Well, I just got through the most stressful part of the summer for me. It wasn’t so much things that I was doing, but that my wife was really really busy with her job. So that meant more watching the kids, more running around, more stimulation across the board. Lots of long days, etc.
Now was surprised me was that I actually made it. I’m not saying this to toot my own horn, but it is so easy to come to believe in depression and anxiety that things will never get better, that you can never handle things the way you used to do so. Not true. Or at least, not necessarily true.
One can be tired, worn out, and ready for a vacation. But you can still look back on those difficult times and say, “I handled it. I’m still here.”
Be of good cheer, friends. The Lord provides, and He will take care of you.
-DMR
I just wanted to say thank you for your honesty in posting and hope you post again. I have battled with depression for 25 years and hid it all along. I am a 37 year old divorced mother of three in mid 2nd career but recently attempted candidacy with the ELCA. I received a postponement, but the points targeted for improvement this April sent me into a tailspin. Only this week did I finally open up to my pastor and start naming some sources of grief and there are many. I will always find comfort in my church home and in my baptism and I believe the Eucharist itself brings healing. Anyway, your posts help me see that although I have been able to function throughout my depression that doesn’t mean I have been coping and I can do better if I learn to ask for help. Thanks. You can email me at epiphany22@verizon.net if you like.
I know someone very,very well (no, not me or my spouse) who grew up in a so-called Lutheran environment. But it was all crap. His sibs are very church-ly in Lutheran things, but this guy suspects that from one it is still “crap.” The person I know well was sexually abused & exposed to drinking at age 10—ended up being an alcholic for 25 years but is now sober. Sadly, even though the guy has an MDiv himself, he declared himself an agnostic during his internship year & now considers himself an atheist. (Maybe he’s not so hardened, though.) He, of course, faced deep, deep depression & suicidalism. With sobriety, he’s faced issues head on, but it’s sad, sad sad. P.S. I’ve been a mental health paraprofessional for years, even working inpatient. It’s a rough road for folks with these issues, and some misguided Christians just dump the guilt on when someone can’t “be happy.”
Hello, I just found your blog, and really like it. I added it to my list.
I used to suffer from anxiety, but I don’t anymore. For me, I had tremendous help from therapy, and then I received Christ a couple of years later, and that changed my whole outlook. For me, my anxiety was not a chemical problem so much as it was the way I was raised. So I dumped all the stuff handed down to me from my parents, and find I do very well the more I just keep my eyes on Christ.
My life certainly is not without it’s depressing moments and struggles, that’s for sure. But one thing that is such a blessing, is that I have a pastor who also has had to deal with depression off and on in his life. Not that I am glad he has had to do that, but I am so glad that God has put me in this pastor’s congregation. Many of us can relate to him, he’s not some plastic doll up there or something like that.
Thanks for this blog, I will be stopping by often. And I will keep you and your ministry in my prayers.