Showing posts with label belief in God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belief in God. Show all posts

Sunday, November 17, 2013

New Mercies We See


This morning, I was thrilled when Julie, our worship leader, invited the congregation to sing the favorite old hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness.

My friend, Patty, and I usually tell each other when we sing it in our separate worship services, so I thought I would be texting her to say that we sang it. Instead, I’m sharing it with my readers.

“We’re going to sing all three stanzas,” Julie said. And then the pianist played through the chorus as we prepared to sing. Of course, Husband sang the words to it as she played.

He doesn’t sing or whisper in a quiet voice, and when he got to the last two measures, where the words are “Lord, unto me,” he changed the words, ”Sing all three verses.”

I laughed loudly and continued to laugh as the others sang “Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father.”  I mean it; I laughed a full chuckle and my shoulders shook. It was a splendid moment.

It was all I could do to concentrate on “There is no shadow of turning with Thee.”

Husband ignored me and sand with gusto. He glanced at me as if to say “What?”

When he gets into a song of any genre, he sings with gusto as if throwing his full soul into the words and the music itself.

This is the man I once knew, many years ago, before depression robbed him of spontaneous, impulsive retorts and comments and humor. “Thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.”

It’s been several months since this side of him as shown its face.  Is it the new antidepressant? He claims he doesn’t feel much different since he began taking it this week, but I see glimpses that indicate something positive is happening.

If it’s not the new medication, possibly it was the clear bright white sunshine that accompanied us to church.  I hope it is a combination of both.

The song was perfect for today’s moments: “Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”

If the depression lifts even a small amount, it is a reason to rejoice and thank God for our tremendous psychiatrist and the chemical knowledge known to raise the natural compounds in his brain.

But if it doesn’t lift much, there is always reason to thank God for the doctor and God’s generous goodness to us. “Great is they faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see.”

Today’s scene was a new mercy for the day. “All I have needed, thy hand hath provided.”

That’s it in a nutshell. All we have needed, God is faithful and willing to supply it. And that can mean a quick impulsive humor or the joy of a hearty laugh.

I share today’s moment for all my friends who are persons with ADHD and who also struggle with depression of any degree. At McNay & Voth ADHD Services, we desire to encourage persons with ADHD and their families in their daily struggles. We invite you to contact us, so we can help you identify a moment God has provided for you.

 

 

 

Monday, April 1, 2013

Structure and Security


Seriously, I planned to blog about additional effects of depression in the life of the person with ADHD.

Then I saw a picture posted in Face Book of my friend Mary Beth teaching a group of children in church today. It was the story of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

“Holy Cow!” I thought with no irreverence intended. “I can totally imagine her soft southern accent and the conviction in her voice as she shares with young lives the same truths taught to her as a child.”

My mind is drawn to how I have shared the same joyous truths with my family members who are persons with ADHD.

Husband did not know or believe the Good News when we married, but shortly after the wedding, he came to me with questions on what would happen if he died.

That is when I shared Scripture with him and showed him God’s plan for eternal life.

Husband believed and accepted it for himself and read the Bible thoroughly twice in one year.

When we went to church meetings he listened intently and would whisper loudly to me about all he was learning. “Shit!” he once exclaimed. “That makes sense.”  I knew God understood Husband’s use of the expletive.

In spite of other times when his humorously inappropriate earthy expressions left his mouth, it was obvious that the truths of God’s love for him and all the people of the world began to instill a sense of sanctuary within his inner being that counteracted some of the turmoil resulting from his struggles with attention and acceptance.

It was natural for us, then, to take our children to church to be taught by Patricia and Harold, Betty and Lyle, Guy and Willa, Louise, and others who did for them exactly as Mary Beth did for children today.

Baby Sis is our third child, and she took to spiritual teaching with a natural curiosity.  She still does as truths from the Bible also help soothe the inner turmoil she experiences as a person with ADHD.

Actually, when she was around nine years old, she attempted to point out to the rest of us that we have sins in our lives that we should confess and make right with God.

The only problem is that she did not point to any of her own offenses and wrong doing.  When I inquired about them, she said, “Well, I don’t have any. It is you guys that have problems.”

It suffices to say that I used that for a good teaching moment.

So tying these memories to the beast, Depression, who is daily an unwelcomed visitor in our home, I must state publicly that without the security of knowing spiritual truth, my family with or without ADHD would be adrift in a vast and turbulent ocean without any means of getting back to shore.

Many persons with ADHD deal with the effects of depression, and many of them have not found the structure and security that come from knowing God’s truth and plan for all persons.  I wish they would ask me to share it with them.

However, whether persons do or do not want to hear about God, at McNay&Voth we offer our expertise and skills to help persons with ADHD. We lead them to set and meet personal goals which will help them develop structure and security as they move forward in life.

We invite persons with ADHD or their family members to contact us at www.coachadhd.com , or phone 316-655-9807. We want to be encouragers.