Uncharted Waters
In Sept., 2013, after three unsuccessful and very traumatic attempts within 4 months to secure appropriate medical treatment, we packed up our car with only our clothes and important papers, picked up our child from the hospital where the doctor was signing the release papers because “there was nothing they could do” , and drove back to the small rural town, 550 miles away, where our child grew up. Our only hope now was to wait for a miracle.
This was the second time in three years that our lives were turned completely upside down as we left our home in one state in order to obtain medical treatment and support in another. We soon realized that we were left to navigate the mostly uncharted, icy waters of “severe mental illness” on our own.
That November 1st, I began a 6 month sabbatical in which I sought the Lord in prayer and spent countless hours researching mental illness. Two weeks into my sabbatical, during a time of fasting and prayer, the Spirit said to me, “Valerie, I want you to pray that the roots of this illness would be revealed to you.” That same night, in the wee hours of the morning, I was awakened by Holy Spirit and went downstairs to pray. What was revealed to me brought both tears of grief and tears of joy as the unknown was finally made known deep within my spirit. What I heard, and even “saw”, in the hands of Jesus, was a broken brain. As I continued praying and researching, I received one confirmation after another. By November 16th, I KNEW the root cause of this illness was purely physical in nature!
Through all of this, what we have come to realize is that mental illness is the most widely misunderstood illness today. Vast amounts of federal and state monies are spent annually to treat the “symptoms” of the illness compared to the amount of money spent on research, diagnosis and treatment. Many people contribute mental illness to demonic influence, causing much shame, confusion, isolation, devastation and even despair to those suffering. The mentally ill are continually “dumped” on our criminal justice system as state budgets slash funding for needed facilities and psychiatric beds. At this very moment, hundreds of thousands of individuals living with severe mental illness who are in need of immediate medical treatment are instead sitting in jails and prisons where the staff are not trained or equipped to properly care for them and their condition worsens, some even fatally, due to not receiving the urgent medical care they desperately need. At least 50% are the “homeless” that we see on our streets, and the many of those end up dead.
Driving home from work one morning, feeling terribly alone and isolated in the crisis that our family was in, I was thinking about my child. Such a wonderful, compassionate, intelligent young adult, musically gifted, with so much potential. But now, because of this horrible illness, was barely surviving and we were forced to watch our child live...DEAD…trapped in an isolated little world, while we were totally helpless to help. Once again, in complete desperation, I threw up my hands and cried out to God to rescue our child and to help our family. “Lord, we need you. Help us Father. Rescue my child...YOUR child! You are the only one who can lift us out. I know you want to teach us something, what it is that you want us to learn from all of this? And how can we use what we are going through to help others?” At that moment, I turned on the stereo in my car just in time to catch the last couple of minutes of an interview with best-selling author of ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, Pastor Rick Warren, whose son took his life just a year earlier due to severe mental illness.. Rick’s words to the Church still echo in my ears, “Mental Illness is…….a physical problem with the neurons in the brain. Hundreds of years ago there were no hospitals. Missionaries started the first Red Cross. Throughout history, the first place that those suffering from a mental illness turn to for help is the Church”. Rick’s message is that the Church suffers a huge deficit when it comes to understanding mental illness as a physical condition which most often requires medical attention along with compassion and understanding.
Now I KNEW for certain that this was indeed what the Lord was calling me to do….to bring awareness of mental illness to the Church. That was March 2014. Since then, God has given me tools to help equip and train pastors, leaders, church staff, volunteers, public safety officials, and others how to recognize and respond to individuals living with mental health difficulties or experiencing a crisis. It is also a desire of mine to help bring awareness and proper training to professionals including educators and all those who would be among the first to encounter individuals living with mental health difficulties. Having spent much time reading and researching mental illness, the main goal is to help bring transformation to the traditional approach and treatment of severe mental illness nation-wide and abroad! The end result will be the Church embracing, praying for, comforting and encouraging those with mental illness; and individuals living with this brain disease, instead of living in shame and isolation, and many taking their own lives, will be receiving the medical care and the healthy support system they so desperately need!
Since that time, our child has entered the wonderful world of recovery! With the help of the Holy Spirit and having a strong support system in place is living well despite the illness! As a matter of fact, My message to the Church is a message of HOPE and HEALING in Jesus Christ! There IS HOPE for mental health and RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE!
Losing my sister: However, without hope we cannot live for one minute. Read on... September, 2015, I received a most devastating call from my older sister, Renee. She was calling to inform me that my beautiful little sister, Luanne, had just completed suicide. That incident changed our world forever. Click here to read this story and find out 'Why I Am Passionate About What I Do" You can also watch my YouTube Video National Suicide Prevention Day Call to Prayer here. I would LOVE the opportunity to share my heart with your church. Contact me at [email protected] or call 815-670-4173 to schedule a time.
In Sept., 2013, after three unsuccessful and very traumatic attempts within 4 months to secure appropriate medical treatment, we packed up our car with only our clothes and important papers, picked up our child from the hospital where the doctor was signing the release papers because “there was nothing they could do” , and drove back to the small rural town, 550 miles away, where our child grew up. Our only hope now was to wait for a miracle.
This was the second time in three years that our lives were turned completely upside down as we left our home in one state in order to obtain medical treatment and support in another. We soon realized that we were left to navigate the mostly uncharted, icy waters of “severe mental illness” on our own.
That November 1st, I began a 6 month sabbatical in which I sought the Lord in prayer and spent countless hours researching mental illness. Two weeks into my sabbatical, during a time of fasting and prayer, the Spirit said to me, “Valerie, I want you to pray that the roots of this illness would be revealed to you.” That same night, in the wee hours of the morning, I was awakened by Holy Spirit and went downstairs to pray. What was revealed to me brought both tears of grief and tears of joy as the unknown was finally made known deep within my spirit. What I heard, and even “saw”, in the hands of Jesus, was a broken brain. As I continued praying and researching, I received one confirmation after another. By November 16th, I KNEW the root cause of this illness was purely physical in nature!
Through all of this, what we have come to realize is that mental illness is the most widely misunderstood illness today. Vast amounts of federal and state monies are spent annually to treat the “symptoms” of the illness compared to the amount of money spent on research, diagnosis and treatment. Many people contribute mental illness to demonic influence, causing much shame, confusion, isolation, devastation and even despair to those suffering. The mentally ill are continually “dumped” on our criminal justice system as state budgets slash funding for needed facilities and psychiatric beds. At this very moment, hundreds of thousands of individuals living with severe mental illness who are in need of immediate medical treatment are instead sitting in jails and prisons where the staff are not trained or equipped to properly care for them and their condition worsens, some even fatally, due to not receiving the urgent medical care they desperately need. At least 50% are the “homeless” that we see on our streets, and the many of those end up dead.
Driving home from work one morning, feeling terribly alone and isolated in the crisis that our family was in, I was thinking about my child. Such a wonderful, compassionate, intelligent young adult, musically gifted, with so much potential. But now, because of this horrible illness, was barely surviving and we were forced to watch our child live...DEAD…trapped in an isolated little world, while we were totally helpless to help. Once again, in complete desperation, I threw up my hands and cried out to God to rescue our child and to help our family. “Lord, we need you. Help us Father. Rescue my child...YOUR child! You are the only one who can lift us out. I know you want to teach us something, what it is that you want us to learn from all of this? And how can we use what we are going through to help others?” At that moment, I turned on the stereo in my car just in time to catch the last couple of minutes of an interview with best-selling author of ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, Pastor Rick Warren, whose son took his life just a year earlier due to severe mental illness.. Rick’s words to the Church still echo in my ears, “Mental Illness is…….a physical problem with the neurons in the brain. Hundreds of years ago there were no hospitals. Missionaries started the first Red Cross. Throughout history, the first place that those suffering from a mental illness turn to for help is the Church”. Rick’s message is that the Church suffers a huge deficit when it comes to understanding mental illness as a physical condition which most often requires medical attention along with compassion and understanding.
Now I KNEW for certain that this was indeed what the Lord was calling me to do….to bring awareness of mental illness to the Church. That was March 2014. Since then, God has given me tools to help equip and train pastors, leaders, church staff, volunteers, public safety officials, and others how to recognize and respond to individuals living with mental health difficulties or experiencing a crisis. It is also a desire of mine to help bring awareness and proper training to professionals including educators and all those who would be among the first to encounter individuals living with mental health difficulties. Having spent much time reading and researching mental illness, the main goal is to help bring transformation to the traditional approach and treatment of severe mental illness nation-wide and abroad! The end result will be the Church embracing, praying for, comforting and encouraging those with mental illness; and individuals living with this brain disease, instead of living in shame and isolation, and many taking their own lives, will be receiving the medical care and the healthy support system they so desperately need!
Since that time, our child has entered the wonderful world of recovery! With the help of the Holy Spirit and having a strong support system in place is living well despite the illness! As a matter of fact, My message to the Church is a message of HOPE and HEALING in Jesus Christ! There IS HOPE for mental health and RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE!
Losing my sister: However, without hope we cannot live for one minute. Read on... September, 2015, I received a most devastating call from my older sister, Renee. She was calling to inform me that my beautiful little sister, Luanne, had just completed suicide. That incident changed our world forever. Click here to read this story and find out 'Why I Am Passionate About What I Do" You can also watch my YouTube Video National Suicide Prevention Day Call to Prayer here. I would LOVE the opportunity to share my heart with your church. Contact me at [email protected] or call 815-670-4173 to schedule a time.
