As in the post I wrote in 2009, I wonder: Am I like the person I used to be? I do think I’m starting to get there and what a wondrous thing that is. Is this for real and will it continue? In November 12th last year, I lay in an emergency room bed, waiting […]
Read More...After I retired from my Living Room group In 2015 it was as though all I had done was forgotten – as though I no longer existed. Please let me share why I felt that way. Sometime before I was asked to do a presentation of my manual to new Living Room facilitators. Not feeling […]
Read More...LIVING ROOM MEMORIES 220 (February 3, 2009) Our pastor delivered a series of sermons in February 2009 that inspired me. He asked if we were ever moved by something – gripped by something that bothered us so deeply that we wanted to do something about it. Or are our lives too busy – too self-centered […]
Read More...What was my life like before Living Room? I’ll try to describe briefly. When we married, my husband and I joined a camera club where we became immersed in photography. Before long we both became leaders in the club. It took a while for me to grow the confidence, but it was a friendly group […]
Read More...At this point I think it’s time I tell you about my greatest source of pain. It was only one of many, but contributed more to later suffering and emotional damage than any other single event. I’m sharing this to illustrate how great and cruel stigma can be and how dehumanizing it is to the […]
Read More...When I was in the ER on November 12, wishing I could die, I realized I couldn’t until my story was told. I wanted to talk about some of the work I had done, raising mental health awareness in the church and founding Living Room. I needed to show how my life had gone tragically […]
Read More...The friend I talked about in the previous post was a person I loved dearly. And I can see in this story how she tried to be there for me, despite her own illness. I tried – within my own limitations – to be there for her as well. But I was better able to […]
Read More...In commenting on the previous post, I can only say that today – in 2019 – I had forgotten how well the media had picked up on the need for awareness. I had forgotten so much since those early days. So gratifying to see how they were listening. I’m grateful that God gave me the […]
Read More...A “new chapter of my life will begin” my friend said after the party. It will be to promote my book, making sure I make a dent in the stigma – especially the stigma in the church. Well, since that day in 2008, I haven’t been so good at promoting my books – A Firm […]
Read More...Copying from the previous post: Too many have forgotten that Jesus was a radical, not happy with the status quo. The way the world is today is no better – and probably worse – than it was in Jesus’ time. If we’re to be followers of Christ we need to be radical, as he was, […]
Read More...© 2025 Marja Bergen
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑