Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Category: Living Room (page 9 of 41)

What is God’s will?

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  263  (January 4, 2010) Our pastor’s sermon yesterday was on a topic I find an important and interesting one to think about. It’s a topic I see many people struggling with, including people in my Living Room group. How do we know what God’s will is? How do we know what God […]

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Why do we live? (2019)

Many years ago, when I was in a very bad spot, I told my pastor – in all honesty – that I could not remember why I lived.  Sometime later he came back with this reply (or something like it): “You live so that you can give others a reason to live.” What a blessing […]

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A reason for living

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  262  I’ve been thinking: I feel my best when I’m doing things for other people. When I’m living for something more than just myself. When I’m feeding into other people’s lives. And isn’t that the answer for all of us who have trouble finding a reason to live? Isn’t that the best […]

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Returning to joy (2019)

  In Return to God, Return to Joy which I posted on February 10, 2019, I realized that I badly need to change direction in my blogging. I want to write about what’s in God’s heart, not my heart. I want forgiveness to be the theme, not conflict. I want to return to love and […]

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Pretty solidly balanced

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  260  (November 28, 2009) I’ve been doing ok over the past couple of days. In fact, yesterday was wonderful. Living Room turned out great, it left me feeling hugely blessed and at peace. I felt so good I didn’t feel like going to bed till late Just wanted to continue experiencing the […]

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Walking a tightrope

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  259  (November 25, 2009) My moods continue to go up and down. And when I feel OK, it’s as though I’m walking a tightrope, trying to maintain my balance so I don’t fall one way or another. Amazing how many symptoms there are to watch out for. And each time one of […]

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Return to God, return to joy (2019)

(Names are fictitious) I rejoice that I have recovered so much wellness since I first started writing this story. I’ve expressed many hurts, shed them, and made room for joy again. Such a gift that is! I thank God for the amazing way he has worked. Writing can teach us things, and I have learned […]

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Bedrock under my feet

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  258 (November 21, 2009) I’m getting along not too badly. Hard to stay active though. I prefer to sit and think. To meditate. Or would you call this ruminating? Yesterday I emailed a friend telling her how I see things piling up around me that need to be done. And it makes […]

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Can you understand such pain? (2019)

This story tells – and will continue telling – things that need to be heard. It tries to show the many ways in which stigma, emotional abuse, and rejection can affect a person with mental illness. You are reading about an example, a tragedy in the life of one individual. Within a brief period of […]

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Like an outcast (2019)

When I was excluded from the group I had needed so badly I felt like an outcast. Not long after, when I retired from Living Room, I was told I could no longer come back as a peer, I wrote in my journal: “Now I have no group at all. I’m an outsider.” Unwanted. Left […]

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