Do you have a friend who seems to be depressed? Do they have the following symptoms? Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness Loss of interest in daily activities Appetite or weight changes Sleep changes Anger or irritability Loss of energy Self-loathing Reckless behavior Those are the symptoms and signs of depression. If you have a friend who is dealing with depression, you may be wondering how you can help. I've enlisted the help of others who have dealt with depression themselves. They are sharing some great advice on what do to and what not to do to help a Continue Reading
Ways to Fight Depression
Remember when I told you I was trying not to drown? Well, the truth is I was trying not to sink. I was trying not to sink into depression. I thought of those of you out there who read that post and felt it down in your bones. The ones who were also trying not to sink. And then I thought of those of you who are already sinking. So I reached out to my fellow blogging friends, asking if anyone has dealt with depression. I asked them if they were willing to talk to me about it. I was blown away by the number of people who responded. Friends, we are not alone in our sinking. So many out there Continue Reading
Words of Encouragement
The past year has been rough for me. For those of you who don't know, I went through a break up. The beginning of the year was spent grieving the loss of the love of my life, his wonderful family, and all my dreams for our future. It really was a loss, because I handle break ups by pretending that person doesn't exist — completely exiling them from my life. It's a defense mechanism I use. It's the only way I know how to diminish the pain — even if it's just a little bit. I kept praying for God to make my feelings for him fade, but it was a prayer God never answered. I prayed for healing, Continue Reading
Seasons Change
I told you this blog was a place for me to share my ups and downs with you, a place to tell of my sorrows and joys. So I want to tell you about the seasons I've been going through in life. At the beginning of 2012, I was in a season of sorrow. There were many aspects of my life that contributed to my sadness. 1. In December, a very important relationship of mine ended. It caused most of the sorrow I felt during this season. The memories seemed to haunt me and the "what if's" or "should have's" clouded my mind. It took a very long time to accept my new circumstances of singleness. And the Continue Reading
Special Delivery: How God Created You to be a Mailman
As much as you may think this blog is about me, it's actually all about you. See, God has given me this passion for writing and, depending on your opinion, a talent for it too. But He didn't give it to me for me. He gave me the passion and talent for you. Yeah, YOU! And you have passions, talents, skills, and gifts that were given to you for someone else too. God doesn't give us these things for ourselves. He gives them to us to use for His purpose and glory in order to further the Kingdom of Heaven. The Special Delivery Analogy God is the post office. We are merely the postage Continue Reading
When the World is Dragging You Down
Have you ever felt the storm clouds encompassing you? Have you ever felt overpowered by the world's devastation? Like you are being dragged down? There was one night recently where the world's evil and life's tragedies were overwhelming to me. I was thinking about a family who lost their little boy in a horrific accident, a friend who'd had a miscarriage, a relative that may have cancer, two child pornography cases I had just covered, and so many other things that can make a person feel sorrow. I laid in my bed that night, weeping for all of these things. I felt so weighed down by the world I Continue Reading