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...DEVELOPING FAITH-BASED SUPPORT – MY STORY When I began writing A Firm Place to Stand, I had not thought of creating Living Room. Living room was born out of reflection and the writing process. God was working in me as I poured out my thoughts and as I was mentored, pastored, and prayed for. The […]
Read More...AN OPEN HEART You may have noticed how I come across as a bit of a child through much of my story. And I do feel like a child in many ways. You might be seeing it in how enthusiastic I am about Jesus. You might be seeing it in how vulnerable I am in […]
Read More...MY WORK, ALL HIS – MY STORY While I was developing plans for the Living Room ministry, I was hard at work writing my book, A Firm Place to Stand: Finding Meaning in a Life with Bipolar Disorder. I hoped that this would contribute to raising mental health awareness in the Church. With this autobiographical […]
Read More...LIVING ROOM LOVE – MY STORY G.K. Chesterton is quoted talking about “Beauty and the Beast”: “Unlovely things must be deeply loved before they become lovable.” And isn’t that the way in which Christ loves us? “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And I think of how much I loved my Living Room people […]
Read More...CREATING MANUALS – MY STORY In May, 2007, just over a week after the mental health service I sat down to start putting together a Living Room manual. But it took some courage getting started. “Help me, Lord, please, to get the juices flowing.” That morning, I was reading in Exodus about how Moses felt […]
Read More...HOLY DISCONTENT – MY STORY December 09, 2008 I’ve been on a roller coaster for about two months now—times when I’ve been okay and other times when I’ve felt very down, not knowing how I can continue, wishing I could get off the ride. I’ve heard some people with bipolar say how they think they […]
Read More...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 […]
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 […]
Read More...A NEED FOR JESUS – MY STORY I have lived with bipolar disorder as a person who didn’t believe in God. And I’ve lived with bipolar illness as someone who learned to have faith in Jesus Christ. And, though my faith did not “heal” me, I have become a stronger person because of it. Trusting […]
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