The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. –Psalm 18:2-3

I have always been a very positive person and generally choose to see the bright side of life, rather than the bad, hence my blog’s tagline. But last year was a very difficult year for me – I lost my brother to a drug overdose in April, my step-dad of 30 years died in July, was there for my mom after she ran over herself with her car, and saw her through yet another major surgery. I wasn’t able to spend my days focusing on too much good…it actually felt like the world was closing in on me.

I lost my desire to blog, work, go to church, or even stay connected to people. I spent vast amounts of time sick and in bed because I just didn’t want to face the day, it was too much like waiting for ‘the other shoe to drop’.  My children didn’t have a summer vacation – we spent it shuffling back and forth to nursing homes, hospitals, and rehab hospitals. We didn’t even use our Kids Bowl Free coupons very often. I just didn’t want to do anything that required leaving my house.

I had officially hit rock bottom, and when a friend (who had been there) called it by the ugly name of  “depression”, I was taken aback. “Me? Depressed? It’s not possible.”  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had let LIFE overwhelm me and I had inadvertently allowed myself to give up on the things that mattered the most – my family, my friends, and most importantly, my relationship with the Lord. I had become apathetic.

Sometimes when you’re in a miry pit, you don’t realize it until you’ve gotten so bogged down that you can’t move, and then you’re trapped. But that single comment spawned a true turning point for me because I knew in my heart that God could deliver me from those feelings. A lot of prayer has gone up since then, and though it hasn’t been easy, things have gotten better. I am sharing this because I believe there are others hurting the same way I was and I want you to know that GOD IS ABLE to deliver you too! I have to give Him all the glory and honor for what He’s done in my life – even my kids have noticed that mom is back to being more like her old self.

God will hear us no matter what the nature of the distress is. He will always be there: in trouble, adversity, need, calamity, whenever we are in turmoil. What adversity are you facing? Is it conflict in the family, financial problems, stress at work, emotional problems, spiritual battles? No matter what the distress, God is there to meet your need. God will answer us in the day of trouble.

Please visit the other ladies who are participants in the 31 Days of Ministry Online:

Amy Bayliss {Cajun Inspired} : 31 Days of Heart Matters
{A Martha Heart} : 31 Days of Prayer
Karin {Mommy Matters} : 31 Days of Intentional Parenting
Jenny {867-53oh9} : 31 Days of Social Media
Dawn {My Home Sweet Home} : 31 Days of Encouragement
Lisa Boyd : 31 Days of WordPress

*Links to all posts on this subject can be found here.