I'm just sitting in my living room, listening to the "Glee" soundtrack with my daughter; feeling both reflective and just enjoying the moment....The air is filled with the smell of fresh banana bread that I just took from the oven (this time it turned out perfectly!)...and my heart feels full of Thanksgiving. Not so much the "Thanksgiving Holiday" ie: turkey and trimmings, but just gratitude to God for allowing me to be back at home with my family and feeling in my right mind, and somewhat able to function...at least enough to manage. For someone who has not always had health or mental well-being, or spiritual peace...I can attest to the miracle and grace of God in endowing us with them.
For those of you who are currently struggling with your own demons of mental illness; family members who suffer with disabilities; sons or daughters who seem hell-bent on learning the hard way; I would like to offer a word of encouragement and hope...as well as my most fervent prayers that God will speedily grant you peace and joy...And that while He goes about that process, that you would be enabled to remain fixed in trust and a solid certainty that your God will ride the winds to help you...and that He is EVEN NOW, doing just that.
I want to thank those of you who have contacted me, either personally, or via email; and shared with me your stories and allowed me the privilege of bearing with you the burden of prayer and faith in your struggles. And if you haven't yet done that, please feel welcome and safe to do so...I consider it to be my God-given gift and responsibility to have this as a ministry to those of you who still are mining the Darkness and seeking the Treasures that God has promised there for you. I pray that Yahweh will prove Himself to be the Strong Helper and Loving God that I know Him to be.
I was the most hopeless of cases...Lost in decades of despair...the sickest one in almost every psych ward I visited; considered to be beyond help...and certainly out of range of any kind of normal life... I do not claim that my life is normal, but I would agree with Francis Chan and my friend Sara Frankl (the following is a quote from Sara's blog www.Gitzengirl.blogspot.com .
For those of you who are currently struggling with your own demons of mental illness; family members who suffer with disabilities; sons or daughters who seem hell-bent on learning the hard way; I would like to offer a word of encouragement and hope...as well as my most fervent prayers that God will speedily grant you peace and joy...And that while He goes about that process, that you would be enabled to remain fixed in trust and a solid certainty that your God will ride the winds to help you...and that He is EVEN NOW, doing just that.
I want to thank those of you who have contacted me, either personally, or via email; and shared with me your stories and allowed me the privilege of bearing with you the burden of prayer and faith in your struggles. And if you haven't yet done that, please feel welcome and safe to do so...I consider it to be my God-given gift and responsibility to have this as a ministry to those of you who still are mining the Darkness and seeking the Treasures that God has promised there for you. I pray that Yahweh will prove Himself to be the Strong Helper and Loving God that I know Him to be.
I was the most hopeless of cases...Lost in decades of despair...the sickest one in almost every psych ward I visited; considered to be beyond help...and certainly out of range of any kind of normal life... I do not claim that my life is normal, but I would agree with Francis Chan and my friend Sara Frankl (the following is a quote from Sara's blog www.Gitzengirl.blogspot.com .
“Of course there are moments when I long for a more normal life”
“God set me on this path and lined it with blessings. I can’t presume my dreams would have turned out better than His plans just because they seem easier in my mind.”
There is a sentence under one of (Francis) Chan’s videos on his website
that talks about how all of us are striving for a normal life, but have we ever
stopped to think that maybe the goal in life shouldn’t be normalcy? That one
sentence made my circumstances make sense to me. If I judge my life against
others… or even against the life I used to have… if I’m grading myself on a
curve of normalcy, then of course I look short-changed. But that’s not the goal.
The goal is to live the best life I can with what I am given
….Obviously my life is intensely abnormal compared to others, and these past few months have been the hardest of my life. But I still wouldn’t trade it for the normal one I always thought I would have, because this is the one He meant for me to live.
It’s a relief to know we’re not graded on a curve, but instead loved for exactly
who we are designed to be
That is a quote by Sara Frankl’s blog post dated 11/14/09 http://gitzengirl.blogspot.com/
*Note: Francis Chan : author of Crazy Love
Do not despair if your life or the lives of your loved ones fall short of "normal"--There is no such thing as a minimum requirement of life that God owes us. Rather, He has lovingly designed a path, and, as Sara said, lined it with blessings that are particular to us. Sure, some of us take the "long road" or learn the hard way, but God, in His mercy, blesses even that...and best of all, we are kept in His hands and by the prayers of those who love us, until we can get to the place where we get with His program and start reaping the abundance He has waiting for us.
Rather than thinking of that which we lack, let us instead "count the blessings" that God has so lovingly granted us...A grateful spirit goes a long way in helping inner healing.
Blessings peeps!!
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