Hello, I am honored that you are visiting this page. Consider yourself virtually hugged. I wasn’t always someone who liked hugs- in fact, they were cringe-worthy at best.
So much has changed since then. I graduated from high school, met my husband, graduated from nursing school, became a mother of four children, and worked as a RN for 33 years. All of our kids have reached adulthood and our family has grown. I didn’t really need to take on another project- I had to take on this one.
I am 55 years old. I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, a nurse, and a music lover. I love so many things about life-fishing, flowers, wind chimes, and the sound of a baby’s laughter. And I love Jesus. I love being a child of God, the creator of all the things I love. The spiritual part of my being is weaved into everything I am and everything I do. I cannot even imagine a life without God’s presence in it- every moment of every day.
But I have a problem. Actually, I have a few. (Those who know me well are enthusiastically nodding their heads right now….).
My daily companion is something called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. As an added bonus, I have struggled with things like depression, anxiety and complex sleep issues since childhood.
Fortunately, there are many resources available today that I didn’t have access to as a child. In fact, I didn’t even know about ADHD. I didn’t know that depression or anxiety, or sleep disorders were real medical issues. Instead, I felt like a spiritual flunkie. I felt weird, a square peg in a round hole.
I was obviously flawed even though I was trying so hard to be good, to be that “overcomer” that the Bible talks about.
Are you relating to this at all? Are you a woman of faith who has struggled with learning differences or mental health issues? Have you felt like a failure? Have you wondered where God fits into your messy life? Have you had well-meaning friends or family give you advice that made you feel even worse?
Have you felt guilty for seeking medical treatment for depression or anxiety or sleep issues or ADHD because if you just prayed harder or read more scripture or trusted more that you would not feel the way you do?
Ugggh…I have. And I’m hoping that this can be a safe place where you can fully believe in God and His power to heal, but still believe that He works in many ways to help us and to heal us.
I’m going to go out on a limb and be vulnerable with you. I want to share my journey with you, perhaps you can share yours as well.
Feel free to look around this website. Share it with others. Contact me if you want to chat. Connect with some new resources. But most of all, know that if you are reading these words, you are here for a reason. God created you. He created you perfectly imperfect, just the way you are. You may feel flawed or damaged, and I can relate. But I firmly believe that God wants you to see his beauty not just around you, but in you!
Elaine