When I am Weak, then I am Strong

Some of the great and godly men and women of history had times of struggling deeply with depression. And some of their greatest work of words that encourage the hearts of people today came in the midst of their very darkest of times.

Many of us have faced very difficult seasons where we have clung to the Lord even more because our need for Him is smacking us in the face.

But what about those times when we are clinging to The Lord and pursuing Him and our circumstances don't change? Is this saying something about our relationship with God? Does this mean the struggle we are facing is a result of not pursuing Him enough?

This is where I found myself at when I first realized I was struggling with depression. In the years right after my Dad's passing I had never been closer to the Lord. I spent more time in prayer, journaling to God, passionately pursuing Him and sharing my heart with Him than I ever had before. And yet in the midst of all of that I still felt like I was having an out of body experience each day, walking numbly along no matter how hard I prayed about it or clung to the Lord.

So when the question came up to take medication for it or not, it simply cued feelings of guilt that I had missed something and really shouldn't need to take anything - I just needed to pray more, do more, be more, something, etc., etc., etc. Whether we put these feelings of guilt or shame on ourselves, or others unintentionally put them on us, it can cause us to lose hope and lose focus on actually getting the help that we need to feel better. I can personally relate to and know many people that have not gone on medication because they felt like it meant they were failing even more if they did. Or they felt like it would mean they were not trusting God enough to heal them. I do think it is very important to look at where our hearts/focus are at in the midst of our pain and lay it at the feet of Jesus. But doing so does not necessarily equal relief.

Is it a spiritual battle or not?

When we are going through any trial, tragedy, or hardship, I think it is important to check where our hearts are at with God simply because He desires to use those times to draw us to Himself. But if we are so consumed with ourselves (often without realizing it), it leaves little room to allow God's truth to seep into our hearts. Often times depression can feel like sitting in a room with blackout curtains covering the window. You so desperately want to let the sunshine in, but until you or someone else opens those curtains, you remain in the dark. That is why it is so important to lay everything at Jesus’ feet and sit with Him. As we do this, it will surely minister to our hearts but may not provide the complete relief in our heads. This is where the importance of science comes in, and knowing how God wired our brains.

Chemical workings of our brain

Yep that's right, recognizing that depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain (no matter what circumstance, situation, season led you there), goes a LONG way in helping you heal. At least it did for me (stick with me here I promise we are getting somewhere. This is not new information BUT it may be new to you).

Depression has a wide range of symptoms, levels and time-frames for each individual as we have mentioned before. But they all flow out of a result of our brains being off balance (remember, no matter how we got to depression, our brains are still off balance).

What does this mean?

It means we need to rewire/reboot our brain!

Sometimes this can be accomplished by making changes in our lifestyle. But sometimes we need the added help of medication. Yep I said it!! Before all of you natural, homeopathic, essential oils, eat-real-food lovin people hunt me down, ease up. Because, well, I am one of those people!!

I have found GREAT help healing depression with all of those things. And in fact in another post coming up we will talk about many tools within those that will help with depression.

While some of you implement the lifestyle changes and find great help/relief, others who have struggled with depression for longer (which also means a longer time their brain has been off balance) may need an extra boost to do the rewire/rebooting. This is where the use of medication may help. Sometimes in order for the natural remedies and lifestyle changes to begin to work, you need a kickstart with medication that has a stronger quicker turn around. Do some people turn too quickly to medicine before trying other things? Or do they sometimes use medicine for to long? Well yes, sure. But I have also met too many people that shy away from medicine for depression because of some of the reasons mentioned earlier (feelings of failure, shame, guilt that they were not trusting God enough or doing enough etc., etc., etc.).

I like to give the example of using antibiotics. Many times antibiotics get over used and are not needed nearly as much as people think. And in the long run they can have a negative effect. But there are also times (in the case of bacterial infections), when it is only the help from an antibiotic that kickstarts the healing and allows the natural remedies to work fully.

However, I do strongly believe that medicine should always be combined with natural remedies and lifestyle changes. I can personally say for myself and many others I have known that have been able to get off of medication gradually with help from natural remedies and lifestyle changes. It takes work and consistency for sure!! But I also have known others that do make those changes and still need the help from medication. A good reminder again that we are all made differently, wired differently, and affected differently. So while we will have some similarities we will also have some differences in our healing journey.

One of those great men I mentioned in the first paragraph was Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon was an incredible man of God who reached thousands of people with the truth of the gospel, and he struggled deeply with depression. He is quoted as saying how he did not enjoy those times and wished he did not deal with depression; but that he would not trade it either. For it was in those very times it pressed him into intimacy with Jesus even more. And he also said it was because of these struggles that he was able to relate to and encourage many others on a much deeper level.

“I would go into the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.” -Spurgeon

When I finally got to this same place of seeing depression as any other hardship God had allowed in my life, it was so freeing. Because I knew and had experience with being brought to a much more intimate relationship with Jesus through experiencing deep sorrow and pain. And over several years now of seeing so many others walk through depression, I have seen God using it again and again for good. As we share our stories we bring encouragement to one another and this alone is a great healing balm to our heart and our minds.

I believe God wants us to have victory over temptation, difficulties, pain, hardships, etc in our lives. And when we are making every effort to heal by drawing closer to him and pursuing lifestyle changes, sometimes we will find that victory in this life. But other times it will be our burden to carry--our cross to bear (or like Paul, a thorn in the flesh)--until we have complete victory in Heaven someday.

BUT don't underestimate the beauty and power that can be found in this place. A place where God can use you to encourage many who walk the same road. A place where you can experience such a deep intimacy with Jesus that can only be found here.

And a part of the VICTORY can be WON in this life. As you rise up and share your story and the work God is doing in your life, you have victory over depression (or any other struggle) ruling your life. It takes power away from Satan and lets God's power seep back into your life. It's a journey and a process with ups and downs. But we can be victorious each and every day by the grace of God!!

I love the the following verses because they speak hope right into our difficulties and remind us that it is those very things that can make us strong!!

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Romans 5:3-5

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

-Beth

1 Year Of Mediocre Photography

The photo that started it all, about a year ago. Photo by: Hannah Porter

A day passed a bit ago that marked my 1 year of my journey back to photography. I refer to it as a ‘journey back’ because when I was at the ages of 9-17 yrs I was in a fairly consistent stage of being actively interested in picturing the world through a world of pictures. During and after that, a few more of life’s circumstances knocked me down and beat me up and I lost interest in a lot things in life, I lost interest in the beauty of the world, and with that, photography. Some things are phases, others are ongoing curiosities, and still others are lifelong loves. Music is one of those lifelong loves, and though I didn’t fully realize it in those ‘lost years’ of when I wasn’t photographing anything, photography is a lifelong love as well.

I’m what most would call “a creative”, and throughout my life that creativity and imagination has manifested itself in many hobbies, passions, pursuits, interests, and goals. Let’s take a little gander at some other ways my creativity has shown itself throughout the years. Brace yourselves.
 

-My Jewelry making phase: well, I can’t say it was the worst you’d ever seen, but I will say you probably wouldn’t pay 50 cents at a flea market for it. Like, you’d choose a dolphin necklace with yellow jewels for eyes over my jewelry.

-My acrylic painting phase: y’all, this was not my best effort in life, let’s just say it was…abstract.

-My crocheting phase: I’m pretty sure I made two beanies and called it a day.

-My sewing phase: two pillows and I was out, and I’m pretty sure I ‘taped’ one of the pillows and didn’t even finish sewing it.

-My soap making phase: I tried it once, got a headache, didn’t ever try it again, ever.

-My Wire sculpting/design phase: well, I don’t know where the inspiration for this came from, but I made some elven looking bracelets and rings and then realized I needed to get out more.

-My cooking phase: There was a time in my life when I was a wee lass, that I pretended (with a friend of mine) to have a cooking show (just like Rachel Ray, of course, I mean, who doesn’t love some EVOO?) and let me tell you, we got creative (thanks moms for putting up with us).

-My wood-carving phase: To be honest, I can’t say I’m totally out of this phase, it might just be an ongoing curiosity, but I used to whittle away at wood for hours. Greatest accomplishment: a very very rough miniature acoustic guitar, that kind of looked like stand up bass. Win.

-My drawing phase: Again, I still do this from time to time, but let’s just say I’m much better with ink, graphite, and pastels than I am with paint. I’ll leave that kind of art to my friends who are brilliant at it.

-My poetry phase: Y’all I used to be BIG into poetry. Like, all day, err day, writing poetry. I even won some dinky little awards for some of my poems. Eventually this phase turned into writing lyrics (for music).

-My ‘spy’/detective phase: Again, this is less of a phase and became more focused with time. Eventually it manifested itself in a love and appreciation for Law Enforcement and wanting to be that or wanting to help them help others (Chaplaincy). But when I was little, I would pack my backpack full of everything I might possibly need to solve a mystery/crime (including little plastic baggies for evidence...I was serious, y’all) and would ride my bike down our road, set for an adventure.

-My novel writing phase: This is probably my least advertised, but longest running creative outlet. I have written a novel before and still to this day have multiple other books in the works as well. Before you ask, no, I do not have a copy of said completed novel anymore, it was lost in translation in the days of floppy disks and giant desktops.
-My acting phase: this was extremely short lived, as in, one play, one part, 3 lines. Turns out, I’m a pretty extreme introvert and really didn’t like acting, music was one thing, but I left the acting gig up to my sister, she’s great at it. :)
 

Many of these, if not all of them were building blocks towards something else, or building relationships with others who were actually good at the things I failed miserably in. Each and every one of those strange phases taught me valuable lessons about life and about myself, even if it was just about knowing my own boundaries or needing more patience. More importantly, at the time, they all made me express something, something that maybe only I knew, but I was able to get it out in that brush stroke, stitch, piece of wood, melody played, words strung together, lines drawn, etc. Those short term phases helped me discover, realize, understand, and more deeply appreciate my lifelong loves.

When I picked up my camera again for the first time in years and raised it to my eye, I didn’t just see the small frame in front of me, I saw the world in an entirely new light. In those moments of seeking the right angle and shooting what I saw, I thought less about my own dreary circumstances, less about the state of the world, and less about depressive matters all together. No, photography was and is not a cure-all, but, what it did do was open my eyes to the tremendous beauty all around me, the opportunities that I was missing out on, and majesty of God’s glory. Yes, photography did all of that for me, not because the camera had special magic in it or because I had fancy equipment (I didn’t and still don’t), but because God opened my eyes, expanded my horizons, shifted my perspective, and gave me HOPE.
 

Beth and I talk about Hope In The Darkness often here on ATN, but we aren’t just talking about something existential or general, we talk about all of these journeys and feelings through the lens of experience and reality. Hope has been an anchor in our family, sometimes it is the anthem and battle cry, other times it is the only word that can be torn from the depths of our soul in distress, and still other times it is merely a whisper in the silence in the midst of chaos. It might come through cooking, baking, drawing, coloring, writing, crocheting, running, chopping wood, painting, making music, DIY-ing, exercising, reading, hiking, communing with friends, swimming, whittling, or riding bikes, however you find it, ferociously latch onto that sliver of hope and DON’T let it go. Foster that sliver of hope, blow on the embers, fan it’s flame and desperately hold onto it. It may feel small and even feeble, but I promise you, someone with even just a sliver of hope can change the world, one small gesture, short phase, or perspective shifting moment at a time. Find your equivalent of what music and photography are for me and make time and space for them in your life. They are healthy, they are good, they are necessary. Take time to look at those things, whatever they may be, from a different perspective, from your unique perspective. A million people can be doing the same thing as you, but those million other people aren’t in your circumstances, don’t have your thought process, don’t have your heart, and simply, aren’t you. YOU have some unique perspective, and consequently, unique hope, that the world desperately needs in this time. Do it because you love it and it inspires you, and because it makes you a better human, but remember, it just might be able to inspire someone else too. So, from my 1 year of mediocre photography inspiring me to do another year, and another many years after that, may you find that for yourself and be as in awe of God’s goodness, and as encouraged as I am. You are beautifully creative in your own way, explore it, find it, express it, share it.

-Hannah

One of my most recent pictures. Photo by Hannah Porter

Finding Thanks in The Midst of Chaos

Photo By: Beth Waggoner

When Life Gives You Laundry

I have found it extra hard lately to take a moment to type out a post to share with you all. I so badly want to encourage or inspire in each post and the chaos of this earthly life has pressed in hard the last several weeks to threaten any hope of me doing that for you. 
There are some weeks/months where I feel like life has me in a box where all four walls are slowly pressing in on me. For a girl who is claustrophobic, this only brings out anxiety and stress in me😨😁. With an ongoing health battle, the winter blues setting in (summer girl over here), and the day to day jobs and demands of being a mom, wife and pastor’s wife; Satan has a way of trying to suck our joy (yes even with the good things in our lives), and make us feel enclosed in a box. And it's here where we can so easily get stuck into looking too much at our own pain or struggles and lose sight of the simple day to day blessings God is laying before us. These everyday things can bring us straight INTO His presence and yet it’s those very things that all too often distract me FROM His presence. 

A couple months ago I began reading a book called One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. In it she was challenged by a friend to write down 1000 things she is thankful for. The Lord has used this book to remind me what thankfulness can actually look like on the day to day from the things greatest in wonder to the very mundane of everyday tasks. And how the very act of hour by hour thankfulness can bring me directly into the presence of God.
These may seem like simple words to you but I have found them oh so powerful and for me, they came just at the right time for my soul to hear. 
 
As I got out my little notebook to start writing down my thanks, I thought to myself “I got this! I will be to 1000 things in no time and then I will be so quick and good at giving thanks in all things that I will just keep going and I will fill many notebooks and….” 
Ha!! My bubble quickly got popped on that one😁. I began daily writing down my thanks and after a while felt like I had written down hundreds if not one thousand things already. But the number in my notebook said otherwise. I looked down to see how far I had come to stare straight at #72. “That's it?”, I thought. Only 72 items of thanks? And I thought I was doing so well. 

In that moment I realized how many things that were passing me by each day that I was not seeing as thanks or that I was choosing not to be thankful for because they seemed like the monotonous things of life that often distracted me from being thankful.
As I reflect back on what I am learning through the process of writing down my thanks, as well as what I still need to continue to learn and remind myself of moving forward I am challenged and encouraged by Psalm 136:3-7:

  “Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
          His faithful love endures forever.
 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
         His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skilfully.
          His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
          His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights
         His faithful love endures forever.”

Photo By: Beth Waggoner

Why would I not offer daily thanks to God who skillfully created and placed all the details of this world around me and who alone does mighty miracles? The only One whose love is faithful (never changing despite our ups and downs). The only One whose love endures forever (through the chaos of the day to day, through the uncertainty of the world around us).
And yet how easily I forget this in the mundane of each moment. 

To some degree we all know that it's good and healthy to be thankful for the things around us. Especially as Thanksgiving approaches we are thinking about it more and we remind ourselves to give thanks more often. But what happens when the holidays are over and we are faced with the the day to day tasks, hardships, pressures, jobs, joys, stresses? Do we give thanks even then? 

Piles of laundry to fold, unending dishes to clean, 3 kiddos to feed (who are never full), a meeting to be at (with all my kids in tow😅), a house that needs some part of it clean, a full plate of ministry, a husband who needs encouragement and love, kiddos who are hungry again? Soccer and dance practice tonight. Which class am I volunteering in today? Reading God’s Word while my daughter asks me for a snack (even though she just ate breakfast 5 minutes ago), and my youngest wants me to hold him. But God don't you want me to have time with you?  I look at the clock and see that it's only 10:00am😨😨. 
Does any of that sound familiar? Just pieces of a normal crazy morning and yet already filled with so much that can pull me away from giving thanks to God. 

We often think of the big and the obvious things to be thankful for when asked. But one of the things I was encouraged to do from the book is to give thanks about the simple, monotonous things because that is everyday life. 
I realized that as I began writing thanks about the simple, everyday things and actually stopped to consider them, that it not only changed my perspective on them but it pulled my mind to Christ as well. It naturally drew me into that intimate time with God that I craved simply by thanking Him for the things all around me. Does this sound like a “duh” moment? Or an easy thing to start for you? My encouragement to you is to try it out for yourself and see where God might stretch you. 

And as you do I hope it becomes what it has for me:
-An act of worship (praising Him in all things).
-An act of communion with God (dwelling on thanks in each moment)
-An everyday act that encourages and inspires you as you glorify Him in the moment.

So find a little journal and join in on the journey with me of finding thanks in the chaos!!

Below are some journal entries I have written down to give you an idea of what finding thanks in the everyday might look like.

#18. dance parties with the kiddos
#27. The gift of creativity
#29. Succulent plants that don't die
#33. Laughter of the kiddos
#36. Friends that pursue me
#47. Packages at the front door
#65. A servant hearted husband
#67. Time with a good friend to remind me I am not alone
#70. Ice cream cones on a rainy day
#71. Sticky little fingers to wipe clean
#78. Warm sunshine on a cool day (good for the soul)
#82. The dancing sparkles when the sun hits the water
#90. Toys scattered everywhere, played with, imagination used
#91. Dirty bare feet from playing outside
#95. Dishes, dishes, dishes. The ever full sink of dishes to clean and dishwasher to empty (provided for)
#96. Hymns with deep words that speak to the heart
#97. Folded laundry in its pile
#100. Family walks

Photo By: Beth Waggoner