I want to thank all of you who have been thinking about us and praying for us and for my mother-in-law. Life is complex for me right now, and yet I feel God's presence in a very clear way.
We've spent the past few days at home, traveling to see Mom for a few hours at a time. She is not doing very well at all. Her eye sight is failing badly and she is now needing to be fed, though she doesn't eat much at all. She is also becoming increasingly confused. Yet she is still her sweet self. It's hard to see her going through this and I hope and pray that God will soon grant her peace and take her from this suffering. When my husband wakes up I'll ask him if we can't once more take our motorhome out there so we can spend more time with her - so that we can be the ones to feed her. Each time we see Mom I hate to leave.
I had word from 100 Huntley Street, the Christian TV program that spent a day with me several months ago, that the interview they did will be aired this coming Thursday, January 31st. They also taped a session of Living Room. The program is on Global TV in Canada, though I think it may be available for viewing in the U.S. as well. In any case, Misha of Emptied Mango Sorbet informed me that it can be seen online the day after here.
What is going to happen once the program is aired? If there are people inspired by it I will need to be ready to help new groups start up. I will need to be ready to give talks if asked. And I should soon hear from my publisher whether or not they will publish my new book, A Firm Place to Stand. I'm also busy giving support to individuals and keeping up with friends. Life IS very complex right now. And yet, I don't feel stress. I feel God's peace. He is with me. And that is SO good.
By the way, I did get to the Living Room meeting on Friday, though one of the co-facilitators took the main part of the meeting. I'm so thankful to have such a lot of help. There were 18 of us present and it got pretty intense at times - but wonderfully so. That group is at the heart of all I do. It's so important to me - such a joy.
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12 comments:
Hi Marja: Thank you for taking time to update. You and those close to you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Even though you and I don't know each other personally, I am coming to know "you" through your posts. I look forward to stopping by for thoughtful posts.
Please take care of yourself so you can take care of others,
Anne
you sound so good marja...you are handling life with such amazing grace and dignity. you truly are an inspiration to us all. please keep us updated.
My thoughts and prayers are with you Marja especially at this very difficult phase in your life.Take care
Hi Marja, thank God for giving you strength and grace to cope thus far, and giving you peace despite the complexity now. Glad you have peace in Him. May God continue to strengthen you and yours as you look to Him daily. Thank God for your faithful labours of love for God in your many gifted ways. Do take good care of yourself as you seek to care for others and be a blessing to them. Remembering you and yours in prayers, Nancie
Thank you Anne, Merelyme, Desiree, and Nancie for stopping by and supporting me the way you do. It's good to have friends like you "close by".
Marja,
All this is wonderful news. I'm so excited for you and amazed by your ability to keep it all together and to remain so calm in the process. You inspire me!
I'm hoping to be able to see your program here in the US (at least online). It'll be almost as nice as meeting you in person. Please continue to keep us posted on how God is working wonderously through your ministry!
Sydney
Thank you very much for your updates. I was not really aware when you started blogging again until recently.
I agree with you and I always thought that when we most aware of our weaknesses, we are more inclined to collapse into God's strength and experience His amazing grace. "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9).
Hi Marja,
Trust God is keeping you near to Him and continuing to strengthen you as you look to Him and serve Him. I just visited your Archive in August 2006 today to read your earlier posts so that I can get to know you better and learn from you how you managed to cope with your illness and still be so productive for our Lord. I am encouraged to read of God's goodness and mercies to you, and how He is enabling you to walk closely with Him and serve Him in your many gifted ways. I have much reflections after reading your first posting in Aug 2006 and have wrote my reflections on my blog today. I have reproduced your first posting on my blog for the benefit of other readers. Do you mind if I do so? May I have your permissions to reproduced on my blog any other of your postings or part of your postings whenever i read them and find them helpful to others. I am using my blog like a Journal. So I do express my thoughts and reflections there whenever I read something or go through certain experiences. May God be with you and His peace and joy continue to strengthen you. In His grace, Nancie
Hi Syd: It WILL be nice for my blogging pals to see my interview and get to know what I look like and what I sound like. I'm going to try and have my son put the interview on this blog via youtube. That will be so exciting.
Jim: You're absolutely right about that. Another translation says, "My grace is all you need; for my power is strongest when you are weak."
Nancie: I checked out your blog and are you ever an ambitious person! I'm glad you're finding value in my blog and would be happy if you reprint some of my posts. The only thing I ask is that you give me credit and link to my blog when you do. ...and Nancie: Have you checked out my Living Room website? www.livingroomsupport.org. You seem like someone who needs to know about this program. Wouldn't it be neat to have a Living Room group in Singapore?
Hi Marja, Thanks for kindly giving me the permission to republish some of your posts! Yes, I will give credit to you and put a link to your blogs. I hope others will visit your blogs and benefit from it too.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Actually, I am still recovering from a relapse of depression in July 2007 and thank God I am so much better now. Guess I am a bit on the hypomanic side recently when I started developing my blog. I do have a lot of ideas now about how I think I want to develop my blog so that it can be as useful as possible not only as a journal for myself but also to help other sufferers. I have benefited so much from others website during my own difficult struggles.
I am also taking the opportunity to share with my friends who have no such experiences so that they may understand depression and bipolar a little better. Depression, bipolar and other mental illnesses are still stigmas in Singapore. I know of friends suffering from depression or bipolar who suffered much because of this stigma. I have also experienced the same in the past but thank God that now my friends are mostly very understanding, prayerful and supportive. I covet your prayers that my blogs will be used by God for His glory and the benefit of His people. Thanks. Take care! Kind regards, Nancie
Hi Nancie: Stigma is still a big problem out here in North America as well. You are so much like me in how you want to educate people and how you want to help others - a true kindred spirit. I'm so glad to have made your acquaintance. I too am not presently too affected by stigma because I have some wonderful church friends supporting me.
I will pray for you and your blog. May it touch people in a powerful way. I will pray for you too, especially that you will pace yourself as you work on this big job you've taken on. Don't overdo it, okay?
Hi Marja, thanks for your prayers! And thanks for the reminder to pace myself! I keep forgetting that :-)
I enjoyed working on my blogs very much that sometimes I sit for hours in front of my computer and forget to take breaks and sometimes not very willing to go to sleep when it is bedtime! Time flies when I work on my computer. There's just so much ideas coming and I felt the urge to keep working on the computer. Somehow my body and mind also didn't synchronize. It was when I finally stopped working on my computer, that I felt very very tired. I realized from past experiences that if I over-strained I will fall into severe depression. Yes, you are right, I must not over do it! I really need to slow down :-) Thanks again.
I am glad to be acquainted with you too as I am learning a lot of things from your postings. I was just diagnosed in March 2007 after 20 years of mood swings. So there is a lot for me to learn on how to manage this illness. I thank God for providing so much helps on the internet. I am thankful to God too for my church and family's love and support. Truly God is good to us and may He continue to enable us to serve Him even through this illness. Take care, Nancie
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