BADLY NEEDING HELP – MY STORY – June 21, 2007
I talked to Peter Biggs from BC Christian News. He wants more stuff on faith and mental health—lots more. I think he would like me to be a regular contributor. The next month, he would ask me to write a series of four articles or more, based on a list of fifteen things I like about having bipolar disorder. Will this exposure help me find a publisher for A Firm Place to Stand?
In my journal this morning I made a list of all the things I’m trying to do and am overwhelmed. What I’m trying to do should be the work of an organization, not a single person!
How did I get into all this? Is this mountain the product of a bipolar mind? I haven’t been hypomanic lately. Yet I’m always ambitious; I always have dreams. These things don’t change. They’re part of my personality.
But I can now see I have built a very high tower—brick by brick, not realizing how high it might become or how I would manage it or how I could keep it from toppling.
The good thing is that if I can’t do some of the things I’ve personally committed myself to no one will be hurt . . . too much. I can let things go. Yet it’s hard not to take advantage of opportunities. Letting go of some of the ones that have come along lately would be a shame. So I’m feeling pressured.
I am excited about having finished the manual to help other Living Rooms get started. I know it will be a powerful tool, helping other churches see the value of such a group and showing them how to set one up. Forming a Living Room group gives churches an opportunity to respond to Christ’s call to love and help people in need, people who are all too often shunned in the community. Having such a group in the church is a good way to help build understanding within its congregation. It will help make mental illness a more acceptable topic of conversation, reducing the stigma that exists.
I’ve been hearing that people in other communities are now showing interest in starting up groups. I would like to be able to support these new groups—to be there for them. I will also have to work at writing another manual for facilitators and another with sample devotional material. With those projects and writing for the website I mentioned in my last post, I have a lot of writing to do.
God, please help me stay well. There’s too much good work to do.
I shared with my pastor: “My tower has been built by God, and if I trust in him I know it will not topple. Building such towers is a bipolar thing. It’s the kind of thing that can push a person into mania. But if I keep the understanding that it’s God at work—not me—I don’t think mania will happen. This creativity I have is what makes me often say that I consider my bipolar disorder a gift from God. It’s often painful to live with, yet it is a gift too.”
For such a long time my main goal in life has been to reduce the stigma towards mentally ill people within the church. For so long I have been striving to educate Christians by writing articles, promoting a pastor’s mental health workshop, and writing a book. But now things are coming together.
Canadianchristianity.com has asked me to contribute regularly on the topic of mental health and the church. The more I think about it, the more I realize this is a wonderful opportunity. This is exactly where I need to be. God is good.
In May this website published my testimony. Soon they will be publishing an article I wrote for CMHA BC Division a couple of years ago, Mental Illness: The Result of Sin?
And that isn’t all. Another great thing is happening. A woman in Abbotsford, a town forty-five minutes from here, is working to start a Living Room group in her church. This could be the beginning of my dream to see Living Room groups in many churches.
Not long ago, a call came from a therapist wanting to learn about Living Room. He is hoping to send his Christian clients to us. So often they feel that they’re bad Christians when they’re depressed and they don’t want to take medication. Living Room would be helpful because it draws from the Bible and recognizes the medical nature of mood disorders.
It’s amazing where God leads us when we let him!
It’s time to make a list. Time to set priorities.
marja
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