A year later....

I often look back at the "wake" my life has left and see what is there. Recently when I have done that I see that the waters from a year ago have become calm, quiet and much less rough than they were. I am thankful. A year ago I was walking life out with a friend who was in the middle of depression.

She had made a major change in her life with leaving fundamentalism and she found out how lonely and dark it can be in that space between leaving and landing. She was in limbo. Not sure where her safe place was anymore... not sure of what was right and wrong, or even what sin was. And who is God and where is He anyway? Into the darkness she slid.

It was an evening in April when I stopped by her house on my way home from work to find her curled up in a ball on her sofa. She was despondent. She was empty. She was fragile. She was alone. She was in need. I packed her bags and loaded her in my car. She was coming home with me and she was staying with us until she could walk on her own again.

If only I knew then, what I know now.

If only I knew then that she was depressed and needed medication.

I did the best I knew how to do.

I loved her.

I prayed over her.

Many nights I layed by her side to quiet the anxiety inside of her so she would fall asleep.

Sleep often did not come until the morning hours.

She cried.

She was angry.

She was often inconsolable.

She was trapped.

I was tired.

But I loved her.

It was a long walk in the journey to becoming well.

The joy of today for me is to look back and see she survived the journey.

She is strong.

She is free.

She is a beautiful woman with a heart that has grown and healed...and continues to heal.

She has joy.

She loves.

She is loved.