Autumn is my favorite season. We call it “fall” around here. Living in the rural community in Michigan where we experience four very different seasons, there is a thrill in the air when the temperatures cool at night, the trees begin to show their colors, and pumpkins and squash are at all the roadside stands.
It’s too early to fret about blizzards and icestorms.
If the heat is unbearable during a few hours in the day, we understand that cooler weather is right around the corner.
Gardeners are reaping the last of their harvest and preserving it for the winter.
The season is changing.
This summer I struggled with my mental health. With a medication adjustment, counseling from a Christian therapist, and the support of family and friends, I have come through the hardest season I’ve experienced since my original nervous breakdown and hospitalization in 2003.
The past few days I’ve wrestled with depression. Earlier tonight I cried on the phone with a friend over things that happened 30 years ago. (Thankfully I go to an appointment with my therapist tomorrow.)
Now that evening has settled and the house is quiet, I am remembering and meditating on truths that I learned in the early days of Christian counseling.
One of the first things I learned about in therapy was that Scripture gives us rungs of truth to help us out of the pit of depression and despair.
Some of my truths:
God loves me.
God accepts me.
God forgives me.
I am a child of God.
He has a plan and a purpose for my life.
He has never left me nor forsaken me.
He is with me now.
Instead of looking back on the past and remembering failures and disappointments, tonight, I choose to look forward, not backwards. I’m not going that way. I’ve been there, and it’s time to put everything behind me, tie up my shoelaces, and step into the next season in my life.
The photo above was taken by a friend of mine. The Light of God is shining in this fall season, just as it is shining in my life.
I first learned these truths during counseling session #1 in October 2013. Tonight, I needed to reread this and remember these steps. I thought sharing it again might be helpful to others.
Week 1 of my Journey out of the Pit
I started going to a Christian counselor in October 2013 to help me through the grief and depression I was stuck in.
I’m certain God led me to this counselor, as she and her husband were missionaries in Saltillo, Mexico, around the same years that I studied there. Not only that, but she studied Spanish at the same language institute that I did there in Saltillo, just not at the same exact time. It was enough of a connection to believe that God brought her into my life to help me heal.
One of the first things my counselor did was share with me Psalm 40:1-2.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
The verses describe what it feels like to live in depression and grief.
My counselor gave me the word picture that there is a pit of depression, but there are rungs to help us climb out of it.
The rungs are truths that we know. For a Christian, those truths are founded in the Word of God.
My late husband had made notes in the margins of his Bible. I had come across these words he’d written in the book of Ephesians:
God loves me.
God accepts me.
God forgives me.
These were three truths that I could count on. They were rungs that I could use to help myself climb out of the pit.
I added a truth of my own:
I am a child of God.
My counselor agreed with these truths. She also added some.
I am who I am by God’s design.
God gave life to dirt. He made us in His image. My value comes from being made in the image of God.
God sees us as His children.
He delights in us.
He loves us for who we are.
Whether we believe it or not, it’s still the truth.
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are.
These are the rungs of truth that I could use
to climb out of the pit of depression.
Before I could grasp hold of a rung, however, I first needed to catch myself thinking negative thoughts.
I had to picture a stop sign.
Once I caught myself thinking a negative thought about myself, I could stop the thought from taking root.
The the next step was to replace the negative thought with a positive truth. After a while, these truths became a part of who I was.
The process of climbing out of the pit did not happen overnight. Sometimes it was two steps forward and one step back. But I continued to go to counseling and built on that foundation.
Over time and through much prayer and determination, I can say that I am safely on the topside. Occasionally I slip towards that pit, but God has helped me to remember what I’ve learned and keep from falling back in.
Edited to Add:
I haven’t read this post for quite some time. I was amazed at how much I’ve forgotten about it. God wants me to remember that He is my heavenly Father, that He loves me and accepts me just as I am. I am His child. And so thankful to God for His faithfulness in my life.
This post came about almost one year ago when I was really struggling with my faith and felt quite hopeless. I share it here today as a testimony that God has shown His great faithfulness to me. But for anyone who needs to hear this uplifting message I share this original post:
It’s been a rough week.
I wish sometimes life would be good all the time, but that is not the case. Not for anyone. The tide ebbs and flows. The sun rises and the sun sets. Seasons change. We grow from helpless infants and travel through life only to find most of us helpless as we reach our final breath. The darkness comes at night, only to become light again as the sun rises.
“Feed the Light.”
Those were the words whispered in my ear last night.
As I said, it’s been a rough week. After some tests to find out what is causing abdominal pain, a doctor I saw in a walk-in clinic took time to talk to me about it and find out what was going on. She ordered an MRI so she can look at the big picture. I hope to find out what is causing the pain, yet if it is something serious, I don’t know if I want to know. People deal with pain all the time, but sometimes there are serious conditions causing that pain. Since I haven’t received a call to schedule the MRI yet, then there is nothing I can do but wait.
And pray.
And trust in God’s faithfulness.
I also may be facing laser surgery to correct glaucoma. It is a scary thought to me, to be so vulnerable to eye surgery. But without it, I could lose my eyesight. I have an appointment scheduled to see the specialist in December.
Again, there is nothing to do but wait.
And pray.
And trust in God’s faithfulness.
Our God is a good God, but not everything that happens in life is good.
We live in a fallen world full of darkness. God is our source of Light and Strength.
I wasn’t myself yesterday. I think the pain, the missed time from work, the fear of the unknown, all weighed heavy on my mind.
Late yesterday afternoon I found myself hurtled towards the darkness of the pit of depression.
“Feed the Light.”
Those words came to me.
I got out my phone and fired up my Spotify playlist.
As I listened to the worship music and meaningful lyrics of contemporary Christian songs, I am thankful that my hope is in the Lord.
I couldn’t help but find the source of my strength and hope as I played the song.
This morning, I still don’t have answers. I still have pain. Yet I have found my hope.
I have once again avoided falling into the dark pit of depression.
God is good. And faithful. He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me.
The pain I’ve been dealing with is coming from the sciatic nerve. I’m going through physical therapy now and hope to be back to normal activities soon.
Tuesday, November 29
This morning started out with a sluggish weight and depression setting in. I’m not used to being home with nothing to do all day except think. I’m actually going this morning to talk to my mental health counselor and get a handle on my mood before it sinks into a full depressive episode.
I’m waiting to hear from both my doctor and my boss to see what the next few weeks will bring. I worked 4 days total in November, so this is going on a second month of sitting at home in pain and thinking too much.
Tuesday, November 29, later in the day:
My counselor was able to help me get back on track with a few statements we’ve talked about before. A) acknowledge that I am thinking negatively about myself; B) believe what is true about myself and God; and C) change the default. A) yes, I am in pain and am missing time from work; B) it isn’t easy, but God has never let me down and will help me through this challenge; and C) to try to stop the negative thoughts from taking root. Changing the way I think takes time and practice. I’ve done pretty well over the past few months but I needed some reminders. Thankfully I didn’t slide back into that pit of depression. God is awesome and His Word is true and powerful.
Wednesday, November 30
One of the steps to gaining back my mood balance is to “Change the Default.” That is something my counselor came up one day when something she was printing went to the default printer, and not to the one in her office. She told me that is like what I go through. Every time I struggle, I default my thoughts to blaming myself, self-judging, worrying about what people think about me. She said I needed to change the default thinking.
As I began to grasp that understanding, this is something I wrote down. A prayer of sorts, to read to myself when I need to remember that I am okay just the way I am.
I wrote this several years ago but it’s always good to refresh my way of thinking.
Anytime I fight against the darkness in my life, God moves in with the light.
It was no different this week.
On Thursday night I struggled with sliding towards the pit of depression.
By the Grace of God, He reminded me to Feed the Light that is in me through salvation.
Through praise and worship, that lightness overtook the darkness and I was again set free from falling into the pit.
God is good. All the time. Even when our circumstances are not.
Plans for future lessons for children’s church have been rattling around in my brain the past couple of days. More so since I woke up at 3:00 a.m. which is the time I usually like to get up. I go to bed early at night so I can rise early and start my day while the world is silent.
A couple of cups of coffee, some social media until I wake up enough to work on my writing or children’s curriculum.
The Passport to the Promised Land curriculum that I created and others assisted with turned out successfully. We’re learning to work with flannelgraphs. If you’re not familiar with them, they are felt pieces of characters and items in the Bible that are presented on a large board as a story is told
We’ve also used videos, games and crafts to present unique lessons. We’ve stamped our passports and traveled through the Old Testament with Abraham, Joseph and Moses. We’ll cross the Jordan River in another week and then celebrate along with the Israelites who returned to the land God promised Abraham. We’ll learn that God keeps His promises. He promised to never leave or forsake us. He always keeps His Word.
Now that the holidays are nearly upon us, the focus of our children’s church lessons will be on the events surrounding birth of Jesus and how He brought hope and joy and love into our hearts.
Since those lessons are outlined already, I’m looking ahead to what the Year 2023 will bring.
Our church has saved Vacation Bible School curriculum for many years. I’m coming up with the lesson plans and creating my own curriculum, well, me and the Lord that is. And I brought home the director’s manuals for most of the previous VBS programs.
Last night I started searching through them. Today I did some more indepth searching and also looking up the stories that correspond with the lessons from our Betty Lukens Bible story book that came with the awesome set of flannelgraphs our church ordered last spring. We’ve used the flannelgraphs, which are bright and colorful, along with the stories in several of our lessons, successfully.
Last winter and spring, I taught the Bible in chronological sequence beginning with Jesus growing up as a boy and getting lost at the temple. Well, He wasn’t lost. He knew exactly where He was, in His Father’s House. His parents lost track of Him.
After that story we followed Jesus’ teaching and miracles, his death and resurrection and ascension (Return to heaven). Then we continued with Pentecost and the Acts of the disciples in May.
For 2023, I intend to do something similar but with all new stories and lessons. We’ll have the opportunity to put the flannelgraphs to good use..
I spent time last night and this morning organizing most of the lessons into an outline with specific dates and stories we’ll be learning. I’ve marked pages of the VBS directors’ manuals to search more thoroughly and gather ideas from.
I see some exciting things in our future!
God is on the Move!
I’m excited about the possibilities for the future, both for my local church and one day when I publish these lesson plans and make them available to other churches.
Sometimes we have only one child. Usually three or four. A couple of times we’ve had 9 children, and that is exciting when that happens. But we still do the lesson and work the program as much as possible for one or two children as we do eight or nine. Or 12, or 20.
Each child deserves our best effort and the full impact of the lessons.
You see, I grew up in a little country church. We didn’t even have indoor plumbing. The congregation faded away, until it was just our family and a couple of other people before the church closed.
Yet we always had Sunday School. We sang choruses in the opening and had class time. Our teachers prepared the lessons for us even though we were the only ones in the class.
The foundation of my faith began in that little church with those dedicated teachers.
I hope that the lessons we teach will be the foundation on which our children in my local church will build their faith, also.
God is on the Move!
The link to a song by this title is below. The lyrics are very meaningful to me. As evidenced in my own life in the past two days, God moves when we surrender to Him and move from the darkness into the light.
Inspirational Author 