For me, every year in December and January I know I’ll be in the season of depression. It’s like a switch in my brain is flipped and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
December and January are also times for me to reflect on the past year and to set goals for the upcoming year. This has helped me get through the season of depression and refocus my thoughts, instead, on how the Lord has blessed me rather than thinking about how my life is different from others.
As I reflect back on 2019, I’m grateful for the people I had the opportunity to meet, like Katherine Wolf and Nika Maples and several others. I’m also grateful I had the opportunity to be featured in God’s Glory Box in May. I was able to make 6 new card sets, which are available on my website www.silent-inspirations.com. Spiritually, I have seen my dependence and trust in the Lord grow. But I’ve also noticed I’m relearning how to be content in everything and to be patient with the Lord knowing He has a perfect plan for my life.
It sounds easy but it’s very challenging some days. Every day in December, as I wake up in my cozy flannel sheets, I’m confronted with two choices. Will I choose joy and gratitude in my circumstance and focus on others, or will I choose to wallow in despair about my unfulfilled longings, desires, and hopes? There have been days when I’ve chosen the second option. I am human and live in a world that is imperfect. I have learned it’s OK to be sad and cry.
In the podcast below they talk about how to deal with depression the right way. It was encouraging to me and I hope it will encourage you if you’re going through a season of depression. The words in quotation marks below resonated with me. Do they resonate with you? If so I hope you’ll take time to listen to this podcast called A Response To Depression.
“With Christmas around the corner, does it seem like everyone else is oozing holiday cheer? While the rest of the world is wrapped up in red and green, you’re the only one feeling blue? December is presented as a month of celebration and belonging—a time of happiness, when everything goes right. But so often that is just not the case. For many people, the holidays intensify feelings of loneliness, grief, or depression. And instead of feeling happy, we’re reminded of the way things are not, of losses or of the things we’ve hoped for that haven’t happened yet. This week on the podcast, Crystal is talking about depression with Dr. Todd Stryd, a faculty member and counseling coordinator at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation. Listen to their encouraging conversation to hear how depression is approached in Scripture and how we can respond this Christmas season.”
