We’ve been robbed in more ways than we know. It wasn’t the usual snatch and grab. This was more a subtle insidious taking of life. In the early stages of their depressive illness, they had been put on the new wonder drug Valium. With strong tranquillizing effects, life was muted. Then […]
Getting Well Staying Well
204 posts
Life can be hard, and maybe even harsh at times, but in the end, something beautiful and good can emerge from the struggle. Love is like that. It was an old climbing rose that hadn’t been well cared for. When I started to do some gardening work on an old […]
When going through Mental Health struggles, you have to give yourself permission to receive, especially from God. Every Tuesday morning, I travel to a garden in a small rural area called Clevedon. I leave early to beat rush hour traffic but also to get a few moments on the top […]
The grind is real. Life for many can be just one continual experience of being ground out by the daily grind. Every now and then, someone sends me an email. I read them all, and always my heart is touched. I send some prayers and ask God to help me write […]
To heal, we need to humbly accept the truth of our human fragility. Medication can help us heal. There is a soap opera here in New Zealand called Shortland Street. In the very first episode, a nurse tells a doctor a simple sentence that has become, believe it or not, part […]
There are times that my thoughts and feelings seem to swing like monkeys in a tree. My mind just seems to go everywhere. It swings into depression, anxiety and then back into depression. My mind seems to have a mind of its own.
This was never going to be a typical funeral. This was the celebration of a life well lived by a mother to 11 children. A strong farmers wife who not only milked the cows, preserved the fruit but also cared with deep love for each of her children. One of the […]
I always thought sheep were pretty dumb. But with the habits they I now realise that actually they aren’t totally woolly in their thinking. (sorry had to say it) As I child, on a New Zealand sheep farm, I remember asking my father a very simple question. What is this line […]
What is it like to feel alone with your struggle? You are having a hard time in your life. There is pain, frustration, a desperateness and you feel completely alone with it. You may have people around you who care. They may even be professionals such as doctors, nurses, support workers, […]
We all have an identity, a name we have been given, and can identify with. The connection deepens when we learn each other’s name. Each morning I start my day in a comfortable chair, listen to the Bible, thinking about the day ahead, and making a list of tasks. Often […]