Women’s Ministry Minute
Angela Tomlinson
April 8, 2020
“Don’t do my fears all by myself- don’t do it in isolation”
Good morning ladies -As I am sitting here thinking about what I would like to share, what would be best for each of you, I finally settled on this.
Psalm 18: 29-36
“With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the rock except our God? It is god who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure…Vs 36- you provide a path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.”
I mentioned some in my post last week the need to be aware of our own mental health and the mental health of those around us. We all need to get better at asking those probing questions, it has become too easy to just ask “how are you?” Maybe instead we can try asking “how has being isolated for so long affected you?”, “what are some of your fears if this continues much longer?” “have you noticed any differences in how your children/spouse/roommates are reacting to things?” and just straight forward asking “how is your mental health?”
Sometimes I think that too many of us believe we can’t or shouldn’t speak of our mental health, that if we dare to share what is REALLY going on in our head, we would appear weak, or possibly even unfaithful. We worry way too much about what others might think of us VS doing exactly what Tracy spoke about this past Sunday: getting emotionally connected to God in prayer. Taking these cares and concerns to God in prayer, for as the scripture states- “it is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure”. When we inquire about how someone is doing- that is what we are trying to do- to connect emotionally, to get to the real you. This is what God wants from us as well. I can’t remember which one said it, Ron or Tracy, but one of them said something to the effect of ““Don’t do my fears all by myself- don’t do it in isolation “. Be honest, be vulnerable, be real about what is really going on in your head and your heart, not just with God, but with your friends too. I honestly believe that when we do, we will see that the ones we might have been most fearful to open up with are actually our biggest cheerleaders!
If you are finding yourself having some concerns about your own mental health or the mental health of someone else; please reach out to a professional, please reach out to us and we’ll help connect you, just reach out to someone. We are here to listen and to try and help in any way possible.
Breathe deep- Gods got this!
Love you all-
Angela Tomlinson
I am very blessed to work with some pretty amazing people, from all over the world, in all different countries. We have many devotionals that I get the honor of sitting, listening and learning from each of them.
Some suggestions and thoughts that you might find helpful that HOPE worldwide’s mental health advisory and SPARK (disaster support program) teams have compiled:
:https://www.facebook.com/sparkacademync/videos/202909837801596/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-UyjyRJm3ifZe44St-tiAf9jIf7XrpAJ/view
https://hopeworldwide.box.com/s/mvg7yz397df0kanw7dkj6um3yzmh8psj
If you’d like to learn more about what HOPE worldwide and theICOC church families are doing, please visit www.hopeww.org and https://www.disciplestoday.org/