![Can I Be Okay With Not Being Okay? [Episode 43 With Sheila Walsh] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/06_27_2019_Pod_43_CanIBeOkWithNotBeingOk_May.jpg)
Do you feel like everything in your life has to be perfect for you to be loved and accepted?
According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ moods since 1972, women are becoming less and less happy. While there are many variables, one big reason is our self-imposed drive to be perfect.
![Jennifer Spills the Beans About Depression [Episode 25] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/02_28_2019_Pod_25_JenniferSpillsTheBeansAboutDepression_Jan.jpg)
Depression. It’s something I get asked lots of questions about both online and at my conferences—and, sister, it’s also something I have experienced.
Several years ago, I was traveling the country, teaching the Bible, and speaking of God’s peace and goodness, but privately I was battling depression. For me, it was a rough year full of questions, discontent, and despair.
![Can I Live My Life With Open Hands? [Episode 18 with Laura Story] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/01_10_2019_Pod_18_CanILiveMyLifeWithOpenHands_Dec.jpg)
About five or six years ago, I went through a season where I struggled with depression, which included insomnia.
One night, I vividly remember sitting in a red chair in our bedroom, trying to pray. Yet, I couldn’t really focus on praying. I knew the Lord was there, but I still felt low and empty.
The radio was on, and it was then that I heard a song that touched me in a way nothing else could. It was “Blessings” by Laura Story.
![Can I Control Anger So It Doesn't Control Me? [Episode 4] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/10_04_2018_Pod_4_HandleOnAnger.jpg)
Years ago, when Phil was finishing up his Ph.D., we had a little money, a little time, and a little boy. All in all, it was really a happy season of life—with one little exception.
Actually, it wasn’t so little.
I was overwhelmed with stress and couldn’t figure out how to manage it.
Ever felt like that?
“We’re overcome with deep sadness to be at this point.”
That was my friend’s response to the hard place she and her husband had found themselves.
Her beloved mother had been in and out of institutions because of mental illness and now, they had to make a hard, soul-tearing decision about her guardianship.
For years, they rallied, they loved, they emptied their savings for the best treatment centers, and they fought, trusted, and never gave up hope. And, now they felt like they were giving up her mom to an uncertain future.
Garth Brooks crooned he had friends in “low places.” Girl, we do too.
Life has lots of low places. Hospital waiting rooms, funerals, diminishing bank accounts, hard marriages, illness, and physical limitations are just a few. Low places take us to the bottom of ourselves and leave us feeling down.
Everyone has a low place in their life. Sadly, many of us have had several.
But we’re not alone when it comes to low places. There were many in the pages of Scripture—people who had times when they felt abandoned, scared, and weary.
