family

so, this week has been interesting for me! my mom and sister, and her three girls came to visit. have any of you ever seen Everybody Loves Raymond? that's my family! no kiddin. and if you've met them, you know i'm not lying!

seriously, i love my mom and sister, and my nieces, but i do have to say, it's been hectic. my mom and i got into a deep discussion today. about seven years ago, my parents got divorced. it was really hard on my mom. she went through a lot and still deals with it today. she's battled some clinical depression, and still has her bad days. i recently had to take a psychology class. i never thought that i would like it, but i was kind of surprised. i actually did. and i learned a lot in there. one of the things we talked a lot about was depression. it's a very serious, and dangerous thing. if you have someone you know, love, or even just acquainted with that exhibits the symptoms, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. encourage them to get help. it's not just a mood thing. it's a serious, medical condition where the brain doesn't function normally. there's a lack of serotonin which causes feelings of low self worth. this can lead to thoughts of suicide or worse, actually going through with it.

i don't usually like talking about something this serious, but the reality of it is, that's life. life is serious. and short. the good news is, my mom is a Christ follower (thank God....literally!) it helps her get through some tough days. but she's also smart enough to know that taking the right medication is key.

the question she asked me today was this: how do you find joy when there seems to be none to find? DEEP!

even people who are Christ followers are susceptible to this. the Bible says that our enemy is like a thief who walks around seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. i heard a great pastor one day talk about this. he said that satan seeks to steal our joy, kill our character, and destroy our relationships. i believe that's what Jesus meant when he said this. here's the scripture, if you'd like to see it. what i tried to talk to my mom about is this:

every day that we wake up, we need to give our lives to Christ. we need to remind ourselves that we no longer live for ourselves. when we do this, we admit that we can't do it on our own. and this enables us to find the joy that God has set aside for us, through Him who was raised.

if you find yourself having nothing to be joyous about, look to the One who is the Author of joy and happiness. walking with Him can restore your soul. He can fix the brokenness. but only if you give it up to Him and allow Him to do it.

i wish you all joy and happiness

-robbie