Hi! My pastor has asked me to share in church about how God has helped me overcome theis anxiety and depression. It is so exciting to see good coming out of all the pain I had, and I am so thankful. I hope that what i say will help the many others who are struggling. I would appreciate your prayers as i prepare, it will be in 2 weeks and I have 5-8 minutes to talk.

Mint Flower,
How exciting...to show your church and visitors the love that God has given you and how you have been blessed with this condition. SOmetimes it doesn't seem like it though, I know! Anyway, I'm sure you will do wonderful!!! And yes I will pray for you!
Take care,
Cindy

Mint Flower,
sounds like a great opportunity to tackle another anxious situation! I am sure you can do it and God will make use of your words to reach someone's heart.

Cysmith,
love your signature! I do love Ginny Owens! She's so gifted. God has certainly blessed her with these gifts and talents.

How exciting for you! We probably have no idea how many people around us struggle with anxiety/depression. I pray that your testimony will be a light in the darkness for someone who is hurting and afraid. May God bless you and give you the words to speak.

Mint Flower......I just want you to know that you have received a 'gift' from God - a ministerial tool!

2 Corinthians 2:3,4 says: ...Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

When I was in my deepest agony and fear, suffering from panic attacks, severe anxiety and the depression, my Pastor gave me this verse of scripture and told me that God had given me a ministerial tool. I almost said "humph" at that statement at the time!

Once I got better though, our Parish Nurse asked me if I would speak at a Depression Awareness evening in our church. I hestitantly said Yes!
Well, we were amazed at how many showed up from our very own church. Shortly afterwards, we began a Depression Support Group which is still going strong!

That was four years ago!! Now I find myself doing 'friendship support' on the internet on a regular basis and have about 11 people on my list, whom I help daily! What I thought was an affliction, has become a ministry that I love!

I wish you well Mint Flower - you will be amazed at what God will do in your life and in others once you share your testimony! I will pray for you as you prepared your speach - the hardest part is putting it into 5-8 minutes! If you would like to see how I presented my little 'talk', you can e-mail me if you wish.

May many blessing come out of this.......
Donna

Just wanted to let all of you know that I did it!!! I think it was a big step for me in my recovery, to stand in front of 200 people and bare my soul. To be able to see how dark those 2 years were and to be able to share how I have recovered and not just recovered, but have become so much wiser and stronger-- how God brought good out of my pain and I can actually be thankful now for the hard times. So, it was very good. I was nervous ( that's a rational anxiety), but I did ok, I think, and decided not to even think afterwards about what I remembered to say or left out, etc. because I believe that the heart of my message came through. That God will bring good out of everything if we let Him.

And so many people came up to talk to me after and have throughout the week, to thank me. One of the points I made is that we ( maybe esp. as Christians) don't want to talk about our depression and anxiety and we need to. There are so many people going through the same thing! I think this is opening the door to a new phase for me, one in which I can share the things I've learned as I continue to grow.

Thanks for all your support and prayers---and don't give up!

Ps. I just realized maybe I should send a copy of the tape to the MWC so they can hear it.

Mint Flower.....

Do you have your speech written out? I'd love it if you would e-mail me a copy! Good work! I'm happy for you that everything went well!

Keep praising God for his healing power!
DD

CONGRATS!!! *hugs* I am so proud of you. Two hundred people is A LOT! Trust me, I know. I about pooped my pants (but I didn't really!)! Anyway, it's like another door opens when you share this with other people...especially in showing how God played a part in your recovery. That's probably the best part...and I too can say that I have been blessed by problems with anxiety and depression in the same way as you have. Anyway, I'm sure you did wonderful and I'm sure that many people got SO much out of your testimony. Take care and CONGRATS again!
Cindy

Thanks everyone--

Donna- I didn't write it all out, but i have some note I will try to condense at some point to send to you, or if you want to e-mail me an adress, I could send you a tape. I really appreciate your encouragement.

I did listen to the tape and feel like my message came through clearly, even if I didn't say all that I wanted to. And i can't believe how many people have come up to me this week also and told me how much they could relate, or how it encouraged them, it really makes me feel like it's worth it. i can see maybe forming a support group through our church in the future. Praise the Lord!!!

Mint Flower
Thank you for having the courage to speak to other about your anxiety and depression. You are helping the fight against this condition. Perhaps you touched someone who wants to be helped.
You should write to the MWC about your experience or as you said send a copy of the talk. I'm sure Carolyn would consider it for the Less Stress Press Newsletter.
Congrats
Tammy