Andrea Anderson Polk
Is there someone in your life who tries to monopolize your time and consume your energy? Or someone who leaves you feeling confused or misunderstood, but you cannot put your finger on exactly how or why? Is there someone with whom you are unable to have a rational conversation and things seem very complicated? Maybe this person is never satisfied, no matter how much you try to love, help, and please them. Are you the one doing all the work in a relationship? In The Cuckoo Syndrome, Andrea Anderson Polk, a licensed professional counselor, helps us fend off the cuckoos—unhealthy relationships, toxic thinking, and self-sabotaging behavior—in order to find our identity in God and discover new purpose, vision, and meaning in our lives. We know the cuckoo bird as a colorful wooden figurine that pops out of a clock and chirps the hours of the day to the delight of children and adults alike. In reality, the cuckoo bird is a parasite—invading the nest of other birds, destroying the eggs already present, and fooling the family into raising an ever-demanding, never-satisfied cuckoo chick. Polk, a licensed professional counselor, compares cuckoo birds—nature’s infamous imposter—to the human experience, situations, and relationships demonstrating haunting confusion and unnecessary suffering. Cuckoos can invisibly sabotage our most intimate relationships, our ministries, and our careers—our deepest desires. In The Cuckoo Syndrome, Polk gives us new insight and ways to fend off these cuckoos that invade our “nests” with their devious disguises. Cuckoos can take many forms. There is the cuckoo of avoiding emotion, the fear cuckoo, the stress cuckoo, the shame cuckoo, the unresolved grief cuckoo, the perfectionism cuckoo, the counselor cuckoo, and probably the most insidious cuckoo of all: the religion cuckoo. Drawing from a depth of study in scripture, science, and psychology, Polk breaks us free from the cuckoo’s snare by teaching us to embrace the desires of our heart as we uncover the truth of who we are, who others are, and who God is. We can learn to establish great joy in our identity by committing ourselves to discover meaning in suffering and understanding how our pain is the genuine catalyst for purpose. http://andreaandersonpolk.com

Chad Martz
Chad recently connected with our 100 Huntley Street co-Host, Cheryl Weber, to bring an update on the ongoing work in Ukraine. Prayer is vital, ongoing help is still needed. Chad has the privilege or overseeing seven different departments at Hungry for Life (“HFL”). He has been on 61 HFL trips which include assessments, monitoring, and leading teams. Similar to a few other staff, Chad came to know about HFL through his former youth pastor and now Executive Director of HFL, Dave Blundell. Chad had little to no professional experience before starting with Hungry For Life, unless you call shooting a puck/basketball or hitting a baseball/volleyball as experience. He had always had a desire to work within the church, but never found a specific area until hearing about the opportunity he could have in assisting churches to become directly involved in sustainable community projects in developing countries. Since that time, Chad has gained a considerable amount of experience by travelling to 18 countries and conducting over 30 assessment/monitoring trips. Chad is married to Mary, whom he met at bible school in Sweden; together they have one wonderful daughter. Mary has led many teams to her home country in the Ukraine. http://hungryforlife.org/country/ukraine/