My last major depressive episode was a few years ago. That is, until two weeks ago. Mental illness is no stranger to me. Depression and I seem to have semi-regular appointments with each other, like old friends trying to stay caught up on each other’s busy lives. Sometimes depression hits harder than at other times….
I didn’t expect grief to show up today. My father passed away about three months ago. I spent most of the first few weeks crying off and on. The weight of his death seemed almost too much to bear. I’m new to this grief thing. I’ve lost grandparents to death, friends to unlikely circumstances, communities…
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15 ESV) “I just need to be sad,” she said. She attempted a smile, but her eyes were pleading, her hands open, begging for understanding. She’d tried say all the right things about trusting God. She’d put up a brave front and tried to…
Psalm 18:2 tells us, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer” (NIV). At some point in all of our lives, we will most likely come face to face with fear. We will need the knowledge in Psalm 18:2 when we do. And despite the fact that we may know God is with…
The sense of loss had hung over me like a cloud for months. It started on a beautiful October Saturday morning at my nephew’s football game. That’s quite an unlikely place to start feeling a sense of despair, I know, but grief is weird like that. I stood on the sideline of my junior high…
At the age of twenty-seven, I stood in a church on Mother’s Day and wept. I’d been diagnosed with a condition that made it difficult to bear children, and being a mother had been the dream of my life. Even in elementary school, my career goals always revolved around the very young. I’ve had a…