If you are like me, every year January 1st catches me by surprise. That is, Christmas (preparations for which consumed my December) is barely over when I’m asked to make a ...

(If the images do not come through on the newsletter, please go to my website www.amygivler.com to view them.) Stigma, anyone? I remember when I was diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) ...

My brother John Middendorf died suddenly on June 21, 2024. It has been three months, which seems unreal to me. Hasn’t it been an eternity? Then again, it feels like yesterday—or ...

[One of the defining moments of my brother John’s life was nearly dying on a multi-day climb of Half Dome, in Yosemite Valley. I wrote his story (from his perspective) and ...

Opioids come from the opium poppy.

And church needs you, too. Pandemics are isolating. Four years ago, so much was unknown about COVID-19, but one thing was certain: It spread from person to person. Hence the need ...

How long is grief? I guess what I’m really asking is, “Does grief ever end?” Last week I had a five-hour drive ahead of me, so I looked at my list ...

Permit me to humbly suggest the following: If you are ever invited to a 100th birthday party, consider attending. And if the centenarian is one of your dearly departed mother’s most ...

There’s a short film I’ve watched over and over. It’s brilliant and profound. It speaks to something we all long for, and yet receive precious little of: Validation. That’s also its ...

Whenever I hear the word “polarization,” I can’t help but think of cell division. Specifically? Anaphase, which perhaps you remember from high school biology. All the organelles have been doubled and ...

Marijuana, Adolescents, and Schizophrenia Marijuana, Adolescents, and Schizophrenia By the time this drops, I will be one week out from age 65. Yet, I’m not grieving—I welcome growing older. Age has ...

Attachment Theory helps to explain grief. Grief is what happens when we humans experience loss. That is, when we lose something or someone, we need to go through a period of ...

In May, 2023, Hallie Dye interviewed me for her excellent podcast, “Saltworks.” Being counter-cultural means following Christ no matter what direction the culture is moving. Listen to Podcast.      From Hallie: “Dr. ...

It isn’t hate to speak the truth. I am one of those parents who didn’t let her daughter (though she begged and begged) read the Harry Potter book series when she ...

Egomania, anyone? When I was a child—maybe six, maybe seven—I went through a phase of suspecting the entire world existed as a massive play with one star—me. That is, I was ...

To tell you about justice, let me introduce you to Aidah. She worked in our home (our “inside worker”) during the eight months our family lived in Kenya in 2003/2004. Don ...

The first time I ever heard of a lobotomy was in the early 1980s. I was a medical student, but I didn’t learn about it in class. Instead, I was in ...

Hope in the Face of Cancer Amy Givler, M.D. a cancer survivor, shares her experience and the stories of others with the voice of encouragement, faith, and strength she so desperately ...