by Jan Dravecky
Psalm 126:5-6 Today I am out of the depression. But I learned for myself that the path out of the valley of depression is slow and laborious. From the time of my first panic attack in 1990, it took me five years to recover, and I can't tell how long I was depressed before I had to face up to it and find help. Like the storms that frequent our home at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, many times storm clouds rolled over the mountains and drenched me in showers of tears. Many times, I almost missed the beams of hope gleaming through the black clouds. But in the mountains, after the storms pass, the air is fresh and the sky, a clear translucent blue. Wildflowers that were watered by the rains paint the fields with brilliant colors as far as the eye can see. Like Solomon, I can say, "See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come." That is what I see in my life now: a fresh newness, a spring-like beauty and joy. Through the valleys of depression and the storms of tears, the promises of God have proven true in my life: | Those who sow in tears | | Will reap with songs of joy. | | He who goes out weeping, | | Carrying seed to sow, | | Will return with songs of joy, | | Carrying sheaves with him. | | Psalm 126:5-6 | Adapted from A Joy I'd Never Known by Jan Dravecky with Connie Neal, pgs 168. To order A Joy I'd Never Known, see Outreach Resources.
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