It is ok to not be ok! Honest.

This week I have shared something within the Devotional of the Hamilton Advertiser that is from the heart and reflects the reality I see around me.  There are so many people who are not okay, and yet play the game each and every day.  They are always fine or ‘nae bad’.  But perhaps, if we can be more honest we would be okay.  Faith is so important to me, and this past year has proven to me God’s faithfulness, and challenged my superficial facets of faith.  I am not there yet in totally getting it all - in fact sometimes I feel like a complete beginner understanding God’s love and passion for me.  But I know that no matter how dark the world becomes, the light of Christ shines and leads me forward.  And if he does it for me, who has let him down and failed him, who has gone her own way and done her own thing, who has not always chosen the way of Christ, how much more can he do it for any of us?  None of us are ever truly lost to God even when we cannot find ourselves.  It is okay to not be okay, but I pray you know that God is faithful, even when we are faithless.

What I put in the paper this week!  May it bless someone in His name.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2

Well 2019 has been a bit of different year for me, a year where I have taken the time to ‘honour my life’. 2018 was a tough year with lots of hurts, disappointments and for a time my mental health was in very poor shape.   Having struggled through Christmas I decided in the New Year to take steps to find my way back to my cheeky, optimistic, creative self.  I have surprised myself and all that I have achieved.  To be honest I never thought that by September I would be running 10km races for fun or weigh 4 stone less than the start of the year and be a size 10.  Please can I reassure those who keep asking if I’m not well – I am fine.  But one thing I have learnt folks is that we need to look after our mental health.  The physical health is important and it is part of the journey to better mental health.  However, it has taken a year to find my way back from my darkest place, and like many others, I still battle the symptoms, far more often than I’d care to admit.  Christians, sometimes, come out with those well-meaning platitudes or wonder how you can have faith and be in a dark place.  I want to reassure you today that if you are struggling with those dark, hurting places especially if you are good at managing or hiding them, that God will carry you through. I know God carried me through, but He journeyed with me through the valley of the shadow of evil rather than lift me out.  We live in this world, and that includes all that is wrong with it as well as all that is wonderful.  Please keep putting one foot in front of the other, and remember ‘it is okay to not be ok.’. God bless you.