The darkness of severe depression seems opposed to life in a God who is Light. Can God be glorified in and through the darkness of mental illness? Stigma Depression pulls us into ourselves. We lose our capacity to enjoy life, and meaningfully interact with others. Sadness gives way to apathy. Hopelessness seeps in, and can devolve into despair. How…
“Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” Psalms 32:7 It had been a normal day in my household and everything was going smoothly. My husband and I sat down in the evening to watch a movie, and suddenly I felt like I couldn’t…
I put on shorts already this year. It’s back to being cold, because that’s what New England life looks like, but that’s not noteworthy. That happens almost every year; a few warmer days, a few colder days. God must get a kick out of the prayers of sun those in Massachusetts pray for. But the…
There is no question that life is full of mountain top highs and deep valley lows. It’s easy to trust God from the heights, but what about those valleys? Where do we turn to for hope when we find ourselves shrouded in the darkness of difficulty? I believe there is only one source of true…
“I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness – secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.” (Isaiah 45:3 NLT) Sitting in the quiet of the chapel in the school where I worked, I read these…
As a small child, I was terrified of storms because I thought each one carried a tornado in it. When the storm warnings would come on the T.V., the atmosphere around me was one of fear and anxiousness, so by default, I picked up that energy. I would suffer through intense fear because no one reassured me…
The fear comes at night when the lights turn out. I can feel the darkness as a tangible sadness. It feels real, the darkness of depression. Sometimes it feels like a weight on my chest. Other times it feels like a heavy fog, clouding my thoughts. Most of the time I can’t breathe. Under the covers,…
I sat with tears streaming down my cheeks and buried my head in my hands. “God, I can’t do this anymore!” I cried. I had prayed, begged and pleaded with God to give my husband and I more children, and he answered that prayer by allowing us to adopt through the local foster care system….
In the cold, gray quiet of a January morning in 2015, I was sitting on my couch … weeping. I held a paperback book in one hand and wadded up corner of a blanket in my other that I was using to muffle my sobs so I didn’t wake anyone. It was a messy cry…
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at age 16, and struggled with my disease off and on for years. Things took a turn for the worse in February of 2016. My Crohn’s Disease symptoms worsened, and a large majority of my days were spent hospitalized or sick in bed. A few months later in…
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 Nearly a year ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A momentous occasion at any time, but one that seemed particularly wonderful, because she was a direct answer to a prayer. Not only was the sun shining,…
