I
woke up feeling overwhelmed with life this morning, and as I struggled
to pray and seek God, all I could do was say , “God, you know my
heart”..
and He has worked today. I still have things to face, but my God is bigger and better than anything that comes my way.
And that is when he brought depression to mind, and it brought a flood of memories racing back.
I have struggled with depression for around 23 years now.
It
has taken me down to the bottom several times, but only once so deep
into the dark recesses that I was sure there was no way out. It
continues to pop up here and there and nag at me from time to time. It
can take me to a low I do not understand. It causes feelings of
inadequacy and failure. It makes you tired…physically, emotionally and
spiritually. It affects every area of your life. It can make you
quiet, introverted, unsocial. It can irritate you, make you think
things that are not true. It can make you judgmental, but most of all
it makes you feel like you are all alone in this world. You believe no
one else will ever understand. People will tell you to “get over it and
get on with life” or that it is because you do not believe, or you
have allowed satan access to your mind. I was so so so guilty of
thinking, and sadly sometimes saying those things to others before I
dealt with depression in my own life.
My
first “real encounter” with depression was with my dad. He was
grouchy, angry, tired and very judgmental all the time. That was his
way of dealing with the depression. We don’t always know how to
express what is truly going on inside. My mom called me crying one day,
and said, “I am putting daddy on medicine tonight for his depression”
He won’t go to the doctor and he won’t get help and I can’t take it
anymore. My beautiful, wonderful mother fought the battle for him, to
begin with. She stood strong by his side, she never gave up. She never
complained. I know she prayed her way thru it. Dad “saw” the new
pill that night, but he took it ….. and slowly, he came around. He began
to talk to mom some and he once told her, “the only reason I did not
take my own life, was because of the grand-kids”. He loved his grand-kids
enough to hang on. Once he began the medicine, he had to take it
till he left us for heaven, but it did change him. He smiled again, he
laughed. He was still grouchy at times, but aren’t we all? I would
learn as time passed, just how much mom dealt with that she never
shared at the time. I also learned just how strong a woman she was,
because of this.
My
own personal encounter with depression began around the time that I
lost my job with Continental Airlines (CAL). I did not get fired. I got
laid off, along with 40+ others. CAL decided to close the Wichita
station and therefore all 40+ employees either went on unemployment
for a while, transferred to another city, or found a new job, which is
what I originally did, then ended up in Kansas City with CAL. We were a
family in Wichita. We saw each others good sides/bad sides. We worked
hard. We had fun. We laughed, we cried, we could have shot each other,
we disagreed, we agreed, we got mad, we got happy. But no matter what,
we always had each others back. Never before, and not since, have I
worked with a group of people who were so close ( and still to this day
we keep in touch and share joys and sorrows)
I
stayed in KC for a year, before getting laid off there. I came back to
my home, which I had tried to sell and it did not (God knew I would
need to come back to it ) I was unemployed for about 5 months, then
found a job in a preschool. This new job, was part time, and half the
hourly wage I had earned working for the airline. (I had been full time
at the airline)
I
did this for 3 years. I never asked for handouts. I kept looking for
another job. I got behind on my house payments, I used credit cards to
pay things til I was buried in debt. The only things I really kept paid
were the car payment and the utility bills. I kept looking for another
job, but nothing opened up. I began sinking. Slowly, slowly, slowly,
til I was at the bottom. I plastered on a smile, not wanting the world
to know I was a failure. Not wanting sympathy. I hid from others,
because of how deep I was hurting, not because they did not care, which
of course when we are at the bottom, we tend to get on our little pity
pot and think that no one else loves us. Not wanting people to look at
me like I was worthless. Because, in my head and my heart, I felt
worthless. I felt useless, I felt helpless, and every time I cried out
to God, I felt like the prayers only went as high as the ceiling, if
even that high. I screamed and railed at God. I was locked inside this
box in my mind. After 3 years I got a new job (where I have now been
for 18+ years.) it took another ten years to dig out of that hole.
I
would begin to see light, sometimes a glimmer, sometimes a ray,
sometimes the whole sun. Then the darkness would wrap me in its depths
again. Shutting out any light that had filtered thru. Sometimes it felt
like I was suffocating under the weight of this darkness. Thru
everything I plastered on a smile, so no one would know what was going
on deep inside of me. It wasn’t until my best friend was losing her
battle with cancer, that I finally went to my doctor . I talked. He
listened and then prescribed a medicine, that I was able to take for
only 3 weeks. (I took myself off of it cause I was literally falling
asleep at my desk – head bobbing and all, I COULD NOT stay awake BUT I
DO NOT suggest you take yourself off your meds… the Dr. was not happy
with me ) but it was enough time on the meds to readjust the chemicals
in my brain. I have never gone so far down since, and that has been 10
years. I have dipped into the darkness, but there has always been a
ray of light to hold onto.
Life
has a way of being overwhelming at times. I bought a house this
year, and moved. I am a pack rat , so that in itself speaks volumes. :)
I love my new home, but it needs lots of TLC and I look around and
then I think, I can never get this done, so then I feel defeated and
want to give up. I don’t have the finances readily available to do
everything at once, so I have to save up for that also.
I now know though, that I can cry out to God, and he hears me even when
I think he doesn’t. In the last 20+ years, I have grown in my walk
with Jesus, and that for me, has helped.
Sometimes
all I can say is “God I need you. Hear my hearts cry, because I don’t’
know what words to use” . he hears, he answers, he loves me. .
More so now, it is a feeling of being overwhelmed with the obstacles of
life, and just needing to find a quiet place where I can find peace and
rest in the shelter of my Savior’s arms.
I
pray that if you are facing depression. Start talking to the Shepherd
(Jesus) He hears our words, our cries, our screams, our groaning.
Find someone to talk to. Find someone that will listen and not judge.
Someone who will pray with you and for you. And Never be afraid to go
talk to your doctor. It is not wrong to need medicine. It is not an
enigma against you to be on meds for depression. There but for God’s
grace, I could still be on them, and if I needed to , I would be. We
can plaster on all the smiles we need to, but when our heart and mind
are hurting, a smile will not take the pain away.
Be
kind…Smile. Look at someone “eyeball to eyeball”, in the infamous
words of the wonderful Joe Schultz who is now with Jesus. We don’t
know what path another is walking. So show kindness and speak love.
Psalm 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
Psalm 91: 1-2,4
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.