Finding Encouragement {Series coming next week}

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Life is beautiful. We only have to look around to see evidence of God’s power and glory all throughout His creation, and in our own families.

But, life is also hard. Sometimes it’s really hard.

I have suffered through severe chronic depression for years, so I understand those tough days. I’ve had days where it’s more mild and I feel down and discouraged, and days where my depression was so debilitating that I could barely get out of bed and function. Yes, that’s hard to admit but it’s true. Depression is a beast.

The Lord has seen me through many dark times. There are times when clinging to His hope has been the only thing that has gotten me through. The light is always stronger than the darkness.

In addition to feeling the Lord’s presence and comfort in a deeper way, I have discovered many practical steps to take toward overcoming those bad days and discouragement.

Depression and Discouragement

Some of you don’t suffer from depression, but I know that even if you aren’t diagnosed with clinical depression, you likely have bad days. We all do. We all get down sometimes, and get discouraged when trials come. We all have those days where it seems like everything goes wrong.

There are days when life just feels overwhelming–finances, marriage, kids, homeschool, jobs. We all wear a lot of hats and so many things can cause stress. Some days we just feel tired, weary, and worn down. There are days when giving up feels like a good option because we don’t have mental or physical energy for anything else.

Because I’ve had a lot of practice with trying to fight through discouragement, I wanted to share with you some of the things I do to find encouragement for those times.

Finding Encouragement

All next week, I will be sharing practical tips and strategies for finding encouragement in the midst of depression, or even just relief from regular bad days that we all have.

I will be sharing the links here as they are posted. Be sure to subscribe to my blog in order to get each post in your email next week. You can also follow me on facebook, or pin this page, as I will be updating this page with links as each new article is posted.

I hope these hard-won strategies will be of benefit to you as well! And if you are suffering from depression, I would love for you to leave a comment here so that I can pray for you. I’d also love to see your own tips for thriving in times of discouragement or depression.

Note: Depression is a real, medical condition that sometimes requires medical treatment. However, there are some people who are resistant to treatment methods. There is no trite answer for depression. These strategies are not cures. This series is NOT a substitute for medical advice. It is simply my sharing some of the strategies that have helped me through years of severe, chronic depression.

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Where do you find encouragement on tough days?

Continue reading here: Book Review: The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis Bethany House Publishers

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