Hope for Mental Health

This blog post by Jolene Philo shares her and her husbands' experience as special needs parents from the birth of her son to the present.  Her son is now 40.  Their story is full of "unexpected setbacks, victories, sorrow, and joy", and discovering their "source of strengthen in God's faithful presence. To access the complete post, and to sign up for this blog, follow this link, where you can also access the full menu of Key Ministry resources, including their Mental Health blog: Special Needs Parenting blog

  Today, I'm featuring a post from their Church4EveryChild blog .   it's written by a pastor who is the dad of a special-needs boy with non-verbal autism.  Pastor Shannon Blosser is honest about his struggles in both of his roles, and offers tips for helping churches to be more inclusive. A quote:  "I am not perfect in this.  I get frustrated and exhausted with having to constantly express that my child is a valued member of the body of Christ.  I get tired of how the church struggles to see that reaching out to people like my son is holy work." To read the entire article, and to sign up for the blog, visit: Church4EveryChild blog Key Ministry, was founded to help churches welcome families of children with hidden disabilities.  They provide a variety of educational and support services for churches and families, and have expanded to serving those with mental health issues and trauma.  To explore their wide range of services and topics, visit their website: Key Ministr

What I loved about this book is the raw honesty and willingness to trust God in healing from suicidal thoughts and major depression.  Like many of us, it took a crisis for her to confess her need for help.   Her crisis came in the form of a break down on national TV, and resultant hospitalization in a psychiatric program. Bottom line, no more secrets!  and blessed clarity about God's kindness and faithfulness, and His presence in every moment of the process.  Say goodbye to those parts of you that may think that salvation and sanctification require you to already be who God created you to be.  It's a joyous realization that being broken and needy and relying on God IS being who He wants you to be!   This book was published in 2017, so there are used copies available on Amazon, and also copies available at the library.   Sheila Walsh is a prolific writer of both non-fiction and fiction.  I'm looking forward to exploring more of her work!

I always figure that it takes until about January 15th for life to return to "normal", whatever that might be for us as individuals. Case in point, this blog is a week or so late - I have been aiming for the first of the month!  Oops! Fortunately, I've been able to summon up some self-compassion.  The holidays have always been an up and down experience, full of challenges for maintaining my mental health, and full of opportunities to have time to check in on my walk with Jesus. If you're a Chosen fan, you may remember the scene where Jesus is healing the leper.  The leper's plea is "please don't turn me away".  It's absolutely heart wrenching.  I now have that picture up on my computer screen.  It reminds me that despite depression, anxiety, difficulty with relationships,  or literally feeling like a leper, God loves, and God heals.   I also have the picture of Him holding a lamb, reminding me of how tender His love can be, and that all I have to