all of our relationships. Is...

You've tried to stop more times than you can count. Now you've given up. Can someone who can't "just say no" really change? There is hope—if you are willing to look deeper than your addictive behavior. Edward T. Welch helps you face what fuels...

Are you living under a cloud of guilt that you can't seem to shake no matter what you do? Do you feel guilty about everything, all the time? We all have different ways of dealing with our guilty feelings, but none of them work for very long. Timothy S...

Everyone experiences hurt in relationships, but most of the time we are able to forgive and forget. But sometimes we experience a major hurt that lingers in our minds and leads to bitterness. We feel trapped by the resulting hostility, ongoing broken...

When your child faces the loss of someone close, their world no longer feels safe. Grief and its aftermath take us all by surprise, but even more so children, who don't have the words or tools to face grief and can respond with fear, withdrawal, and...

No matter what the circumstances, death shakes us to the core. It seems so wrong, and it is! We long for comfort, but we don't know where to look. Can God really help when we are overwhelmed with grief? With compassion and biblical wisdom, Paul David...

Someone you know and love has died. You feel the emptiness and sorrow of loss. That alone is extremely hard. But suicide adds many other painful reactions to the heartache that death brings. Common reactions are feelings of anger, guilt, betrayal, and...

The unthinkable has happened. Your beautiful child is gone, and you are left with a gaping hole in your heart and in your life. How could this have happened? How is it possible that you have outlived your own child? Ryan Showalter understands the...

Are you facing a great loss? Perhaps a loved one or close friend has died. Great love brings great sorrow, and healthy sorrow recognizes the immensity of loss. But when death and loss come close, the temptation toward despair and hopelessness is often...

The turmoil women experience after having an abortion is sometimes called "post-abortion syndrome." But you don't need a technical term to describe what you are feeling. The guilt, regret, depression, and grief are the honest struggles of a woman who's...

Arguments. Betrayal. Inattention. Some of the reasons that relationships shatter. Anger. Confusion. Hurt. Frustration. Some of what we feel when a relationship falls apart. We all have experienced how hard relationships can be in this broken world...

How do you blend two separate families into one household? Family traditions, values, interests, and parenting styles are often so far apart that simple questions like, "Who takes out the trash?" or "Where shall we go for Christmas?" can quickly become...

You spend your days (and maybe nights) helping someone else. If you are a caregiver for someone who is chronically ill, you have already discovered there is a need to be more compassionate, thoughtful, and sacrificial than you ever anticipated. But, to...

Your spouse was unfaithful. Those four words don't begin to do justice to the horror you are experiencing. Rage, fear, grief, and even numbness are all normal responses to the shock of betrayal. The pain of betrayal is like touching a hot stove. Your...

If you have been in a dark or desperate place, you already know that the best kind of friend sits with your pain and listens. What does it take to be a compassionate, helping friend when those you love are struggling? A godly friend with a heart to...

The world is streaming messages to children about what makes them valuable. Children learn early from TV, media, friends, and classmates that if they don't have the right size, weight, strength, and appearance, something is wrong with them. Children...

Shame is the experience of feeling unacceptable, less than others, or different. Children often experience the sting of this particular sense of failing to measure up. Whether this heavy feeling comes from internal or external pressures, children need...

A student sits in your office and shares about his or her struggles with same-sex attraction. Or perhaps it's your child asking you for help. What can you say or do that will bring the gospel into this struggle? Cooper Pinson begins by helping parents...

Long before you decided to adopt, long before your child was born, God planned to put your adopted child into your home. Your child is an amazing gift from God, but nurturing an adopted child also brings unique challenges. Understanding your adopted...

When your child is anxious, it's easy to get anxious too. You want to help your child regain a sense of peace and safety, but how can you? This world is big and scary, and sometimes our worries get big too. Julie Lowe, a skilled family counselor with...

It's hard to know what to do when you see your child struggling with a bully. Do you encourage them to tell an authority figure? Call the other child's parents? Intervene? What is the right response? It's always important to take bullying seriously and...

Grief is overwhelming, especially for children, who do not naturally know how to respond to loss. They need help to express the sadness, fear, and anger that comes after encountering death. Thankfully, God has given us a pathway through grief. He...

As the conversation around homosexuality becomes increasingly hostile on all sides, it can be difficult to know where to stand as a Christian. You don't want to compromise God's Word, either by blindly following the culture or by treating others with...

Depression makes so many things hard. Things you used to take for granted: a good nights sleep, having goals, responding to someone's love, looking forward to the future. Is there any hope and help for those who are struggling with depression? Edward T...

You know that no matter what anybody says, appearance matters—at least to everyone you know. But is it just about choosing the right hair and clothes? Or underneath are you wondering if you will be accepted by this person or not be lumped in that...

The kids are hungry, dinner is late, everyone's tired and on edge, and then it happens—you lose control and blow up at them again. Is losing control with our children inevitable in our busy world? Or is there a better way? Learn from William P...

We are used to having our parents help us, but how do we handle it when the tables are turned and our parents are the ones who need help? Declining health, financial needs, divorce, relational issues—what's an adult child's role when their parents...

Prickly, defensive, nasty, volatile, withdrawn, miserable...aren't there days when you feel surrounded by difficult people? How do you cope? You can try avoiding them, gossiping about them, or giving them a piece of your mind. But wait! Don't your...

There are so many good reasons to say yes to premarital sex—everyone around you seems to be doing it and you are physically ready! Are there any good reasons to say "no" and is there any good way to stick with your "no"? Dan Wilson, a seasoned...

You don't want to make a big deal out of it. Isn't everyone else already talking about sex? Yes, they are talking, and their words are shaping your child's understanding right now. In a culture that glorifies casual sex, kids will only learn to think...

You hurt yourself to feel better, but the relief never lasts. If you or someone you love feels trapped in a cycle of intentional self-injury, there is hope in the gospel that is better than the quick fix of self-injury. Exposing the familiar motivations...

Are you having suicidal thoughts and feelings? Perhaps you are convinced that life is not worth living. Your life seems hopeless, like a black hole with all love, hope, and joy sucked out. David Powlison describes the various reasons you might be...

As a chronic fatigue sufferer, life as you once enjoyed it has ceased. Fatigue can be brought on by a myriad of physical, emotional, or spiritual issues. But, whatever the cause, your entire world is now affected by your diminished physical strength...

The progression should have been natural. You got married, and children were supposed to follow in due time. But every month that ends in a period rather than a pregnancy has you feeling more and more depressed. Perhaps you even find yourself avoiding...

Every victim has a voice with which to cry out against God or cry out to him. In Innocence Lost: Rebuilding After Victimization, biblical counseling expert David Powlison encourages all who have been victimized to find their voice in Scripture, guiding...

Nothing in life is turning out the way you expected. You pray and ask for relief, help, and changed circumstances. But what are you to think when it seems like life is going from bad to worse? You wonder if God is even listening. Does he hear your cries...

In our increasingly wired world, your children have access to people, images, and media that you don't want them to experience. What's a concerned parent to do? What does wisdom look like when technology floods into your home bringing access to...

You want to lead your child to Christ, but you often wonder exactly what you should be saying and sharing with your child. How do you know what parts of the gospel to share? How do you know if your child is really understanding the good news of the...

For many who leave military service, the transition back to civilian life can feel overwhelming. Former roles and responsibilities are gone, along with the structure of where you live and how you spend your time. This can lead many to struggle with big...

As you face deployment, you need more than sympathy and gratitude. You need hope and guidance for yourself and those you love. Jesus Christ experienced the pain of separation when he left heaven for earth, and he understands what you are facing. You can...

Retirement can seem like the light at the end of a very long tunnel of hard work. But for many of us, the reality doesn't quite match up to our hopes. We struggle with a loss of purpose, and the activities and interests we couldn't wait to have more...

What if your human parents were violent, deceptive, cold, or even just occasionally disappointing? Can their failures keep you from understanding God's love and having a growing relationship with your heavenly Father? Some say that you can't know God's...

Everyone is afraid of something. Fear is part of the human experience of living in a broken, fallen world. We try to manage our fears, but our coping mechanisms impact our faith. We hoard resources and stop praying for provision. We stockpile...

Past broken relationships, concerns about compatibility, and finances are just some of the reasons for the growing trend of couples living together without getting married. But marriage is not just a cultural institution by which people merge lives,...

You married someone you trusted, and now you are facing unpredictable anger or outright physical abuse. This is betrayal at its worst. Most likely you are numb, scared, confused, and paralyzed. How do you take a step when you are so afraid? Edward T...

Making friends is one of the most basic aspects of life, so why does it often feel so difficult? You reach out to others, but they don't reach back. You think you've found a friend, but then they let you down or move away. How do you forge genuine...

Emotions are a powerful and important part of life, but sometimes it feels like they are out of control. Mild frustration quickly turns to anger. Sadness becomes despair. Disappointment deepens into bitterness. You may begin to wonder if you control...

Some call it "the change of life." It is certainly that, and not always a welcome one! Hot flashes, memory lapses, tiredness, emotional struggles - they may not all be equal in severity, but you're certainly experiencing the effects of growing older...

Anyone who has suffered through a miscarriage knows that it is one of the most painful experiences a woman can have. There's an emptiness inside that you cannot describe and that no one else seems to understand. How can you grieve so much for a person...

Do you feel like you're failing as a mom? Are you plagued by a sense of inadequacy and feel like you're constantly missing the mark?These feelings describe mom guilt—a surprisingly common experience for modern moms. Counselor Lauren Whitman helps...

Your world has just been rocked with news that the baby you're expecting has been diagnosed with a significant disability. All of the hopes and plans you have for this baby are crumbling around you. Fears and questions are rising to take their place...

How do you respond when you hear from your wife, "Not tonight, honey"? Your response may range from confusion and hurt to impatience and anger. Whether you're hearing the words for the first time or are beginning to think you'll never hear any others,...