Prayer
Prayer has been a weakness for me. My thoughts are always racing, my body is constantly moving. Quietness, like sleep, is a foreign concept to me. During prayer meetings I struggle to stay connected to the group. My hearing loss has added to this problem, because I can't hear the person praying next to me.
New Journey
There has been a lot going on at Abnormal Missionary! SALT and Abnormal Missionary (AM) mutually agreed that AM should be a stand alone ministry. AM will still partner with SALT in the future. Praise God…
Dark Side and Reality of Living Afflicted as a Christian
I am alone a lot, and it is not by choice. People don’t choose to isolate, not even autistic or mentally ill people. God didn’t create us to be alone. God created the Church as a community of believers to love one another and bear each other's burdens.
Five Things on My Christmas “Wish List” as a Mentally Ill Christian
1. End the stigma of mental illness in the church community.
2. Continue to seek belonging in the church community.
3. Continued support of my family, friends, and the church community.
4. Not be judged for my mental illness or symptoms.
5. Be able to find joy during the Christmas season.
Challenging Verse: Luke 10:2
Luke 10:2 is about the mission field and serving; those with mental illness can’t see how they are a part of God’s mission. God loves us so much that He wants to include us in His plan - missions. God doesn’t need us for His plan, but we need God. We foolishly think He needs us, but His plan will happen with or without us. How do the mentally ill participate in missions?
Challenging Verses Series: Philippians 4:6-7 (and many other verses)
There are many verses on anxiety in the Bible. These verses can be incredibly difficult for those afflicted with mental illness because of the misunderstanding of the clinical definition and Biblical definition of anxiety.
Let’s End Awareness and Begin Acceptance
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Although awareness is a good thing, it is time to move on to acceptance. One in four suffer with a mental illness, and most Americans are aware of mental illness.
Challenging Verses Series: Psalm 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you. – Psalm 119:11
In my last blog on challenging verses, I talked about Spiritual Fruit and abiding in Christ. To be able to abide in Christ, we need to know His Word.
Challenging Verses: Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22-23 are difficult verses for Christians afflicted with mental illness, especially Bipolar, but these verses are so misunderstood by many. We may arduously strive all our lives to…
How to Love Someone Afflicted with Mental Illness?
Mental illness takes a toll not only on the sufferer, but on everyone around them. Stigma and shame make it very difficult to find…
Challenging Verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 are difficult verses for those afflicted with mental illness or/and autism. This verse contains four items that the afflicted struggle with in their Christian walk. How can I rejoice always when I feel depressed, manic…
Just Start with Hello… My Name Is…
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is an old Christmas song made popular by Andy Williams. For most, Christmas is a wonderful time of gathering, giving, and most importantly grace - His grace. For some, Christmas is difficult and lonely. The song itself illustrates the dreaded social aspects of Christmas - parties for hosting.
The Digital Contagion
I have been reading about the effects of social media and digital technology on people, and it reminds me of the cultural climate after World War I. In no way, am I making light of the brutal reality and deaths of World War I. Like many Aspies (code of someone with Aspergers), I think in pictures, but many times my mind relates to artwork…
Dialogue
It is always hard leaving at the end of a mission trip. I love serving others, and this trip was no exception. It has been a wonderful God-glorifying trip.
Last week with our SALT Ukraine partners was amazing. It was exciting to have face to face fellowship with partners I had previously only met on Zoom.
Love One Another
Jesus gave us a new commandment to love one another as He loved us. Believers are to be known by their love for other followers of Jesus. Although these followers may be from different ethnic, tribal, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, our love for one another transcends all.
Madness Within the Inferno
Suicidal Ideations are a numbing, deafening isolation from reality, an all-consuming fire erupting within my brain. My skull can barely contain the burning inferno, mindlessly submitting to the raging flames. These thoughts are involuntary and submerge logic and reasoning into a helpless, drowning consent to lunacy.
What Comes to Mind When You Think of Serving on the Mission Field?
What comes to mind when you think of serving on the mission field?
Feeding people, clothing people, helping people in need… these are all the traditional images of serving others. My years serving in Ukraine, God has shown me other ways, ways that seem insufficient to us. I took photographs of those…
Beginnings
In 2005, I graduated with a MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, but my life was full of what seemed to be endless discouragement. My mental health was borderline stable. In the summer of 2009, I was invited to serve…
Smiling During the Storms
But how can Christians, especially those afflicted, smile in the face of these storms despite our sin-filled world? As I think about this question, proposed in my church last Sunday, my mind wanders to the events in Ukraine. People, especially women and children, are living in an endless nightmare…
Mom! How did my mom survive rising me?
As an infant, I screamed and only slept two hours every twelve. I had a traumatic birth because I didn’t lay right in the birth canal. The doctor said he did the best with my head (that he could). I have a lot of bumps because they were trying to direct me properly. I was born screaming, with bright red hair and defected…