LIVING ROOM – MY STORY We called the group “Living Room,” a name coined by Dr. John Toews, a proponent of better church support who inspired its organization. The founding of Living Room became an outreach project in partnership with the Mood Disorders Association of BC (MDA), who trained us how to facilitate. We advertised […]
Read More...UNCONDITIONAL LOVE – Psychiatrist Harold Koenig, M.D., in his book, New Light on Depression, wrote: “Love—unconditional love—is the ultimate long-term antidote for depression, for at its core love is connected with faith and hope.” I’ve liked that statement ever since I first read it. I have found out how important it is to have the love […]
Read More...STIGMATIZED . . . STILL? MY STORY 2011 was a busy year for me as a mental health advocate, offering quite a few speaking engagements, something I welcomed, even though I was sometimes nervous about it. I’m just so very grateful that God has given me the passion and the desire to speak. So grateful that […]
Read More...EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL FOOD Messages like the following can bring healing to those who are experiencing the pain of stigma. Followers of Christ could deliver similar scriptural messages to those who feel rejected by the world. Think of Jesus. Wrap your head around what it must have been to be him, giving his all for […]
Read More...EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL FOOD Consider what it must have been like to be Jesus—hated as he was, though having done so much good. How unfair it must seem to those who feel the hatred of others! Sometimes it helps to consider Jesus and his suffering. To try and sort out the great chasm between the […]
Read More...EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL FOOD Effective spiritual food for individuals dealing with emotional pain or mental health challenges often includes a view of Jesus that might not be heard elsewhere. This example shows him listening to a lonely person’s heart, feeling their pain, in tune with their loneliness. How good it would be to show a […]
Read More...EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL FOOD In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9 Why did Isaiah refer to Jesus as a “man of sorrows?” (Isaiah 53:3) […]
Read More...SPIRITUAL FOOD I’ve been preparing to explain what the best kind of spiritual food is for a person suffering from a mental health condition or emotional pain—a person often not accepted by the world, a person who may feel unloved and unlovable, a person who very much needs God. But the thought has come to […]
Read More...WORD ABOUT ME SPREAD – MY STORY Word about me as a person who could speak about mental health and faith issues started to spread. In 2005, shortly after joining the Brentwood Park congregation, the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHA, BC Div.) asked me to write about mental illness and the Church. This […]
Read More...GIVING SUPPORT – MY STORY From the moment the small ad about the new faith-based Living Room support group for mood disorders was posted in the Burnaby Now, calls started coming in from people wanting to know about it. “What do you mean by ‘faith-based’?” And I would tell them about the Christian faith the […]
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