There I was again, wiping tears off my face. It had been too many days, too many weeks of tears and grief. Even though I had candidly shared my struggles with three of my closest friends, I decided to get some biblical counseling sessions. 

“I think I gave myself Shingles,” I said to a friend. “I was incredibly stupid to get so upset about my boss’ decision to delay his return to Kabul. I sat in my darkened bedroom for three days, not talking to anyone beyond required work needs, med...

Truth be told, I have never been all that great about “self-care”. I even mocked the notion for a while. Called it a first-world privilege. In my mind, self-care was selfish, and I had been called to serve.

Oxford Languages defines self-care as “taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health; the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.”