Better Together

Care for Your Mental Health | Better Together Episode 1177

July 14, 2026 | S8 E1177 | 50:59

Better Together is an original faith-centered talk show produced by women and just for women.

#Faith #Health #MentalHealth #TrustGod #WalkwithGod #Inspirational #EmotionalHealth #GodlyWoman #Women #WomeninMinistry #LaurieCrouch

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Better Together | Care for Your Mental Health | Better Together Episode 1177 | July 14, 2026

God cares about your mental health.
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Experiencing his healing and his overwhelming love helps us
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Become resilient amid the noise and the chaos of this world.
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Come on, let's talk about it.
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♪♪
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Okay, today we're going to talk about something that, honestly,
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Is really close to my heart
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Not for the reasons that might seem apparent.
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We're going to talk about caring for your mental health.
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Um, i've talked a lot in the past about my journey to
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Understanding mental health, but i wanted to read this one
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Verse i think gets misused a lot.
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Paul's toward the end of his life, and he's writing his
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Second letter to timothy, who
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He just loves, loves him like a son.
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And paul knows his execution is really close.
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And so in second timothy 1:7 he says, for god has not
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Given us a spirit of fear, but
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Of power, love, and a sound mind.
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And i'll never forget when i had my own mental breakdown and
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I was going to be admitted to a psych hospital that night, and
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One of the staff at the christian broadcasting network
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Walked me around the lake and basically said, gave me this
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Verse and said, this is clearly a spiritual issue or you
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Wouldn't have this problem.
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You know, you're supposed to have a sound mind.
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And i remember thinking, he's right, he's right, he's
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Absolutely right,
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And feeling so judged and condemned.
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And then i get in the car and i'm driving to washington, to
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The to the hospital,
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And it was one of those strange storms. you know when the sky
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Goes a strange color?
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And it was all--
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And some people pulled under a bridge and i pulled in behind
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This guy and he said, i think there's a tornado.
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I think you better get out of your car.
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We're getting into this ditch.
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And i said, no, i'm staying
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Because i honestly thought it
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Was because god was angry with me.
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I thought this whole thing was because i was a huge
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Disappointment and had let him down,
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And the interesting thing to me about facing a diagnosis
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Because the diagnosis i was given was severe clinical
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Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder,
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But what i discovered in the hospital was i wrote in the
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Back of this bible, i never
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Knew you lived so close to the floor.
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You know, i'm so used to worshiping god in his majesty
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As we should because, well, because of who he is.
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But what i discovered is it was the gift of everything being
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Taken away from me that allowed
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Me to see what i had, which was jesus.
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Struggling with your mental health could really feel like
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You're failing at believing in god.
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But the truth is, god never promised us a life of
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Perfection, that we would never feel big things or have really
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Bad, intrusive thoughts.
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What he did promise us is that
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He would be with us in the imperfection.
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And so that's what you got to remember that even if even
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Though i struggle with these things, god is with me.
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And as a matter of fact, he's
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Real close to the brokenhearted.
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And so if you're feeling that,
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Just know that our god is close.
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I've told this story before, so i'll keep it short.
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But i was on suicide watch for the first night, so they check
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On you every 15 minutes, and i, um, i didn't get into the bed
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Because i thought my dad was 34 when he took his life
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In a psych hospital.
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And i'm now 34.
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And i remember thinking, oh, that's what i'm supposed to do.
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I'm supposed to just be done here.
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And so i just sat in the corner of the room with a blanket, and
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I could hear people coming into my room, but i didn't look up.
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Um, but it's 3:00 in the morning.
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The person who came in came all the way to where i was in the
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Corner, and they were holding something and they gave it to
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Me, but it was something you'd give a child.
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It was a little like a stuffed little lamb.
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And he turned and he went back,
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And when he got to the door, he stopped and he turned around
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And he said this one thing which changed my life.
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He said, sheila, the shepherd knows where to find you.
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And it was just, i honestly believe it was an angel because
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I was there a month. i never saw him again.
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But it was just this, you know, we struggle with so much in
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This life and yet healing comes in so many different ways.
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So it made me want to look at this verse and like, okay,
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Lord, what is this verse really all about?
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And i realized that the word that's used in first timothy--
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Second timothy 1:7 for sound mind, it only occurs one
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Time in the whole bible.
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It's the greek word soffrono--
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That's not-- it's not the right
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Pronunciation, but it's sofronismos,
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But it's not, um, like you've got your act together.
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It's a mind under the control of the holy spirit.
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And when it talks about power, love, and a sound mind,
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Power is not-- wow.
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Yeah, let's book her.
00:05:08.064 --> 00:05:09.499
She's got charisma.
00:05:09.499 --> 00:05:10.700
Let's, you know, she's got a great new book.
00:05:10.700 --> 00:05:12.635
She's got this.
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You know, we'll be powerful for jesus.
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We'll just go out there and we'll be powerful.
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No, it's connected to the holy spirit.
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It's all about jesus.
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This whole scripture that sometimes we use to say to
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People, you should be doing better,
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It's, it's take your eyes off yourself.
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Because when--
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And paul knows his days are numbered and he's trying to
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Tell this young guy, listen, there's a lot of stuff going on
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Out there and it's honestly, it's probably going to
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Get a bit worse.
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But don't worry, because the holy spirit is with you and the
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Power that is within you--
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I was cleaning out drawers some time ago, and i came across my
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Dismissal papers from the hospital, and just written on
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The front was the word depression.
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And i looked at it for a while and i thought, no, no, no, no,
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No, no, no, that's not how i'm going to define myself.
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So i got a pencil and i rearranged the letters.
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If you rearrange the letters of the word depression, what you
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Get is i pressed on. that's good.
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Same letters, same letters. yes.
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It's a totally different message.
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Totally different message.
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But it's not because you can do it.
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It's because of the holy spirit, because we've been
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Gifted with power from the holy spirit, love that jesus gives
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Us, and a mind under the control of the holy spirit.
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The power of the holy spirit is available to all of us,
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According to ephesians one, which is really important
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Because then we know that it is the holy spirit that helps all
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Of us in our trouble.
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It helps all of us who are believers in jesus christ as we
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Deal with things like mental health, uh, all of the things
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That we go through body, mind, and spirit, that his power is
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Available to us who believe in him.
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It says that in ephesians 1:18 through 23.
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And so that's really critical because as we might begin to
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Believe that the holy spirit won't help me or i, i'm going
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To have to do this all on my own.
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We need to know that his power is available to us.
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And it's by the way, it says in the bible, it's the same mighty
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Power that raised christ from the dead.
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And that is incredible power that's available to us as we
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Deal with our mental health struggles, as we deal with
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Things in our body.
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And so that's just a powerful promise from the word of god.
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Okay. that makes me think about second corinthians.
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Um, i love the apostle paul so much, and i love when he's
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Writing to the church in corinth, and he kind of like
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Vaguely talks about this encounter with the lord that he
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Has, like this spiritual encounter.
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And he doesn't go into so much detail.
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It's so vague.
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I'm like, tell me, you know.
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And he leaves that encounter with a thorn in his side, which
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Is like, so whack because i'm like, if i had a spiritual
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Encounter, i'd better be able to fly when i leave, you know
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What i'm saying?
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Like i'm healing the sick after this for real.
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And but paul leaves with a thorn.
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And, you know, at first you're like, it's-- god, it's paul.
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Yeah. like, this is the dude
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That's like carrying the gospel on.
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He's like traveling to different places.
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He's, you know, he's taking the ecclesia and moving that sucker
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Throughout the cities and places.
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And so why would you give him a thorn?
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Why would you give him even more pain, even more suffering,
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Even more stuff to have to
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Carry as he's doing your gospel?
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And i found myself in that place a lot.
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Why would you give me more to have to wrestle through?
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I've already tried to heal this little thing and this trauma
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From my past and, and i'm--
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My mind and all of these different things.
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And paul goes on to tell them, you know, when he asks the lord
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To remove the thorn, like to make this a little bit easier,
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Okay? i mean, god says no, and he says no by saying, paul,
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I've got grace for you.
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And it is sufficient,
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Which i had to look that up because i was like, how much
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Sufficient you actually mean here?
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Like sufficient, like halfway, like a third, because it's not
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Feeling like a full sufficiency. okay?
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Um, and and, and then paul says, you know, his grace
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Is sufficient for us, but even
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More than the grace, it's his power.
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And his power is not sourced
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Where you think it's sourced from.
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It's not by your perfection.
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It's not because you made it. it's not because you didn't
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Struggle with your mental health.
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It's actually deeply rooted in the fact that you struggled
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With your mental health. yeah.
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In your--
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His power is made perfect in your weakness. perfected.
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Perfected in your weakness.
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So then the question becomes, well, how and why?
00:09:45.374 --> 00:09:48.110
Why is this set up this way?
00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.079
Okay. why do i have to be weak to access the power of god?
00:09:50.079 --> 00:09:54.050
Those are my, like, real thoughts as i'm
00:09:54.050 --> 00:09:56.118
Wrestling through it.
00:09:56.118 --> 00:09:57.420
And i'm like, well, because if i believed i got it, then why
00:09:57.420 --> 00:10:02.024
Would i ever go to the cross? that's it.
00:10:02.024 --> 00:10:04.660
Well, let's just put this out there.
00:10:04.660 --> 00:10:06.562
We can't even understand how much power god even has.
00:10:06.562 --> 00:10:10.099
Oh, no. from the beginning.
00:10:10.099 --> 00:10:11.033
I mean, he has so much power to do,
00:10:11.033 --> 00:10:13.836
I mean, ephesians, exceedingly abundantly more
00:10:13.836 --> 00:10:17.073
Than we could ask or imagine.
00:10:17.073 --> 00:10:18.641
We can't even imagine how much power he has to heal us to do
00:10:18.641 --> 00:10:23.846
What we need him to do. yeah.
00:10:23.846 --> 00:10:26.482
We're body, mind and spirit.
00:10:26.482 --> 00:10:28.284
And the temple of the holy spirit lives inside of us if
00:10:28.284 --> 00:10:32.488
We've given our lives to jesus.
00:10:32.488 --> 00:10:33.756
It talks about that in first corinthians.
00:10:33.756 --> 00:10:36.125
Uh, and so he's with us all the time,
00:10:36.125 --> 00:10:38.861
And whether we're experiencing pain in our bodies, whether
00:10:38.861 --> 00:10:41.330
We're having, um, things going on in our mind and going
00:10:41.330 --> 00:10:44.867
Through anxiety and depression, he is always with us.
00:10:44.867 --> 00:10:47.403
It says in hebrews that he never leaves us.
00:10:47.403 --> 00:10:49.438
He doesn't forsake us.
00:10:49.438 --> 00:10:51.073
And so he is with us all the time, even though we go through
00:10:51.073 --> 00:10:54.243
Things in our life.
00:10:54.243 --> 00:10:55.711
And that's the beauty of having the holy spirit inhabit us.
00:10:55.711 --> 00:11:00.282
And so it's a comfort that we have that he will always
00:11:00.282 --> 00:11:04.620
Be with us.
00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:06.455
Something that has always struck me about that verse in
00:11:06.455 --> 00:11:10.192
Second timothy, sheila, about soundness of mind, because i
00:11:10.192 --> 00:11:14.663
Feel like that's something we so desperately need right now.
00:11:14.663 --> 00:11:17.933
Like, anxiety is at an all time high.
00:11:17.933 --> 00:11:20.035
Yeah. um, we just struggle with grasping
00:11:20.035 --> 00:11:25.941
A sound mind. yeah.
00:11:25.941 --> 00:11:27.309
And there's something that i love about this verse
00:11:27.309 --> 00:11:29.945
Has always stood out to me.
00:11:29.945 --> 00:11:31.313
He has not given us, and then lists the list there
00:11:31.313 --> 00:11:34.950
Spirit of fear and timidity,
00:11:34.950 --> 00:11:37.520
But of power, love, and a sound mind.
00:11:37.520 --> 00:11:39.488
The word given-- mhm. mhm.
00:11:39.488 --> 00:11:41.791
God has given us a sound mind.
00:11:41.791 --> 00:11:44.226
That's inheritance. mhm.
00:11:44.226 --> 00:11:46.495
Like, i think there are so many people, and maybe someone's
00:11:46.495 --> 00:11:50.533
Listening and this is the way
00:11:50.533 --> 00:11:51.934
They have believed this narrative,
00:11:51.934 --> 00:11:55.437
Like, i cannot be sound in my mind.
00:11:55.437 --> 00:11:59.809
Like, i literally cannot, uh,
00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:03.546
Think. i cannot, um, i cannot be okay.
00:12:03.546 --> 00:12:08.184
My mind is always going to loop.
00:12:08.184 --> 00:12:10.653
And there's this lie,
00:12:10.653 --> 00:12:12.755
Speaking of lies, that's like
00:12:12.755 --> 00:12:14.190
I'm going to go through my life,
00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:15.524
My mind will never be sound.
00:12:15.524 --> 00:12:17.026
I will not be okay.
00:12:17.026 --> 00:12:18.661
That's contradictory to the
00:12:18.661 --> 00:12:19.929
Word of god, which this is all truth.
00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:23.132
Like, god has given us a sound mind.
00:12:23.132 --> 00:12:25.534
And so whether we have given that away in some ways, because
00:12:25.534 --> 00:12:29.405
We have like consumed too much in our minds that have polluted
00:12:29.405 --> 00:12:35.010
It-- like, that's real.
00:12:35.010 --> 00:12:36.312
Like, that can happen.
00:12:36.312 --> 00:12:37.513
We can take things in. um, whether like the sin of the
00:12:37.513 --> 00:12:40.783
World, the, you know, living in this fallen world. we've, you
00:12:40.783 --> 00:12:44.320
Know, we've received things in. people have made decisions for
00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.756
Us without our permission that have made our minds be
00:12:47.756 --> 00:12:51.760
Corrupted in some way.
00:12:51.760 --> 00:12:53.162
I mean, there are numerous ways that our minds
00:12:53.162 --> 00:12:55.030
Might not be sound, right?
00:12:55.030 --> 00:12:57.066
Um, by sin of our choice and by no choice of our own.
00:12:57.066 --> 00:13:01.904
But the reality of it is according to the word of god
00:13:01.904 --> 00:13:05.274
That he has given us that as an inheritance.
00:13:05.274 --> 00:13:08.110
It is ours, and we can have a sound mind.
00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:12.081
I don't know, to me that is hopeful.
00:13:12.081 --> 00:13:14.350
Yeah, like that's hopeful.
00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:15.751
I began to get that the second or third night in the hospital
00:13:15.751 --> 00:13:19.989
Because, you know, sometimes at night time during the night,
00:13:19.989 --> 00:13:23.025
Things can seem so much darker.
00:13:23.025 --> 00:13:24.727
Yes. for sure.
00:13:24.727 --> 00:13:25.995
And it's interesting because they take away things you could
00:13:25.995 --> 00:13:28.297
Hurt yourself with, like your hair dryer or anything,
00:13:28.297 --> 00:13:30.566
But they didn't--
00:13:30.566 --> 00:13:31.634
They left me the one thing that could heal me.
00:13:31.634 --> 00:13:32.935
They left me my bible.
00:13:32.935 --> 00:13:35.037
And i remember feeling so oppressed one night.
00:13:35.037 --> 00:13:38.307
And then my bible fell open,
00:13:38.307 --> 00:13:40.910
A psalm that i'm used to reading,
00:13:40.910 --> 00:13:42.511
Psalm 27,
00:13:42.511 --> 00:13:43.445
The lord is my light and my salvation.
00:13:43.445 --> 00:13:45.214
Whom shall i fear?
00:13:45.214 --> 00:13:46.215
And i thought, lord, i'm afraid of everybody.
00:13:46.215 --> 00:13:48.150
Wow.
00:13:48.150 --> 00:13:49.451
Um, but then it came to the end of the psalm and hadn't really
00:13:49.451 --> 00:13:53.222
Read that bit before.
00:13:53.222 --> 00:13:54.790
So i literally got out of bed and i plonked my feet on the
00:13:54.790 --> 00:13:57.693
Floor and i said, okay, i believe i will live to see the
00:13:57.693 --> 00:14:03.098
Goodness of the lord in the land of the living.
00:14:03.098 --> 00:14:07.002
And i just kept saying it out loud, i believe i will live
00:14:07.002 --> 00:14:11.340
To see the goodness of the lord.
00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.542
And, you know, i realized the psalms are like a gift.
00:14:13.542 --> 00:14:16.679
It's like they're a gift.
00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:18.547
And when we're seeing it, we're seeing it with believers for
00:14:18.547 --> 00:14:21.016
Hundreds and thousands of years.
00:14:21.016 --> 00:14:22.818
Christ quoted the psalms from the cross
00:14:22.818 --> 00:14:25.621
And we can-- there's power in the word of god.
00:14:25.621 --> 00:14:28.524
And that really shifted something inside me that night.
00:14:28.524 --> 00:14:30.993
I thought, i've still got a lot of stuff i'm going to have to
00:14:30.993 --> 00:14:33.462
Work through and process through, but i am choosing
00:14:33.462 --> 00:14:37.533
Right now. it's like there's a door open,
00:14:37.533 --> 00:14:39.301
And i choose which one do i go through.
00:14:39.301 --> 00:14:41.036
Do i go through fear or do i go through faith?
00:14:41.036 --> 00:14:43.739
No. i'm going through this door because i believe i will live
00:14:43.739 --> 00:14:47.276
To see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living.
00:14:47.276 --> 00:14:52.047
You've probably heard on on the news or read somewhere about a
00:14:55.684 --> 00:14:58.787
Kind of mental health crisis in the united states.
00:14:58.787 --> 00:15:01.690
And i think it's much more than just people who maybe
00:15:01.690 --> 00:15:04.259
Technically have a diagnosis of clinical depression or major
00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:08.464
Depressive disorder or schizophrenia.
00:15:08.464 --> 00:15:10.599
Those are all diagnoses.
00:15:10.599 --> 00:15:12.067
I think every single one of us has to take care of our mental
00:15:12.067 --> 00:15:16.271
Health, and that can mean
00:15:16.271 --> 00:15:17.206
Different things for different people.
00:15:17.206 --> 00:15:19.508
For me, it means being connected to the lord.
00:15:19.508 --> 00:15:23.512
It means the power of god's word, and it means being
00:15:23.512 --> 00:15:27.116
Connected to my friends because i used to just kind of isolate.
00:15:27.116 --> 00:15:30.819
But we need to be with one another.
00:15:30.819 --> 00:15:33.389
Um, paul talks about that stir one another up to love.
00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:36.825
And sometimes we need a little stirring.
00:15:36.825 --> 00:15:40.929
We are better together because of you.
00:15:40.929 --> 00:15:43.265
Connect with us on social media to ask a question, share a
00:15:43.265 --> 00:15:45.901
Prayer request, and make
00:15:45.901 --> 00:15:46.902
Friends with women all over the world.
00:15:46.902 --> 00:15:48.570
Let's keep the conversation going.
00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:54.143
You can find the better together podcast on your
00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:56.545
Favorite listening platform.
00:15:56.545 --> 00:15:58.380
Subscribe today.
00:15:58.380 --> 00:16:03.001
I want to offer up another angle of this scripture that
00:16:06.056 --> 00:16:10.794
Says, for god has not given us the spirit of timidity, but of
00:16:10.794 --> 00:16:13.263
Power and love and of self-discipline.
00:16:13.263 --> 00:16:15.532
Mhm.
00:16:15.532 --> 00:16:17.267
And i believe that i like that word self-discipline because
00:16:17.267 --> 00:16:22.272
That's what you did.
00:16:22.272 --> 00:16:23.506
That's what you practiced. that's good.
00:16:23.506 --> 00:16:25.642
I am going to be so disciplined that when my environment looks
00:16:25.642 --> 00:16:31.114
Like i am going to die, i won't make it,
00:16:31.114 --> 00:16:35.185
I'm going to instead be disciplined enough to reroute
00:16:35.185 --> 00:16:39.489
Myself to the lord and say, i will live to see the goodness
00:16:39.489 --> 00:16:44.027
Of god in the land of the living.
00:16:44.027 --> 00:16:45.228
And i think that oftentimes when we battle with mental
00:16:45.228 --> 00:16:48.731
Health issues, we don't have a lot of self-discipline.
00:16:48.731 --> 00:16:51.634
That's true. we get--
00:16:51.634 --> 00:16:53.002
We spiral down. our rhythms and our patterns get off.
00:16:53.002 --> 00:16:56.673
A lot of times when we go to counselors, they start talking
00:16:56.673 --> 00:16:59.109
About, what are some rhythms that you can put back in place?
00:16:59.109 --> 00:17:01.411
And i think that is the gift of the holy spirit to allow us to
00:17:01.411 --> 00:17:05.148
Have structure and consistency, to say, i'm going to get up
00:17:05.148 --> 00:17:08.451
Every single morning when i don't feel like it and
00:17:08.451 --> 00:17:10.153
I'm going to spend time with the lord first.
00:17:10.153 --> 00:17:11.488
I'm going to proclaim the word of god over my life.
00:17:11.488 --> 00:17:13.857
And so for anybody really that's out there battling,
00:17:13.857 --> 00:17:16.092
Struggling with mental health, depression, anxiety, all the
00:17:16.092 --> 00:17:18.461
Things, like just reach after that self discipline, reach
00:17:18.461 --> 00:17:22.799
Out, lord, where are you putting my feet in places that
00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.702
Are consistent so that i can remember.
00:17:25.702 --> 00:17:27.704
I'm not on shaky ground here.
00:17:27.704 --> 00:17:29.272
I'm on solid ground.
00:17:29.272 --> 00:17:30.573
I just got to get some rhythms in place to help me carry it on.
00:17:30.573 --> 00:17:32.976
I love that they say self-discipline.
00:17:32.976 --> 00:17:34.811
Yeah.
00:17:34.811 --> 00:17:36.112
The role we play in walking, in having a sound mind as it talks
00:17:36.112 --> 00:17:41.017
About in the bible, is we walk forward in steps, uh, to work
00:17:41.017 --> 00:17:48.124
On our own mental health, to work on things that we deal
00:17:48.124 --> 00:17:52.929
With in our body.
00:17:52.929 --> 00:17:54.497
So we have agency in being able to do that, we have free will.
00:17:54.497 --> 00:17:59.569
And so, yes, the lord has given us that inheritance about
00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:04.374
Having a sound mind, but we have to walk forward in that
00:18:04.374 --> 00:18:07.710
With purpose.
00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:08.745
And so we might need to go to seek a counselor.
00:18:08.745 --> 00:18:12.215
We might need to take
00:18:12.215 --> 00:18:13.349
Medication for a time in our life.
00:18:13.349 --> 00:18:15.618
Certainly, i believe in things like rest for our bodies and
00:18:15.618 --> 00:18:19.789
Taking care of our bodies by movement and water and all of
00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:23.960
Those kinds of things, sunlight,
00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:25.795
That we know are gifts from god.
00:18:25.795 --> 00:18:28.264
And so the soundness of our mind as we take care of the
00:18:28.264 --> 00:18:31.234
Temple that god has given us, is all a part of that process
00:18:31.234 --> 00:18:34.470
Of co-laboring with christ.
00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:37.640
I think there can be some that hear us and think, just pray,
00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:42.178
Or just fast, or just discipline yourselves when
00:18:42.178 --> 00:18:45.815
Sometimes you need the grace of medicine to keep you alive.
00:18:45.815 --> 00:18:49.819
Yeah.
00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:51.120
You know, um, and so i needed that when i was going through,
00:18:51.120 --> 00:18:54.757
I think it was perinatal depression.
00:18:54.757 --> 00:18:57.627
And i just was like, i was like, i don't want to--
00:18:57.627 --> 00:19:00.597
I was like, i don't want to die.
00:19:00.597 --> 00:19:02.031
I just don't want to be alive. right.
00:19:02.031 --> 00:19:03.766
She's like, so we're going to give you a prescription.
00:19:03.766 --> 00:19:07.470
You know, i'm good.
00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:08.705
I'm going to give you a couple minutes
00:19:08.705 --> 00:19:10.940
To just keep you still.
00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:13.509
And like, you know,
00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:14.811
And i was like, i wasn't-- it didn't take away, i don't know,
00:19:14.811 --> 00:19:19.115
I wasn't happy, but i wasn't hopeless anymore.
00:19:19.115 --> 00:19:22.885
That's exactly the difference.
00:19:22.885 --> 00:19:24.120
And that's enough.
00:19:24.120 --> 00:19:25.421
It was like a until i started to sense the lord say, okay, i
00:19:25.421 --> 00:19:28.091
Think i think you can wean off of this now.
00:19:28.091 --> 00:19:30.893
Um, in addition to that, i do think that there is a profound,
00:19:30.893 --> 00:19:37.100
At the same time that this is often hormonal and physical and
00:19:37.100 --> 00:19:42.005
Our brains are just wired.
00:19:42.005 --> 00:19:43.373
Strange, we have a real devil.
00:19:43.373 --> 00:19:45.742
And i think it's okay to hold
00:19:45.742 --> 00:19:47.910
Both of those things in tension.
00:19:47.910 --> 00:19:49.545
You know what i'm saying?
00:19:49.545 --> 00:19:50.546
My father struggled with mental health stuff.
00:19:50.546 --> 00:19:53.383
Yeah. um, and my mom would always talk about how like she
00:19:53.383 --> 00:19:56.753
Would hear stories about it
00:19:56.753 --> 00:19:57.887
Because they had a weird little relationship.
00:19:57.887 --> 00:19:59.455
I ain't gonna go there.
00:19:59.455 --> 00:20:00.623
Um, but she went in the basement one time, and she said
00:20:00.623 --> 00:20:04.027
He was sitting criss crossed on the bed in the dark, staring
00:20:04.027 --> 00:20:07.830
And rocking back and forth,
00:20:07.830 --> 00:20:09.432
And she said, well, i just call you later.
00:20:09.432 --> 00:20:11.567
I don't know what i--
00:20:11.567 --> 00:20:12.669
Call you later.
00:20:12.669 --> 00:20:13.403
There was a darkness about it.
00:20:13.403 --> 00:20:15.371
And then when i started to really wrestle with a lot of
00:20:15.371 --> 00:20:18.374
Mental health, significantly in the last few years, i would
00:20:18.374 --> 00:20:22.145
Like, my husband was praying and i had to make a decision
00:20:22.145 --> 00:20:25.782
That i have to fight this.
00:20:25.782 --> 00:20:27.583
I can't give in to, oh, this is
00:20:27.583 --> 00:20:30.119
Just what my family struggles with.
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:31.854
Or this is--
00:20:31.854 --> 00:20:32.588
I just inherited my dad's brain.
00:20:32.588 --> 00:20:34.590
I was like, oh no, i got to fight this differently.
00:20:34.590 --> 00:20:36.592
And so the text that became a major encouragement for me is
00:20:36.592 --> 00:20:40.496
He keeps those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him.
00:20:40.496 --> 00:20:43.933
But i never finished the text.
00:20:43.933 --> 00:20:45.435
And i remember reading it and it said his mind is stayed on
00:20:45.435 --> 00:20:48.538
Him for he trust in him. mhm.
00:20:48.538 --> 00:20:50.840
And i was like, oh, that's why i don't have the peace.
00:20:50.840 --> 00:20:53.876
And that's why my mind doesn't stay.
00:20:53.876 --> 00:20:55.511
Because i don't believe you.
00:20:55.511 --> 00:20:57.080
And so i need to work through the book, and i need to walk
00:20:57.080 --> 00:21:00.650
Through the book, and i need to see why you're trustworthy.
00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:03.519
And if you're trustworthy, then my mind will actually be
00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.389
Self-disciplined and stay put.
00:21:06.389 --> 00:21:08.024
It's not going to stay put if i don't believe you. if i believe
00:21:08.024 --> 00:21:10.760
The bottle, if i believe the blunt, if i believe the
00:21:10.760 --> 00:21:13.396
Netflix, if i trust in all these other sources to offer me
00:21:13.396 --> 00:21:16.666
Peace, my mind won't stay on you.
00:21:16.666 --> 00:21:19.001
And so i think that's been a part of the work is just
00:21:19.001 --> 00:21:21.304
Acknowledging the normal bodily
00:21:21.304 --> 00:21:23.740
Physical dynamics of mental health.
00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:26.676
I love this, i like that we are that we are bringing them
00:21:26.676 --> 00:21:30.947
Together again.
00:21:30.947 --> 00:21:31.981
Again, it is this idea where god is our source.
00:21:31.981 --> 00:21:35.284
Like, there is no denying that.
00:21:35.284 --> 00:21:36.686
And he's given us access to resources to help us because he
00:21:36.686 --> 00:21:39.856
Knows we live in this broken world, that we actually can
00:21:39.856 --> 00:21:43.426
Access freedom alongside the brokenness of this world,
00:21:43.426 --> 00:21:46.162
Because we're holding both and we're fighting, and we're using
00:21:46.162 --> 00:21:48.931
All the tools.
00:21:48.931 --> 00:21:50.333
You got to or you lose your mind.
00:21:50.333 --> 00:21:51.667
Like, i sometimes i get so surprised.
00:21:51.667 --> 00:21:53.970
I got saved really late.
00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:55.872
And i mean, i mean late for me.
00:21:55.872 --> 00:21:57.240
I was 21.
00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:58.608
I spent 21 years living reckless.
00:21:58.608 --> 00:22:01.177
Okay? so reckless.
00:22:01.177 --> 00:22:02.912
And i remember i cared more honestly about mental health
00:22:02.912 --> 00:22:06.349
Before i got saved.
00:22:06.349 --> 00:22:07.650
So i had come into the church with all of these ideas like,
00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:11.521
We should heal and we should do this and all these things.
00:22:11.521 --> 00:22:14.123
And when i realized that the church was like, mhm.
00:22:14.123 --> 00:22:17.827
Leave that all out there,
00:22:17.827 --> 00:22:18.995
That a lot of aspects or expressions of the church were
00:22:18.995 --> 00:22:21.130
Like, no, no, we don't talk about that.
00:22:21.130 --> 00:22:22.632
We don't do that.
00:22:22.632 --> 00:22:23.866
I was like, well, you guys don't want to look like jesus?
00:22:23.866 --> 00:22:26.202
Mhm, mhm.
00:22:26.202 --> 00:22:27.670
Because you have people in this church today that know the
00:22:27.670 --> 00:22:29.839
Bible from the top to the bottom, but they mean, selfish.
00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.476
Mhm.
00:22:33.476 --> 00:22:34.610
But they're standoffish, but they quite literally are
00:22:34.610 --> 00:22:37.046
Proclaiming that they don't have freedom from things that
00:22:37.046 --> 00:22:40.049
They could actually go get freedom from.
00:22:40.049 --> 00:22:42.485
And we have just disintegrated,
00:22:42.485 --> 00:22:45.221
I think that is a word today,
00:22:45.221 --> 00:22:47.156
Um, the body that god created.
00:22:47.156 --> 00:22:49.926
Yeah. we've just started--
00:22:49.926 --> 00:22:50.960
We've piecemealed it.
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:53.162
The truth is, mental health is hard, especially when you have
00:22:53.162 --> 00:22:56.332
Really big thoughts and big feelings, anxiety, depression,
00:22:56.332 --> 00:22:59.268
All of these things.
00:22:59.268 --> 00:23:00.570
Here's what we have to remember in that. god is our source, and
00:23:00.570 --> 00:23:04.373
Then we have access to resources.
00:23:04.373 --> 00:23:06.642
And so the key is to make sure that we have resources in
00:23:06.642 --> 00:23:09.278
Place, consistent rhythms, counseling, all these different
00:23:09.278 --> 00:23:12.081
Things, and make sure that we're making a pitstop at the
00:23:12.081 --> 00:23:16.085
Feet of jesus first.
00:23:16.085 --> 00:23:17.720
When you're struggling, when you're battling, when you're
00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:19.555
Having some really bad, intrusive thoughts, you want to
00:23:19.555 --> 00:23:21.824
Go to god first, and then you want to allow the holy spirit
00:23:21.824 --> 00:23:24.093
To point you to the resources that you need
00:23:24.093 --> 00:23:26.262
To find peace again.
00:23:26.262 --> 00:23:28.631
The first day in the hospital, my doctor said that he wanted
00:23:28.631 --> 00:23:31.634
To put me on some medication, and i was like, no, no, no, no.
00:23:31.634 --> 00:23:35.571
And he explained that when, you know, some people just like
00:23:35.571 --> 00:23:38.574
They have a deficit in their vision or they have a deficit
00:23:38.574 --> 00:23:40.910
In, you know, some part of the body, your brain chemistry, if
00:23:40.910 --> 00:23:44.947
You if you don't have enough of certain chemicals. he said all
00:23:44.947 --> 00:23:47.950
The medication does is restore you to a level where you're
00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:51.053
Able to deal with what god's really
00:23:51.053 --> 00:23:53.155
Doing in your life.
00:23:53.155 --> 00:23:54.857
So you were on it for time, and then you, the lord said, you
00:23:54.857 --> 00:23:57.527
Know, you can wean off.
00:23:57.527 --> 00:23:58.694
I'm still, i take my pill every
00:23:58.694 --> 00:24:00.963
Day with the prayer of thanksgiving.
00:24:00.963 --> 00:24:02.665
Amen.
00:24:02.665 --> 00:24:03.833
That god has made it possible for us in this world,
00:24:03.833 --> 00:24:05.735
You know, that helps available.
00:24:05.735 --> 00:24:07.904
And i remember sharing that once from a platform, this
00:24:07.904 --> 00:24:10.172
Young girl coming up just, i mean, she almost collapsed in
00:24:10.172 --> 00:24:12.708
My arms because she'd been told if she had more faith, she
00:24:12.708 --> 00:24:16.445
Wouldn't need the medication.
00:24:16.445 --> 00:24:17.813
Well, that's what i was going to bring up.
00:24:17.813 --> 00:24:19.015
I'd like to name something that
00:24:19.015 --> 00:24:20.383
I feel like is, um, is critical.
00:24:20.383 --> 00:24:23.753
And that is there is a slight bit of prosperity gospel idea
00:24:23.753 --> 00:24:27.456
In the thought process that, you know, if you're not fully
00:24:27.456 --> 00:24:33.930
Okay, if you're not walking in this idea of like blessing in
00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:37.133
Every area, um, that, that falls into this a bit that you
00:24:37.133 --> 00:24:42.538
Must be doing something wrong.
00:24:42.538 --> 00:24:43.906
And that's why you might be suffering in your body.
00:24:43.906 --> 00:24:47.376
And, um, and that's just theologically incorrect.
00:24:47.376 --> 00:24:50.680
And i just feel like it's important to say that.
00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.849
I remember back when i was diagnosed with clinical
00:24:53.849 --> 00:24:56.786
Depression, there was so much stigma attached to that.
00:24:56.786 --> 00:25:01.090
I had a lot of people who said, you know, we cannot believe
00:25:01.090 --> 00:25:03.526
That you take medication as a
00:25:03.526 --> 00:25:04.994
As a believer. where's your faith?
00:25:04.994 --> 00:25:06.362
You know, that's just absolutely ridiculous.
00:25:06.362 --> 00:25:09.165
And i remember going to a christian bookstore and trying
00:25:09.165 --> 00:25:11.601
To find a book that talked about christians and mental
00:25:11.601 --> 00:25:14.170
Health and couldn't find anything.
00:25:14.170 --> 00:25:16.472
So i wrote it.
00:25:16.472 --> 00:25:17.873
I began to just share my own story and called it
00:25:17.873 --> 00:25:21.077
Loved back to life.
00:25:21.077 --> 00:25:22.345
Although, originally i think it was called honestly. i was
00:25:22.345 --> 00:25:24.547
Talking about what it's like to walk that path with the lord.
00:25:24.547 --> 00:25:27.450
I think there's genuine
00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:29.085
Misunderstanding about mental health.
00:25:29.085 --> 00:25:31.754
I think some people can be very, very narrow minded.
00:25:31.754 --> 00:25:35.024
Some people just don't understand that it's not to do
00:25:35.024 --> 00:25:37.827
With your spiritual life necessarily, it's to do with
00:25:37.827 --> 00:25:40.763
Your brain chemistry.
00:25:40.763 --> 00:25:42.198
You don't say to somebody who wears glasses,
00:25:42.198 --> 00:25:44.567
You know, where's your faith?
00:25:44.567 --> 00:25:45.735
Because they'll take them off and fall over the dog.
00:25:45.735 --> 00:25:47.670
It's the same with mental health.
00:25:47.670 --> 00:25:49.772
I'm going to say something that i've really never talked about
00:25:49.772 --> 00:25:52.508
Before, but i'd never suffered from any other
00:25:52.508 --> 00:25:57.580
Illness issues in my life.
00:25:57.580 --> 00:25:59.615
Um, it's touched our family in some regard, but i'd never
00:25:59.615 --> 00:26:03.519
Walked through anything.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.754
But when i was 47, i had a hysterectomy and, um, it threw
00:26:04.754 --> 00:26:09.125
Me into menopause.
00:26:09.125 --> 00:26:11.961
And when you go, i didn't know this at the time, but when you
00:26:11.961 --> 00:26:14.730
Are medically forced into menopause, it's like 80% worse
00:26:14.730 --> 00:26:19.969
Sort of what you go through, which makes sense
00:26:19.969 --> 00:26:22.505
Because if your body goes into something naturally--
00:26:22.505 --> 00:26:25.741
Right. it's prepared.
00:26:25.741 --> 00:26:26.742
Right. it's prepared to do that.
00:26:26.742 --> 00:26:27.977
And so, um, so i didn't know that i was in menopause for
00:26:27.977 --> 00:26:32.114
Probably about nine months
00:26:32.114 --> 00:26:33.883
Um, i just suffered.
00:26:33.883 --> 00:26:35.484
And, uh, so i was walking around not feeling well.
00:26:35.484 --> 00:26:40.523
Um, i remember going to film a bible study and just
00:26:40.523 --> 00:26:44.827
Weeping through it.
00:26:44.827 --> 00:26:46.062
And i was like, gosh, the holy spirit of god is coming.
00:26:46.062 --> 00:26:49.131
I'm just yes, jesus.
00:26:49.131 --> 00:26:50.700
You know, it wasn't that actually.
00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:52.902
Um. wow.
00:26:52.902 --> 00:26:54.103
I was, i was really, really suffering.
00:26:54.103 --> 00:26:56.672
And, um, so i didn't know that, that i was in menopause.
00:26:56.672 --> 00:27:02.078
Um, but i, i got to the point where,
00:27:02.078 --> 00:27:06.082
Uh, very similar to you,
00:27:06.082 --> 00:27:07.683
Jackie, actually, i felt really hopeless.
00:27:07.683 --> 00:27:10.886
Mhm. never had gone through anything like that.
00:27:10.886 --> 00:27:14.790
I remember my husband and i were on the west coast, and i
00:27:14.790 --> 00:27:18.260
Was sitting watching the pacific ocean,
00:27:18.260 --> 00:27:21.097
Just the waves crash.
00:27:21.097 --> 00:27:23.365
It was on our anniversary, actually, and i looked a mess,
00:27:23.365 --> 00:27:26.902
And i was-- i felt sick in my body as well.
00:27:26.902 --> 00:27:29.371
And i remember telling my husband, i said, i think i
00:27:29.371 --> 00:27:32.241
Would like to swim out in that
00:27:32.241 --> 00:27:34.810
Ocean for a while and not swim back.
00:27:34.810 --> 00:27:38.080
And i didn't want to end my life.
00:27:38.080 --> 00:27:40.015
I just didn't want to be a part of it for a while, to pause it,
00:27:40.015 --> 00:27:45.287
Um, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but to me, in that
00:27:45.287 --> 00:27:47.890
Moment, it felt a lot like it made a lot of sense.
00:27:47.890 --> 00:27:50.659
Totally.
00:27:50.659 --> 00:27:52.194
And my hormones were an absolute mess, but i had no
00:27:52.194 --> 00:27:58.200
Idea which many women go through this.
00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:01.670
And so my husband was like,
00:28:01.670 --> 00:28:04.974
He was freaking out because i'm just generally not like that.
00:28:04.974 --> 00:28:09.578
And so i went to the doctor, got on an hrt,
00:28:09.578 --> 00:28:14.517
Got chemically regulated, which was critical for me to want to
00:28:14.517 --> 00:28:20.256
Go on with life. yeah.
00:28:20.256 --> 00:28:21.857
And so it makes sense that if you are chemically
00:28:21.857 --> 00:28:24.360
Unregulated, if you're emotionally unregulated, um,
00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:28.531
All things converging,
00:28:28.531 --> 00:28:30.866
I felt very, very low.
00:28:30.866 --> 00:28:33.536
Yeah. and, uh, praise be to god that i got on, uh, you know,
00:28:33.536 --> 00:28:38.541
Some medicine to help me.
00:28:38.541 --> 00:28:40.342
And so i think it's critical to talk about this.
00:28:40.342 --> 00:28:43.445
Yeah. i also needed to be with
00:28:43.445 --> 00:28:45.648
The lord and all of those things.
00:28:45.648 --> 00:28:47.550
And i needed support of folks that love me in community.
00:28:47.550 --> 00:28:51.120
And so all of those things are true.
00:28:51.120 --> 00:28:54.123
And praise god that my inheritance is a sound mind.
00:28:54.123 --> 00:28:57.293
Yeah. so it's all true and it all works together and it
00:28:57.293 --> 00:29:00.396
Doesn't have to negate itself.
00:29:00.396 --> 00:29:02.131
And so, um, yeah.
00:29:02.131 --> 00:29:04.099
It's, it's kind of astounding to me that it's easier for us
00:29:04.099 --> 00:29:08.504
To understand that when it's sickness in our bodies and not
00:29:08.504 --> 00:29:11.941
Sickness in our minds. yeah. right.
00:29:11.941 --> 00:29:13.342
Sure. so if there's heart disease, you take the meds, you
00:29:13.342 --> 00:29:16.512
Work out, you do all this
00:29:16.512 --> 00:29:17.346
Stuff, and you pray for healing.
00:29:17.346 --> 00:29:18.881
If it's, you know, diabetes--
00:29:18.881 --> 00:29:20.382
Show up on machines. like we--
00:29:20.382 --> 00:29:22.051
Yeah. but it's something about it being the mind that
00:29:22.051 --> 00:29:26.355
Saying that you should go to therapy is somehow unbelief.
00:29:26.355 --> 00:29:29.425
And i'm like, but you went to the doctor for your high blood
00:29:29.425 --> 00:29:33.362
Pressure, right?
00:29:33.362 --> 00:29:34.563
This is just a doctor that's studying the brain, right?
00:29:34.563 --> 00:29:37.166
I just have to say that because there's somebody out there that
00:29:37.166 --> 00:29:39.702
Be saying stuff.
00:29:39.702 --> 00:29:41.337
To the discussion of mental health,
00:29:41.337 --> 00:29:43.272
I think there's many pathways
00:29:43.272 --> 00:29:45.174
That god has made available to us.
00:29:45.174 --> 00:29:47.343
I came to a place in my life where i needed to get some
00:29:47.343 --> 00:29:50.379
Immediate help.
00:29:50.379 --> 00:29:51.714
I was actually hospitalized for a month.
00:29:51.714 --> 00:29:53.983
I was put on medication, and it really, really helped stabilize
00:29:53.983 --> 00:29:58.020
My emotions so that i could deal with the deeper issues.
00:29:58.020 --> 00:30:01.290
But the other place i found real healing was in the
00:30:01.290 --> 00:30:03.993
Presence of the lord.
00:30:03.993 --> 00:30:05.494
See, i used to think i wanted answers.
00:30:05.494 --> 00:30:07.897
You know, why did this happen, lord?
00:30:07.897 --> 00:30:09.198
Why did that happen?
00:30:09.198 --> 00:30:10.633
What i realized i really longed for was the presence of the
00:30:10.633 --> 00:30:14.203
Lord, because the presence of the lord changes everything.
00:30:14.203 --> 00:30:17.907
So if you need to get help, don't be afraid to get help.
00:30:17.907 --> 00:30:21.410
Don't be afraid to seek a good counselor and find 1 or 2
00:30:21.410 --> 00:30:24.847
People in life that you can trust,
00:30:24.847 --> 00:30:26.649
You can share your life story
00:30:26.649 --> 00:30:27.917
With and share your journey with.
00:30:27.917 --> 00:30:30.586
I have a five month, almost six month old baby currently
00:30:30.586 --> 00:30:34.423
Sitting in the green room.
00:30:34.423 --> 00:30:36.692
Um, hanging out, just loving on people.
00:30:36.692 --> 00:30:39.795
And he's the best thing ever.
00:30:39.795 --> 00:30:41.563
And he's come in the space of me having three children in the
00:30:41.563 --> 00:30:47.569
Space of a year, which for those doing the math at home,
00:30:47.569 --> 00:30:51.040
The math is not mathing.
00:30:51.040 --> 00:30:52.608
Um, i met my husband, um, and
00:30:52.608 --> 00:30:56.178
He was a single dad of two girls.
00:30:56.178 --> 00:30:57.947
And so i moved from los angeles to, um, florida to get married
00:30:57.947 --> 00:31:05.921
To a single dad in ministry with two little girls who we
00:31:05.921 --> 00:31:09.191
Have basically full time.
00:31:09.191 --> 00:31:11.260
So moved away from my community, moved into this
00:31:11.260 --> 00:31:13.929
Place, uh, got married again, now have two little girls in a
00:31:13.929 --> 00:31:18.500
Blended family, and then i get pregnant and then had this baby
00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:23.038
And ministry is still happening and i'm still speaking.
00:31:23.038 --> 00:31:25.941
And so for me, i'm in the season now where i'm genuinely
00:31:25.941 --> 00:31:30.512
So grateful that i have voices in my life that are like, hey,
00:31:30.512 --> 00:31:35.017
You're doing better than you think you are because they know
00:31:35.017 --> 00:31:37.686
My natural default is to try to do more until i feel like i'm
00:31:37.686 --> 00:31:41.123
Doing better, which does not work.
00:31:41.123 --> 00:31:43.225
Um, and i have the crashes in my life to prove it, you know.
00:31:43.225 --> 00:31:47.329
And so i'm in this season
00:31:47.329 --> 00:31:50.799
Of being aware that my hormones are
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.335
Coming back into place after having a baby and, um, being
00:31:53.335 --> 00:31:57.940
Able to talk about it, i think,
00:31:57.940 --> 00:31:59.875
And yet still wrestling with that
00:31:59.875 --> 00:32:02.177
But god, i want to do more.
00:32:02.177 --> 00:32:03.278
I want to be back where i was.
00:32:03.278 --> 00:32:04.513
I want to have the energy that i had.
00:32:04.513 --> 00:32:06.081
I want to-- and i may get emotional speaking
00:32:06.081 --> 00:32:09.518
About this actually.
00:32:09.518 --> 00:32:11.887
I was just actually sitting here right before you said
00:32:11.887 --> 00:32:14.123
That, which is really interesting because i had this
00:32:14.123 --> 00:32:16.992
Flashback memory.
00:32:16.992 --> 00:32:18.293
I don't even know where i saw you saying this, but i remember
00:32:18.293 --> 00:32:21.397
You talking about this moment when, um, you had one of your
00:32:21.397 --> 00:32:26.835
Kids and you felt like the holy spirit was like, hey, it's time
00:32:26.835 --> 00:32:29.671
To spend time with me again.
00:32:29.671 --> 00:32:30.973
There was a grace for a season, and i remember being like the
00:32:30.973 --> 00:32:35.577
Holy spirit using that clip that you posted to say, elyse,
00:32:35.577 --> 00:32:40.149
Like you are in a very different season.
00:32:40.149 --> 00:32:42.217
Here's me not slept at night at
00:32:42.217 --> 00:32:44.386
All trying to get up at like 5 a.m.
00:32:44.386 --> 00:32:46.422
And be like, i'm good.
00:32:46.422 --> 00:32:47.523
We're fine. it's okay,
00:32:47.523 --> 00:32:48.957
And being at my bible, weeping,
00:32:48.957 --> 00:32:51.660
Being like, i'm not doing it right.
00:32:51.660 --> 00:32:53.595
And i think there are so many women, whether it's menopause
00:32:53.595 --> 00:32:56.665
Or a mental health condition in a season or just had a baby or
00:32:56.665 --> 00:33:01.403
Going through a divorce, or trying to figure out custody,
00:33:01.403 --> 00:33:04.740
Battle with their kids, or trying to break free from
00:33:04.740 --> 00:33:07.242
Addiction who just don't think they're doing it right,
00:33:07.242 --> 00:33:09.244
And i think that's what breaks my heart is because that's a
00:33:09.244 --> 00:33:12.281
Personal experience that i have.
00:33:12.281 --> 00:33:14.883
And i just i feel it's so easy for me to tell people, it's
00:33:14.883 --> 00:33:21.190
It's the season you're in.
00:33:21.190 --> 00:33:22.491
Where i struggle is receiving it from me of like, elyse, it's
00:33:22.491 --> 00:33:26.261
The season you're in, because i know there will come a day when
00:33:26.261 --> 00:33:29.631
It's that challenge again to be like, okay, it's time.
00:33:29.631 --> 00:33:31.900
Yeah. come on, it's time.
00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:33.001
Yeah. and it's necessary for the holistic healing.
00:33:33.001 --> 00:33:35.771
And yet, in the season when it does need grace and flexibility
00:33:35.771 --> 00:33:40.209
And honestly trusting that god can still speak to me--
00:33:40.209 --> 00:33:44.012
Yeah.
00:33:44.012 --> 00:33:45.280
When i'm not six weeks deep into the devotional that i want
00:33:45.280 --> 00:33:47.149
To be into, you know? yeah.
00:33:47.149 --> 00:33:49.785
He came that those seasons have the grace on it, that those
00:33:49.785 --> 00:33:54.389
Seasons have grace for myself in it.
00:33:54.389 --> 00:33:56.325
And so i am, i am deep in the season right now of having to
00:33:56.325 --> 00:34:00.529
Daily actually remind myself of that and when i can, being
00:34:00.529 --> 00:34:05.000
Like, okay, let's do it,
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:07.336
But also trusting that god knows how to speak to you in
00:34:07.336 --> 00:34:10.906
This season that you are in as well.
00:34:10.906 --> 00:34:12.541
And i wonder if sometimes that's sometimes causing our
00:34:12.541 --> 00:34:15.511
Issues is because we think there's only one way to do it.
00:34:15.511 --> 00:34:19.915
It's hard to care for your mental health and not feel like
00:34:19.915 --> 00:34:23.685
You don't have faith,
00:34:23.685 --> 00:34:24.920
Like i don't believe in god.
00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:25.988
I'm really struggling.
00:34:25.988 --> 00:34:27.456
But the truth is, our god cares so much about us that he sees
00:34:27.456 --> 00:34:32.361
Us in our struggle for mental health, for being the people
00:34:32.361 --> 00:34:35.397
That we were designed to be.
00:34:35.397 --> 00:34:36.832
And so what you need to remember, and what i've had to
00:34:36.832 --> 00:34:39.101
Remember over time, is that our god loves us, all of us, the
00:34:39.101 --> 00:34:43.672
Good, bad, and everything in between, the struggles, the
00:34:43.672 --> 00:34:45.941
Anxiety, the depression, the adhd.
00:34:45.941 --> 00:34:48.143
He loves all of us.
00:34:48.143 --> 00:34:49.578
He would not be a good god if he didn't.
00:34:49.578 --> 00:34:52.281
And so, right in the middle of your struggle, i want you to
00:34:52.281 --> 00:34:54.283
Remember that you are loved and seen and known and chosen
00:34:54.283 --> 00:34:56.852
By a good god.
00:34:56.852 --> 00:34:59.788
Join the conversation on our bettertogether youtube channel.
00:34:59.788 --> 00:35:03.358
Subscribe today and never miss a new upload.
00:35:03.358 --> 00:35:08.001
I remember laurie telling me a conversation she had with rabbi
00:35:11.100 --> 00:35:14.003
Jason sobel, where he was taking that verse,
00:35:14.003 --> 00:35:17.106
I can do all things through christ who gives me strength,
00:35:17.106 --> 00:35:19.909
But looking at the original hebrew and he said, it can just
00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:23.646
As easily be translated, i can do all seasons through christ
00:35:23.646 --> 00:35:27.483
Who gives me strength.
00:35:27.483 --> 00:35:28.918
And that to me is like, that's such good news.
00:35:28.918 --> 00:35:33.790
It's like, you can be in a great season, you can be
00:35:33.790 --> 00:35:35.358
In a hard season,
00:35:35.358 --> 00:35:36.192
But i can do all seasons
00:35:36.192 --> 00:35:38.361
Through christ who gives me strength.
00:35:38.361 --> 00:35:39.762
And one of the things that helps me, and this is just
00:35:39.762 --> 00:35:41.564
Purely practical, um, is i read
00:35:41.564 --> 00:35:44.834
Three psalms out loud every day.
00:35:44.834 --> 00:35:46.936
Um, there's something about my
00:35:46.936 --> 00:35:49.038
Ears hearing what my eyes are reading.
00:35:49.038 --> 00:35:52.408
I go out in my balcony and i read three psalms out loud, and
00:35:52.408 --> 00:35:55.845
I start at the beginning and i go all the way to the end.
00:35:55.845 --> 00:35:58.348
And then i start again, and i go all the way--
00:35:58.348 --> 00:36:00.116
But there's just something about that that you, i think it
00:36:00.116 --> 00:36:04.153
Was, athanasius said
00:36:04.153 --> 00:36:05.955
Whereas most of scripture speaks to us,
00:36:05.955 --> 00:36:07.790
The psalm speaks for us.
00:36:07.790 --> 00:36:09.792
They give us a language of prayer.
00:36:09.792 --> 00:36:12.328
And it used to be i would just pick up my favorite ones.
00:36:12.328 --> 00:36:14.364
I'd be like psalm 23, psalm 91.
00:36:14.364 --> 00:36:16.733
But when you discipline yourself to start at the very
00:36:16.733 --> 00:36:20.370
First psalm and work your whole way through--
00:36:20.370 --> 00:36:22.705
I love that.
00:36:22.705 --> 00:36:23.306
It's, it's so healing.
00:36:23.306 --> 00:36:25.441
Yeah, i love that.
00:36:25.441 --> 00:36:27.810
When it comes to mental health,
00:36:27.810 --> 00:36:29.545
The real battlefield is in the mind.
00:36:29.545 --> 00:36:32.282
That's where i feel like the greatest battles.
00:36:32.282 --> 00:36:34.651
That's why we're told don't be conformed to this world, but be
00:36:34.651 --> 00:36:38.121
Transformed by the renewal of your mind.
00:36:38.121 --> 00:36:42.191
I remember somebody saying to me at one point, how would you
00:36:42.191 --> 00:36:45.361
Differentiate between your own personal salvation
00:36:45.361 --> 00:36:47.130
And the word of god?
00:36:47.130 --> 00:36:49.198
And obviously, my personal salvation means i'm going to
00:36:49.198 --> 00:36:51.934
Live with jesus forever.
00:36:51.934 --> 00:36:53.569
The holy spirit lives in me now, but i have to tell you,
00:36:53.569 --> 00:36:57.040
The word of god saves my mind.
00:36:57.040 --> 00:37:00.009
I love to read scripture out loud every single day.
00:37:00.009 --> 00:37:03.613
It's so good for your ears to hear what your eyes are reading
00:37:03.613 --> 00:37:06.783
And to declare what is always true, no matter what might be
00:37:06.783 --> 00:37:10.953
True for a season.
00:37:10.953 --> 00:37:13.323
That's actually an interesting example.
00:37:13.323 --> 00:37:16.159
If women are watching at home or women are sitting in this
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:19.629
Seat right here, how have you guys connected with god in
00:37:19.629 --> 00:37:23.333
Seasons where you were dealing with healing through--
00:37:23.333 --> 00:37:27.370
All of us have a story of, um, mental health healing or
00:37:27.370 --> 00:37:31.107
Walking that journey.
00:37:31.107 --> 00:37:32.709
How did you feel like god uniquely connected or spoke to
00:37:32.709 --> 00:37:35.878
You in those seasons? yeah.
00:37:35.878 --> 00:37:39.349
I'll, i'll speak to the psalm and then talk about that.
00:37:39.349 --> 00:37:44.087
The psalms have become for me, um, bread, i guess, you know
00:37:44.087 --> 00:37:49.192
What i'm saying? because it's just it's the
00:37:49.192 --> 00:37:51.361
Honesty and the emotional honesty
00:37:51.361 --> 00:37:54.297
Um, is necessary because i think it gives you permission
00:37:54.297 --> 00:37:58.034
On how to communicate with god in a way that actually is
00:37:58.034 --> 00:38:01.471
Accurate and sincere to your current and present experience.
00:38:01.471 --> 00:38:05.041
And so even like a psalm, i wrote a song about it.
00:38:05.041 --> 00:38:08.378
I wrote a song called psalm 88 because i just when you read
00:38:08.378 --> 00:38:13.483
Psalm 88, i think it's one of
00:38:13.483 --> 00:38:15.685
Two psalms that don't end in hope.
00:38:15.685 --> 00:38:18.588
I think it's the only one.
00:38:18.588 --> 00:38:19.989
Okay. it does not end with like, yeah, but god going to
00:38:19.989 --> 00:38:23.860
Get me out, or yeah, but you're a refuge.
00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:26.362
It ends, in verse 18,
00:38:26.362 --> 00:38:28.264
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me.
00:38:28.264 --> 00:38:30.867
My companions have become darkness.
00:38:30.867 --> 00:38:32.702
Okay. that's it. yes.
00:38:32.702 --> 00:38:34.270
And so you have this,
00:38:34.270 --> 00:38:35.538
You have cora talking to god and saying, yeah, my darkness
00:38:35.538 --> 00:38:39.175
Has been a more present friend than you.
00:38:39.175 --> 00:38:41.811
And i think to see that in the book says, oh, when i'm in
00:38:41.811 --> 00:38:45.982
Seasons that feel dark, that feel desolate, i can
00:38:45.982 --> 00:38:49.185
Communicate that back to you.
00:38:49.185 --> 00:38:50.887
And tim keller said the reason why psalm 88 is beautiful is
00:38:50.887 --> 00:38:56.392
Because even in his pain, the
00:38:56.392 --> 00:38:58.594
Psalmist is communicating to god.
00:38:58.594 --> 00:39:01.497
Yes. and that's what makes the difference.
00:39:01.497 --> 00:39:03.332
And so i think to me, i think that's how i've wrestled out
00:39:03.332 --> 00:39:07.503
Loud with the lord, is just i communicate back to god what
00:39:07.503 --> 00:39:11.340
I'm frustrated about, what i'm
00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:13.209
Scared about, what i'm anxious about.
00:39:13.209 --> 00:39:15.611
And i've, i've done away with the idea or the expectation
00:39:15.611 --> 00:39:20.383
That he has to comfort me according to my own standard.
00:39:20.383 --> 00:39:23.152
But i do have the strong faith now that i did not have last
00:39:23.152 --> 00:39:27.723
Year, that he will come for me in every affliction.
00:39:27.723 --> 00:39:29.992
I just got to wait, you know?
00:39:29.992 --> 00:39:31.794
I just got to wait. and so that's where i've been.
00:39:31.794 --> 00:39:34.330
Oh, that's so good, jackie.
00:39:34.330 --> 00:39:36.532
I think if you are in a mental health crisis and are finding
00:39:36.532 --> 00:39:40.636
It difficult to talk to the lord, sometimes it's easier to
00:39:40.636 --> 00:39:45.741
Talk to a person than it is to talk to god.
00:39:45.741 --> 00:39:48.377
And so i think welcoming community into that.
00:39:48.377 --> 00:39:51.280
Um, i think also sometimes you don't have to come to god with
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:55.384
A lot of words.
00:39:55.384 --> 00:39:56.652
"help" really is sufficient.
00:39:56.652 --> 00:39:58.554
And so if it's god, i'm mad at you.
00:39:58.554 --> 00:40:01.057
Amen. if it's help, amen.
00:40:01.057 --> 00:40:03.759
If it's, uh, i don't know. amen.
00:40:03.759 --> 00:40:06.729
But at least you said something.
00:40:06.729 --> 00:40:08.998
And i really do believe that the lord, he knows that we are
00:40:08.998 --> 00:40:12.902
But dust and he remembers our
00:40:12.902 --> 00:40:14.470
Frame and he's sensitive and compassionate.
00:40:14.470 --> 00:40:16.839
And so, yeah, you will not fail by almost saying nothing.
00:40:16.839 --> 00:40:20.510
You don't got to say a lot for him to help you.
00:40:20.510 --> 00:40:23.546
I think psalm 142 is a huge
00:40:23.546 --> 00:40:26.682
Place for me that i plant a lot.
00:40:26.682 --> 00:40:29.018
David who who wrote that up in
00:40:29.018 --> 00:40:32.655
A cave, said to be the cave of abdullah.
00:40:32.655 --> 00:40:35.224
Oh yeah.
00:40:35.224 --> 00:40:36.225
But i just always marvel at how, like, caves,
00:40:36.225 --> 00:40:40.162
That's got to be, like, the most bare accommodations.
00:40:40.162 --> 00:40:44.033
And, um, he talks about how all he really wants is god.
00:40:44.033 --> 00:40:49.138
And i don't know, it just continues to resonate with me.
00:40:49.138 --> 00:40:52.174
Um, i think it makes me go back to a very core place of desire.
00:40:52.174 --> 00:40:59.348
And i think that for me is, um,
00:40:59.348 --> 00:41:04.387
A recentering.
00:41:04.387 --> 00:41:05.388
Yeah. yeah.
00:41:05.388 --> 00:41:06.556
I think psalms recenter me back to my one true love.
00:41:06.556 --> 00:41:10.927
That's good.
00:41:10.927 --> 00:41:12.228
And i, so i think for me, um, i do tend to go back to the ones
00:41:12.228 --> 00:41:16.933
That i love, the psalms that i love.
00:41:16.933 --> 00:41:20.036
But it doesn't really matter because whether they, whether
00:41:20.036 --> 00:41:23.205
They are psalm 88 that has no resolution,
00:41:23.205 --> 00:41:26.909
Like there's a resolution, though.
00:41:26.909 --> 00:41:28.644
The resolution is my love.
00:41:28.644 --> 00:41:30.680
And the resolution is you're in his presence.
00:41:30.680 --> 00:41:32.915
That's the thing that i love.
00:41:32.915 --> 00:41:34.417
That christ--
00:41:34.417 --> 00:41:35.685
And you see that in gethsemane. he processes his pain in the
00:41:35.685 --> 00:41:38.321
Presence of his father.
00:41:38.321 --> 00:41:39.455
That's beautiful.
00:41:39.455 --> 00:41:40.356
I think sometimes there's a lot of--
00:41:40.356 --> 00:41:41.557
Because mental health is not all just about diagnosis.
00:41:41.557 --> 00:41:44.060
I mean, a lot of people
00:41:44.060 --> 00:41:45.061
Struggle in lots of different ways,
00:41:45.061 --> 00:41:46.596
But i think sometimes as a church, we've not encouraged
00:41:46.596 --> 00:41:48.698
People to be honest and to be real, to be vulnerable,
00:41:48.698 --> 00:41:51.500
To tell the truth. yeah.
00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:53.102
I mean, even first samuel with hannah is like, she goes to the
00:41:53.102 --> 00:41:56.505
Temple and she lets out all of her affliction and her vexation
00:41:56.505 --> 00:42:01.677
To the lord. you know what i'm saying?
00:42:01.677 --> 00:42:04.180
And so it's like the what that communicates is god is
00:42:04.180 --> 00:42:07.183
Letting us know,
00:42:07.183 --> 00:42:08.117
I want you to tell me the truth. yeah.
00:42:08.117 --> 00:42:10.653
And the interesting thing about that was they didn't even
00:42:10.653 --> 00:42:13.122
Recognize that's what it was.
00:42:13.122 --> 00:42:14.423
They thought she must be drunk because they hadn't seen that
00:42:14.423 --> 00:42:16.492
Kind of passion for the lord.
00:42:16.492 --> 00:42:18.828
And that's what we be doing.
00:42:18.828 --> 00:42:19.996
I can't believe she's telling
00:42:19.996 --> 00:42:21.097
All her business to the church people.
00:42:21.097 --> 00:42:22.665
I can't believe she--
00:42:22.665 --> 00:42:24.200
It's like, what else are we supposed to do?
00:42:24.200 --> 00:42:26.669
Lie, hide, let it fester
00:42:26.669 --> 00:42:28.571
In our bodies? which we have
00:42:28.571 --> 00:42:29.939
The issue when it comes
00:42:29.939 --> 00:42:30.773
To stress and all kinds of things.
00:42:30.773 --> 00:42:32.908
Also, give comfort to us, though, that everyone has an
00:42:32.908 --> 00:42:37.046
Opportunity to be hurt by people in the church because
00:42:37.046 --> 00:42:40.583
They haven't seen that type of overwhelming overflowing
00:42:40.583 --> 00:42:43.953
Of the heart before,
00:42:43.953 --> 00:42:45.521
So the church has had people not used to honest emotions
00:42:45.521 --> 00:42:49.325
Since the very beginning.
00:42:49.325 --> 00:42:50.693
And also, hannah, in reaction to that, didn't go well.
00:42:50.693 --> 00:42:52.928
I'm out of here.
00:42:52.928 --> 00:42:54.096
She explained it, and she was back again the next year
00:42:54.096 --> 00:42:56.132
With the promise.
00:42:56.132 --> 00:42:57.566
I could use that heart cry.
00:42:57.566 --> 00:42:59.268
I could use being so before god in prayer that people
00:42:59.268 --> 00:43:04.173
Misunderstood as dramatics, drunk all, you know, whatever.
00:43:04.173 --> 00:43:08.811
Yeah. i mean, that's like, that's like abandon.
00:43:08.811 --> 00:43:12.448
If we're not venting to god, are we being honest with god?
00:43:12.448 --> 00:43:16.285
Here's what i found.
00:43:16.285 --> 00:43:17.353
I have found that i'm either
00:43:17.353 --> 00:43:19.288
Venting to god or gossiping to people.
00:43:19.288 --> 00:43:21.190
And i know maybe, maybe, maybe you are more holy than me.
00:43:21.190 --> 00:43:24.994
Honestly, you probably are,
00:43:24.994 --> 00:43:26.195
But i think we all have that tendency.
00:43:26.195 --> 00:43:29.832
And maybe we can be religious and say, no, we shouldn't be
00:43:29.832 --> 00:43:32.034
Complaining to god, and i agree.
00:43:32.034 --> 00:43:33.736
My goal is not to always come
00:43:33.736 --> 00:43:35.204
To god and be complaining again.
00:43:35.204 --> 00:43:36.472
But also then i look in the psalms and our guy david's
00:43:36.472 --> 00:43:39.208
Doing it all the time.
00:43:39.208 --> 00:43:40.376
And so
00:43:40.376 --> 00:43:42.044
I gotta think, what's my other option?
00:43:42.044 --> 00:43:44.580
And that usually means when i'm not spending my morning or
00:43:44.580 --> 00:43:47.416
Afternoon or evening or every other waking moment venting to
00:43:47.416 --> 00:43:50.219
God about something that happened that day,
00:43:50.219 --> 00:43:52.188
I might be picking up my phone and texting my friend.
00:43:52.188 --> 00:43:55.224
I might be doing something that i regret later on.
00:43:55.224 --> 00:43:58.627
And so is it okay to vent to god?
00:43:58.627 --> 00:44:02.531
Please, please vent to god.
00:44:02.531 --> 00:44:05.434
You know why?
00:44:05.434 --> 00:44:07.269
Because in his presence, somehow in the venting, we get
00:44:07.269 --> 00:44:12.541
A different perspective. we come away
00:44:12.541 --> 00:44:17.113
A little lighter than when we walked in.
00:44:17.113 --> 00:44:19.348
And what's the other option?
00:44:19.348 --> 00:44:21.350
Venting to people.
00:44:21.350 --> 00:44:23.552
I don't know about you, but i've usually walked away.
00:44:23.552 --> 00:44:25.554
Maybe with a momentary high,
00:44:25.554 --> 00:44:28.557
But with the weight of conviction later on.
00:44:28.557 --> 00:44:32.027
So can you vent to god, please?
00:44:32.027 --> 00:44:34.997
Please vent to god.
00:44:34.997 --> 00:44:37.533
Can i share something? like even,
00:44:37.533 --> 00:44:39.735
Heck, oh, two weeks ago, i was,
00:44:39.735 --> 00:44:44.306
I was just weeping on the floor. right.
00:44:44.306 --> 00:44:48.677
Because sometimes it feels like expressing yourself
00:44:48.677 --> 00:44:52.915
In that way to an invisible god won't work.
00:44:52.915 --> 00:44:57.419
Like it either feels like it won't work, or you don't want
00:44:57.419 --> 00:45:00.523
To feel the thing,
00:45:00.523 --> 00:45:01.757
So you'd rather just cope and just endure and do all the
00:45:01.757 --> 00:45:05.094
Stuff and distract.
00:45:05.094 --> 00:45:06.529
And i'm like, but it's not lifting the burden.
00:45:06.529 --> 00:45:08.631
Like, the way the way i'm going about it is not actually
00:45:08.631 --> 00:45:11.233
Fixing the thing. yeah.
00:45:11.233 --> 00:45:12.368
And i just laid on the floor and just cried and i was
00:45:12.368 --> 00:45:16.739
Like, i don't even know what to say to you.
00:45:16.739 --> 00:45:20.109
I don't know what the petition is.
00:45:20.109 --> 00:45:22.545
I just know for a fact that i need help.
00:45:22.545 --> 00:45:26.248
And there was something about it. i didn't get up with like
00:45:26.248 --> 00:45:28.918
This, like miraculous experience of joy.
00:45:28.918 --> 00:45:31.253
It's just something was lifted where life and the day-- the
00:45:31.253 --> 00:45:35.024
Day, not even life.
00:45:35.024 --> 00:45:36.225
The day i got manna. like, i had, like the day was more
00:45:36.225 --> 00:45:39.395
Possible for some strange, odd reason.
00:45:39.395 --> 00:45:42.298
And i think, i think that's what the lord is after because
00:45:42.298 --> 00:45:45.401
That is how we, like that is
00:45:45.401 --> 00:45:46.936
Actually sharing in christ's sufferings.
00:45:46.936 --> 00:45:48.737
That's what he did all the time. yeah.
00:45:48.737 --> 00:45:51.473
And so i don't know how we gonna be able to show up for
00:45:51.473 --> 00:45:54.777
Our kids and our people in this world if we don't get to a
00:45:54.777 --> 00:45:57.913
Place where we cry out, yeah. i just don't know.
00:45:57.913 --> 00:46:00.015
Okay, i was going to say something, but i want to
00:46:00.015 --> 00:46:01.617
Acknowledge this in the room for everyone watching.
00:46:01.617 --> 00:46:04.520
Um, i love and know you guys'
00:46:04.520 --> 00:46:08.490
Ministry impact in the world.
00:46:08.490 --> 00:46:10.159
Sheila. jackie.
00:46:10.159 --> 00:46:11.393
Lisa. i know the bible studies you've created.
00:46:11.393 --> 00:46:13.996
I have them in my house.
00:46:13.996 --> 00:46:15.764
Okay. i have shared them with other people.
00:46:15.764 --> 00:46:17.600
Jackie, we done reposted
00:46:17.600 --> 00:46:19.001
All 17 of your preaching clips.
00:46:19.001 --> 00:46:21.804
Sheila, the work that you get to do literally all around the
00:46:21.804 --> 00:46:24.540
World, like the lord has literally like taken your voice
00:46:24.540 --> 00:46:28.544
And given it to the nations.
00:46:28.544 --> 00:46:30.746
I want to acknowledge that if
00:46:30.746 --> 00:46:33.616
The three of you would not have surrendered
00:46:33.616 --> 00:46:37.186
To help and honesty, medicine-- so good.
00:46:37.186 --> 00:46:41.290
We may not have had the impact for the glory of god.
00:46:41.290 --> 00:46:48.898
And so i want to thank you.
00:46:48.898 --> 00:46:50.199
I want to publicly acknowledge you.
00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:51.500
I want to say this for the person that's like, yeah, but
00:46:51.500 --> 00:46:54.136
I'm still i don't believe in medicine.
00:46:54.136 --> 00:46:55.638
I don't-- listen to me.
00:46:55.638 --> 00:46:57.406
Our objective is to spread the
00:46:57.406 --> 00:47:00.109
Gospel to the ends of the earth.
00:47:00.109 --> 00:47:01.377
Absolutely.
00:47:01.377 --> 00:47:02.645
And the three of you decided that you would not let society
00:47:02.645 --> 00:47:06.882
To tell you how to cope with pain, that you would instead be
00:47:06.882 --> 00:47:11.153
Humble enough to submit to your father, who through the holy
00:47:11.153 --> 00:47:13.856
Spirit, led you to doctors and counselors and mental wards and
00:47:13.856 --> 00:47:18.527
Institutes to literally continue on,
00:47:18.527 --> 00:47:21.530
Not because you wanted to chill on the beach with scottie or be
00:47:21.530 --> 00:47:24.867
Here to raise your kids, which i know you want, or be on tbn,
00:47:24.867 --> 00:47:28.637
But so that you could continue to spread the gospel to the
00:47:28.637 --> 00:47:32.875
Ends of the earth.
00:47:32.875 --> 00:47:34.176
And so let it be so that i took the medicine for some months,
00:47:34.176 --> 00:47:37.746
That i'm still on it, and that i had to regulate my hormones
00:47:37.746 --> 00:47:41.283
So that the glory of god could be seen.
00:47:41.283 --> 00:47:45.154
Amen. so good, toni. hallelujah.
00:47:45.154 --> 00:47:47.656
Um, i'm thinking of people who just, you know, our channel
00:47:47.656 --> 00:47:51.126
Flippers or maybe kind of come on to this or and think, okay,
00:47:51.126 --> 00:47:55.464
I don't really know what you guys are talking about.
00:47:55.464 --> 00:47:58.600
And i don't really know that even the concept of being
00:47:58.600 --> 00:48:02.338
Honest with god is shocking.
00:48:02.338 --> 00:48:05.240
So i would just like to pray for, for people that they would
00:48:05.240 --> 00:48:08.844
Get you get to come as you are and not as you wish you were.
00:48:08.844 --> 00:48:13.215
Let's pray. father, you alone know
00:48:13.215 --> 00:48:17.519
Every single one of our stories.
00:48:17.519 --> 00:48:19.888
You know them all.
00:48:19.888 --> 00:48:21.290
You know all the pages we've lived and you know the pages
00:48:21.290 --> 00:48:24.793
That we've yet to live.
00:48:24.793 --> 00:48:26.261
And the ridiculously glorious truth is that you are right
00:48:26.261 --> 00:48:32.368
There every single minute, that we do get to do all seasons
00:48:32.368 --> 00:48:36.739
Through you because you give us strength.
00:48:36.739 --> 00:48:40.009
Lord, thank you that we get to tell the truth.
00:48:40.009 --> 00:48:42.544
Thank you that we don't have to pretend to be okay
00:48:42.544 --> 00:48:44.980
When we're not okay.
00:48:44.980 --> 00:48:46.749
Thank you that we don't have to
00:48:46.749 --> 00:48:47.750
Be perfect because jesus is perfect.
00:48:47.750 --> 00:48:51.453
And i just i want to thank you for this community, this
00:48:51.453 --> 00:48:54.089
Better together community.
00:48:54.089 --> 00:48:55.190
Lord, thank you for
00:48:55.190 --> 00:48:58.060
The opportunity to to share our lives with one another from
00:48:58.060 --> 00:49:02.498
Different places, different viewpoints.
00:49:02.498 --> 00:49:04.433
We're all standing at different height, on a different cliff
00:49:04.433 --> 00:49:07.403
And seeing something different,
00:49:07.403 --> 00:49:09.138
But you let us do it together.
00:49:09.138 --> 00:49:11.073
And so i just pray for our audience right now that i love
00:49:11.073 --> 00:49:15.344
When you say, draw near to god and he will draw near to you.
00:49:15.344 --> 00:49:20.082
So, lord, we choose to do that in jesus' name.
00:49:20.082 --> 00:49:22.718
Amen. amen. amen.
00:49:22.718 --> 00:49:25.888
Connect with us on social media and let us know how our team
00:49:25.888 --> 00:49:28.724
Can pray for you.
00:49:28.724 --> 00:49:31.693
I'm someone who's talked quite a bit about mental health, and
00:49:31.693 --> 00:49:34.496
That's for very particular reasons.
00:49:34.496 --> 00:49:37.366
I'm somebody who's very grateful for having received
00:49:37.366 --> 00:49:40.803
Help when i needed it.
00:49:40.803 --> 00:49:42.071
I had a diagnosis in 1992 of severe clinical depression and
00:49:42.071 --> 00:49:47.609
Was able to get help, was hospitalized, was able to be
00:49:47.609 --> 00:49:49.978
Put on medication, which, by
00:49:49.978 --> 00:49:51.380
The way, i still take to this day.
00:49:51.380 --> 00:49:53.182
Sometimes people will have medication for a short amount
00:49:53.182 --> 00:49:55.451
Of time and that's all they needed to support them.
00:49:55.451 --> 00:49:58.153
I just have the kind of brain that does not produce enough
00:49:58.153 --> 00:50:00.289
Serotonin on its own, so i'm grateful for that help.
00:50:00.289 --> 00:50:03.292
However, i don't define myself that way.
00:50:03.292 --> 00:50:06.628
I'm just wondering what labels you wear in your life.
00:50:06.628 --> 00:50:09.932
So often we see ourselves as divorced, single mother, you
00:50:09.932 --> 00:50:13.836
Know, mental illness, whatever.
00:50:13.836 --> 00:50:16.038
We wear these labels.
00:50:16.038 --> 00:50:17.940
Well, i determined quite some time ago that i'm not going to
00:50:17.940 --> 00:50:20.409
Live my life by those labels.
00:50:20.409 --> 00:50:22.077
The only label that i am going to wear is i'm a child of god.
00:50:22.077 --> 00:50:26.582
And it doesn't matter who you
00:50:26.582 --> 00:50:27.649
Are or what people have said to you.
00:50:27.649 --> 00:50:29.518
If you've placed your trust in jesus, that's who you are.
00:50:29.518 --> 00:50:34.790
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♪♪
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Care for Your Mental Health | Better Together Episode 1177

July 14, 2026 | S8 E1177 | 50:59

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