We Can Find Peace as We Turn to Him

The last 6 months have been filled with lots of highs and lows, a time of reflection, anxiousness, renewal, goal setting and despair. I don’t like change and I despise contention. I feel like we are living in a world filled with constant contention and chaos. I keep thinking, as soon as we get back to “normal” everything will be okay. I am in the process of learning that this could be our new “normal” and it causes great fear and anxiousness. However, it can be the complete opposite, we have been given a unique opportunity to make our homes a refuge from the storm. I have been fighting against the 82 meals a day, the constant clutter and craziness instead of looking for the good.

I Choose to Believe that we can find the peace we need during this difficult time as we turn to Him. I know that He knows what each of us need individually, what our families need, He knows how we can grow stronger and more capable and feel the spirit more abundantly in our homes and lives.

One of my favorite scriptures is John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; NOT as the WORLD giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

~Julie Brophy

I Know He Believes in Me

I choose to believe because through countless simple and strong tender mercies…I know He believes in me.

There is no possible way I can describe these sacred and sweet moments that have flooded my life, especially these last two years. I never saw coming what came. I never thought I would be fighting the mental battles that I witnessed so many courageous women fight every moment of every day. I never thought I would personally feel those dark places the mind can take you. I never thought I would know the deep despair the adversary relentlessly tries to compress into the hearts of His daughters. It is real. It is a battle. And it is one brave reach in trusting His hand, and the hands He sends, to give you that reassurance…you can do this…He believes in you…and after a simple yet strong reminder one afternoon in May, I held tight to the fact that I knew He believes in me too.

I needed to stop driving and breathe. I needed to stop and just let out the sadness, the fear, and the desperate cry to be given relief from all of it. With my wet and swollen eyes from the hours of tear filled pleading, I finally turned into the nearest church parking lot. The despair and worry was just too great. It was suffocating. Gratefully, I had a dear friend with me in the car, pleading her own prayer to Him for help. She didn’t need to say or do anything. All that mattered to me was that I wasn’t alone.

My despair grew deeper and my fear grew stronger. I wanted to quit. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was exhausted. How can this be happening to me? How can my once calm mind feel like storm raging every moment? Who was I anymore? I couldn’t do it. I was done.

Just as those thoughts came into my mind, another car pulled into that church parking lot. I looked over to see who it was. It was the sweet husband of my friend. I wanted to hide. I didn’t want anyone, especially him, to see me like that. My friends husband walked calmly towards us. He knocked on my window, and with the most peaceful and merciful smile, he told me everything was going to be ok. How did this good man find me? How did he know the mental battle I was struggling with that day? Even seeing the mess that I was, he never asked and never felt he needed to know why. This man knew He knew, and that was enough. This man just came, and shared hope. I could feel it. So, I looked up and by the slightest glance into this good man’s eyes, I knew He was there for Him. I felt in that moment it wasn’t just my friends on either side of me, but He was there and so many from the other side. He believed I could and would get through this. That this battle...all this I was fighting against in mind…will and is being made beautiful. I needed to just be patient. I needed to hold on tight. He believed in me. And that simple truth was enough to let my heart and mind breathe.

We find so many experiences in the scriptures of God finding people where they are, and extending a hand of undeniable confidence in whatever challenge they are faced with. He gives tokens of strength and resiliency to demonstrate His belief in our ability to get through the tests and trials given. He sees and knows we are stronger than we think we are. He sees us perfectly. Loves us unconditionally. He has armed me and you with everything we need to fight through those deeply personal tempests. And as we take His hand and look into His eyes, we will dwell with Him. In a place of peace...of joy...and discover a love He has for us that is profoundly powerful.

How can I not believe in Him who has perfect belief in me.

~Ashley Quist

His Comfort Is Indescribable

"I believe because when the crushing blows of OCD and anxiety have beaten upon me, I have personally felt the love and understanding of the Savior wrap around me in a warmth and comfort I simply cannot describe." -Aubry G.

Steadfast in Christ Through My Storms

by Ariane Packer
When I was 25 years old my husband was called to serve as the bishop of our ward. I was young and inexperienced. While my husband served as the bishop I experienced my first bout of major depression. I did not want anyone to find out. I felt so humiliated and weak. The wife of other bishops seemed to be so strong; and then there was me. At the current time, I was not aware of any who had struggles like mine.

What I didn't realize to begin with is that depression didn't mean I was weak or inadequate, it meant that I was dealing with the trial of a mental disorder. The effects of this trial started to take a toll on my family, particularly my husband. He knew of the seemingly black hole that I was in, and he felt torn between the sacred role of a husband and the important role of a bishop. He recognized that we needed some additional help to get our family through this trial.

He told the Relief Society presidency of my struggles and they were so kind, loving, understanding, and were very instrumental in helping me make it through the darkness of that bout of depression. This was a very humbling experience for me but one that marked the beginning of my willingness to begin to share with others my trial of mental illness.

A few years after my first bout of clinical depression, I again was faced with the battle of depression. However, this time it was more severe than my first bout. As I experienced some of my darkest moments in the midst of depression, my emotions, feelings, and thoughts were distorted, making it difficult to feel the precious gift of the Holy Ghost and the constant and unconditional love of our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ. At times I felt numb as I sat in church meetings or listened to spiritual messages. I knew that I had a knowledge and testimony of these things, but I had a difficult time feeling the warmth and confirmation of the Holy Ghost.

Now Is the Season to Be Home with My Family

by Tanya Hovey
I am the wife to Chet Hovey and the mother to Atalie, Austin, and Annalise. I am also the owner of a photography studio. I started my business 12 years ago from scratch. I never had a teacher or I never interned with any photographers. Everything I learned was from studying books and going to seminars. I worked hard to make my business successful. I soon found a niche specializing in newborn portraits.

from www.anxiety.org

After several years I began to get busy. I raised my prices and hired employees. After a few bad experiences with employees, I decided to go back to running the entire studio myself. This was about three years ago.

This is not my story. My story is... about one year ago I started experiences anxiety attacks. Running the entire studio myself was catching up with me. I was always so overwhelmed and stressed out. My body was trying to communicate to me that I needed to slow down. 

I tried to go to the doctor to pop a pill for the anxiety. Sadly, it didn't work. I tried multiple different anxiety medications. None of them helped. All the anxiety medication gave me worse side effects then benefits. My doctor called my side effects a grimace facial tic or twitch. It was not the prettiest thing. I wouldn’t even know I was doing it. My jaw would start to ache, and that’s how I knew I was having the tick. And of course my husband would always say, “You’re doing that thing with your mouth again.”