Reading, Writing & Pondering

I think many of us have wondered at one time or another if we really matter--matter to people around us, matter in our jobs, or matter in the scheme of the life we live. Mandy Hale spent some time wondering if she mattered as well and the result of her wondering and going through life's challenges and depression is the book, You Are Enough . You Are Enough is mostly a memoir of a time in Hale's life when everything fell apart for her in a short time and she became depressed. She shares how things went wrong, how she dealt with her life, and how she came through it in the end to feel that she truly was enough. At the end of each chapter, along with sharing her story, she has a side-bar of encouragement for the reader. Not to be overlooked, Hale has an appendix in You Are Enough that offers several resources for suicide prevention. For someone who needs this book, this list alone, may be the biggest thing they need if they don't know where to start looking for help. Y...

It isn't a subject we talk about much. Sharing painful experiences is never easy for anyone. Yet many of us know someone who has attempted or committed suicide. Or maybe we are the ones who have attempted suicide or thought about it a time or two. Sheila Walsh shares her personal story and experiences with this difficult topic in In The Middle of the Mess . Walsh has often shared her story of depression and the time she spent in a psych ward early in her ministry. However, this book goes deeper. In the Middle of the Mess shares Walsh's story and family background with her father's brain aneurysm , mental illn ess and ultimate suicide. Walsh then shares how that family history affected her and the challenges she has had with depression and suicidal thoughts herself. I like how Sheila Walsh writes. I have read several of her books. I always feel like we are just sharing stories over a cup of tea. Walsh shares from a "me too" perspective in this warm, vulner...