First Step Counseling

07/25/2025

07/08/2025

When words fail—
when the headlines hit too close to home,
when tragedy knocks the wind out of a community,
when silence sits heavier than sound—
God still speaks.

Not always with explanations.
Not always with the clarity we crave.
But always with presence.

Because presence is His language.
It shows up in the quiet moments, the long pauses, the arms that hold without needing answers.
It rises in the stillness of grief and says, “You are not alone. You will never be alone. Wherever you go, I already am.”

And He doesn’t stop there.
He moves through His people. Angels in disguise. Over and over again, we see His fingerprints like mercy threading through our lives.

Through the text that simply says, “I’m here.”
Through the meals left on porches and the prayers prayed at 2am and the compassion offered from one heart to another— a million words said without none at all.
Through the collective ache of strangers who decide that someone else’s pain matters too.
It is just like Heaven that even in the storms, God’s kindness is too strong, too steady, and too sure to deny.

This is how Heaven breaks through earth:
Not just in rescue, but in response.
It is not just that God is everywhere, but that the Presence moves through His people—
and there are angels all around.

The veil is thin…but so is the distance between sorrow and sacred.
Between the ache we feel and the comfort He gives.
Between the pain of earth and the pulse of Heaven.
Somehow, some way…amidst the most horrific and hard circumstances, the kindness of God and His people are a life raft in the storm.
There is always light breaking through the clouds.

—Cleerely Stated Stated Mike Moyers Fine Art

06/23/2025

Speak this over your week!

Cleerely Stated

06/16/2025

Speak this over your week.

Cleerely Stated

06/08/2025

Why is Pentecost important?

The stories of Moses and the burning bush, Mount Sinai, the tabernacle, and the temple (Ex 3, 19, 20) all include fire that shows up when God’s presence arrives and marks his dwelling space or temple. In Acts 2, Luke links to these previous divine-fire scenes to give a background to the Pentecost story. The divine fire has previously rested on Yahweh’s temple spaces, so where does it rest in this scene?

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” Acts 2:1-3

It’s a temple made out of “each one of them.” It’s US! It’s made of people. People will meet with God not in a geographic place or constructed space but in connection with those who choose to trust and follow Jesus. God’s fire shines with power and harms nobody, and it ignites a cosmic revolution, the Church.

The story tells us that God now dwells within the community of Jesus followers. This living temple is made of people who operate like Jesus, ending fear and oppression with love and compassion while teaching the world about the Kingdom of God. In this sense, Pentecost marks the beginning of a new world. This is the moment when God’s divine fire identified the new temple, the new place where Heaven and Earth overlap, which is the Church community made of Jesus’ people. Not a mountain, not a beautiful building or a sacred place or space—God’s temple is made with unexpected men and women. God’s dwelling place is in people who bear witness to the risen Jesus by choosing to live in his way of love and God’s truth. And the whole world is eventually going to meet God through this community of people who love God and others like Jesus does.

“I will also make you a light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6).

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.


—Mike Moyers Fine Art—

06/04/2025

This is kind of work I do every day. Whether it’s a full Intensive day or 50 minute sessions, EMDR is life-changing for many people.

Miley Cyrus told The New York Times that she tried EMDR therapy to help her relieve anxiety and trauma. Our experts break down what exactly EMDR is, how these therapy sessions work, and if its safe for you.

06/03/2025

Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus and His disciples went to Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem. There, Jesus promised His followers that they would soon receive the Holy Spirit, and He instructed them to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit had come. Then Jesus blessed them, and as He gave the blessing, He began to ascend into heaven. The account of Jesus’ ascension is found in Luke 24:50-51 and Acts 1:9-11.

It is plain from Scripture that Jesus’ ascension was a literal, bodily return to heaven. He rose from the ground gradually and visibly, observed by many intent onlookers. As the disciples strained to catch a last glimpse of Jesus, a cloud hid Him from their view, and two angels appeared and promised Christ’s return "in just the same way that you have watched Him go" (Acts 1:11).

The Ascension of Jesus Christ is meaningful for several reasons:

1) It signaled the end of His earthly ministry. God the Father had lovingly sent His Son into the world at Bethlehem, and now the Son was returning to the Father. The period of human limitation was at an end.

2) It signified success in His earthly work. All that He had come to do, He had accomplished.

3) It marked the return of His heavenly glory. Jesus’ glory had been veiled during His sojourn on earth, with one brief exception at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).

4) It symbolized His exaltation by the Father (Ephesians 1:20-23). The One with whom the Father is well pleased (Matthew 17:5) was received up in honor and given a name above all names (Philippians 2:9).

5) It allowed Him to prepare a place for us (John 14:2).

6) It indicated the beginning of His new work as High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15).

7) It set the pattern for His return. When Jesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as He left-literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds (Acts 1:11; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).


Mike Moyers Fine Art

05/27/2025

Speak this over your week!
Cleerely Stated

05/12/2025

Start the week right!
Cleerely Stated

05/05/2025

Ever been right in the middle of a breakthrough in your therapy session and timer indicates your session is over? It happens all the time. That's just one reason why EMDR Intensives are so beneficial. You can choose between 1/2 day, full day, and multiday sessions so that the work you need to complete has appropriate time. Schedule your EMDR intensive today! We offer flexible payment options!