Depression can feel like a wet blanket that weighs us down or a dark fog that keeps us from seeing clearly. It can lead us to feeling helpless and alone—even to the point of hiding our feelings because we’re afraid of being shamed or misunderstood.
But when we’re struggling, we have two choices: we can either sink even more deeply into our own sadness or—through God’s grace—we can seek help.
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“We’re overcome with deep sadness to be at this point,” my friend texted me.
Now, you need to know this girl is Tigger on steroids. She’s ordinarily happy, upbeat, and always positive and hopeful. But, sister, she wasn’t on the day she sent me this text.
“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.
What a year it has been! When I think about the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens, there’s been this overwhelming theme throughout it all — the Lord has worked and been so very present. I’m so thankful in that what has been a tough year in some ways has also been an opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness. He is so good.
And I’m so thankful for you! Each one of you. Thank you for joining me for Java every week. It feels like we are truly on this journey together, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of sisters to join me. So, as the year winds down, I figured I would feature the blogs you liked the best from this past year! Let’s just sample a few sips of Java from 2016 together — maybe they will be sweeter the second time, and if you’re new to this great bunch of coffee buddies, pour yourself a tall something that is warm and refreshing, pull up a chair and enjoy a cup of inspiration… five cups, to be exact!
