The Lessons I Learned

Recently I moved to Grafton, Ontario, from Cobourg, Ontario. Then I decided to change churches, so I decided to go to a church in Brighton. Although I have only been there a few times, I have really enjoyed it. I think the pastor there is a great speaker.

The reason I am writing this is because he mentioned Faith and Hope Ministries (www.faithandhopeministries.net), and it took me back to almost 2 years ago when they had a conference at the Best Western Inn. Just prior to that, I went to see my pastor about my problem. He told me I suffered from depression, and he mentioned this seminar on that same Saturday. Well, that day changed my life around.

All my life I had been searching. (By the way, I am 64 now.) I felt either really good or really down, and as I got older my down periods went on longer and longer. The pit of my stomach always felt sick. However, I went on with life, and I put on a good front. No one ever knew anything was ever wrong. A lot of things happened in my life. Then I hit rock bottom, so I had to do something. I started going back to church. Time went on and it took a while, but then I was saved. So because of that I went on for years praying and hoping that the Lord would cure me. Well, that didn't happen. It was embarrassing and I kept everything to myself till I could barely function anymore, so I went to see my pastor. The rest is history.

Depression runs in my family. No one ever wants to admit it, but we are always “fine.” But we are only fooling ourselves. No one wants to admit that it is a problem, and I sure would never take medication for it in my lifetime. But until we admit it, medication is at times the only way out of this mess. That is what we have to do.

I feel like a new person now. I don't just function from day to day. I have a purpose everyday and want to go on living to the fullest. I don't have a permanent frown on my face. The Lord doesn’t always take pain away. But we realize that God provides people to help us.

The Faith and Hope Ministries’ seminar has done a lot for me. It took me a long time after that seminar to have the nerve to go and see my doctor. He sent me to a psychiatrist, and then I went from there. If only I knew years ago what I know now, I could have lived a better life. My marriage broke down, and I'm sure some of it was because of my problem. But then again I guess I couldn't have learned all these lessons.