Celebrating....life.

Depression TO joy.

Sadness TO happiness.

Selfishness TO selflessness.

Ugly TO beautiful.

Sick TO healthy.



Celebrating life. Because life is good.
Celebrating beauty. Because He is the Author of true beauty.
Celebrating joy. Because joy is in me.
Celebrating...life.

Depression. Why does it destroy us? It seems like it takes over doesn't it?
But God wants us revived! When you feel like your life is dry, well, without Him--it is.
My Pastor said this: "If we don't let out light shine, darkness takes over."
But what does the Bible say? 1 Peter 2:9 says "...who were called out of darkness into His marvelous light..."

Satan's darkness only exists in us when there is no light.

"{We} are the light of the world." ~Matthew 5:14~

So what does this have to do with depression? We are destroyed by depression, as I said, and HAVE experienced--it takes over. It gives an opportunity for the enemy to come in and trick us--lie to us--and ultimately to DESTROY us. He wants the work the Lord is doing in us to be stopped.
I want my light to continually SHINE...where darkness--is not and cannot be present.

When you're in the state of every symptom depression has to offer, like I was, you are totally blind to every truth you ever knew. You have no idea how to gain it back. Praying seems useless. Reading the Word gives a little hope, but at the time, not enough. So how in the world do you get out of it?

If I were still in the state I was, and I was reading those words, I would HATE to hear "Ask God to help you" or "Just pray". Why is that? Well, I can tell you that it's not easy to do those things when you're down, annoyed, sad, anxious, worried, etc. You don't want to hear that! It's true! That's how us humans work {or..maybe it's just me =}
But if you just think for a minute that the Lord hates seeing you that way. That He longs to see you smile. That He desires to hear your laugh. That He want to talk to you. That He makes all things new. Yes its hard for me to write these things {Which by the way..the Lord is providing the words for me because I had never ever thought of this}because I know where depression leads. I KNOW what its like. Maybe not as extreme as others, but still, I do know.

In a few previous posts over the month, I wrote about how I hated being sad. But I also wrote that I KNEW God was going to make something beautiful out of it. Something amazing. Something...lasting. And He did. It made me stronger. It made me more reliable on Him. It taught me to pray more powerful prayers. It made me realize just how much I need Him. It made me able to look back at this in the future and say "What reason do I have for being depressed?"

Do you want to know something? Sometimes I don't even want to get better emotionally. I guess I like feeling sorry for myself. But that's not how I was created! Or you! We were made with a purpose--with a destiny--with passion. We have everything we need to live the life (the only life) we've been given.

"Does your life show you live an existence that other woman/men would never attempt?" ~Leslie Ludy~

"The Proverbs 31 woman is a set-apart woman. She longs and lives a miraculous, superhuman, victorious, amazing, fulfilling, poured-out life. She is stunningly beautiful, dignified, and strong; stronger than every other woman around her. But here is the key: the source of her strength does not lie within herself. She relies on a power wholly not her own. Her superhuman strength comes from God alone." Leslie L.~

Hey, I am way too young to be depressed. But no matter your age--God has not intended you to live in bubble of all the scary emotions that life and the enemy throws at us. Lies are what they are.

Life--it's meant to be lived. It's meant to be cherished--BUT! Life on earth, is not ours forever. My Pastor made a great analogy: "Don't "unpack" or settle in your temporary home."
Our purpose here is to love God, to know God on a personal level, to serve Him, and to win others over for Him. Bottom line---He is the reason for our existence. So lets make our existence count for Him!