Kathy Nickerson is a fellow CrossRiver Media author and she has a new book coming out soon. But today, she is mostly going to share with you about her experience with depression. Once her steady companion, she has found a way out. If you suffer with depression, I believe her story will give you hope.

Today, I call myself an Eternal Optimist, and people comment on how happy I seem. But, that hasn’t always been my story. One morning many years ago, I left my desk at the University library and followed my coworkers to the break room. I was nineteen years old, newly married, pregnant, and working my first job. While everyone else pulled out their knitting, I sank onto the cold, vinyl couch in the corner. I curled into a ball, closed my eyes against the all-day morning sickness, and shut out the world.

And, I never got up.Someone finally called my husband. I remember hearing his voice, and I knew what he was saying. But I simply could not respond. Wendell eventually picked me up and carried me across campus to our little yellow Spitfire and took me home. The depression that had been a visitor in high school became my steady companion for the next eight years.The darkness would lift, sometimes for months, and life would be wonderful. Then it would come again so heavy and choking I felt certain I might faint from the weight of it. In my book, Rose Hill Cottage, the friendly librarian describes depression this way:

“It slithers into the room at night when you are sleeping. And it crawls up under your bed and coils itself around your bones. When you wake up the next morning, its poison has clouded your mind in this dismal, grey, nothing-in-this-world-matters-anymore scrim. You can’t make yourself get out of bed. And, when you finally do, the effort to move is practically painful.” Rose Hill Cottage, pg. 107

Like all good librarians, though, Flora knows where to find the answer. I won’t give away what happens in Rose Hill Cottage. In real life, I found the answer in a book. The Helper, by Catherine Marshall came out a few years after my crisis in the break room. I found it just before our third child was born. And, in its pages, I met the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit became my Helper, my Comforter, and the One who truly lifted me out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

I had always known which tools worked for me to fight depression. But, when you are depressed, you can’t even open the toolbox. With the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, though, I suddenly loved to read and study the Bible. I had the strength to take a walk. I found the words to admit my struggles to a mentor. I began to pray.

Depression doesn’t coil itself around my bones anymore. It hasn’t done so for more than thirty years. Oh, it threatens now and then. Some days get cloudy in my soul. But, I know where to go for help now. I know how to break the power.

But, that is my story. It might not be yours. Sometimes depression requires medication and/or professional counseling along with prayer. That doesn’t mean God isn’t working. He gave us miraculous breakthroughs in medicine for that purpose.

If you or someone you love is struggling with depression, please don’t hesitate to get help. From your doctor, from your pastor, from the Holy Spirit. If you want to email me to talk about your struggle, I’ll be glad to listen. You can find your way out of the darkness. And the Light is marvelous.

If you are interested in contacting Kathy to visit with her about your struggles, click HERE to use her contact form.

Kathy Nickerson’s most recent novel is Rose Hill Cottage. You can learn more about her writing and her reputation as an Eternal Optimist at her website as well as sign up for her free newsletter and get a copy of Three Secrets to a Happy Life at her website .

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Rose Hill Cottage

 

After the death of her young husband, best-selling novelist Nora Kimble escapes New York for a summer cottage in the Ozarks. She hopes to leave behind her nagging mother, her ambitious literary agent, and her own pressing sorrow. But her private retreat is soon crowded by a strange visitor and a community that refuses to let her grieve alone.

If you are already a fan of the Glory Circle Sisters, you will enjoy this summer vacation with Bess Caldwell, who lost her driving privileges and watched the neighbors stealing her electricity in Thirty Days to Glory. That little setback hasn’t stopped her, though, as Nora Kimball is about to learn.

After the death of her young husband, best-selling novelist Nora Kimble escapes New York for a summer cottage in the Ozarks. She hopes to leave behind her nagging mother, her ambitious literary agent, and her own pressing sorrow. But her private retreat is soon crowded by a strange visitor and a community that refuses to let her grieve alone.

If you are already a fan of the Glory Circle Sisters, you will enjoy this summer vacation with Bess Caldwell, who lost her driving privileges and watched the neighbors stealing her electricity in Thirty Days to Glory. That little setback hasn’t stopped her, though, as Nora Kimball is about to learn.

Purchase your copy at CrossRiver Media