I read a really encouraging and inspiring book this week by Australian author Lauralee Berrill. Lauralee shares her journey from the depths of depression to the Divine discovery of freedom through the love and healing power of Jesus. The book is written in an authentic, raw format that draws the reader in to walk closely with the author.
There were definitely tears on my part as I ‘witnessed’ the incredible pain and trauma Lauralee walked through when she lost three of her own sweet babes, experiencing the despair naturally becoming of such agony. As she rose to victory over depression, stress and anxiety, my heart rejoiced with her every step of the way.
In her book, Beautiful Courageous YOU, Lauralee shares a wholistic approach to overcoming depression through nourishing our mind, body & spirit. Her views are perfectly approachable, easy to understand and void of formulas and strict theories which tend to discourage rather than inspire toward action.
If you love reading books written straight from the heart, LOADED with hope yet spiced with reality, you’ll certainly take well to this fantastic book. If you’re a woman struggling with depression/stress/anxiety or know someone who is, I can highly recommend this book!
Thank you @beautifulcourageousyou for sharing your heart for the Glory of our King and the healing of His people! 🌸 Contact @beautifulcourageousyou to grab a copy of a life-giving book – Jose
There was a time, not that long ago, when I cursed the morning sun as each new day brought with it the biting reality of a deep depression. Too tired to get out of bed, tired of breathing and with no inspiration to welcome another day of my wretched life. This is a time, a woman, a life I no longer recognise…. no longer is there a cloudy canopy of depression hovering over my days, the sunlight has broken through the clouds and every day is filled with a joyful anticipation of goodness in my life.
Today I have beauty in my life, joy which remains immovable and an attitude of praise that leaves the world perplexed. Many times people I meet are completely baffled that I would choose to praise God and glorify Him in every circumstance, not just the circumstances I find acceptable.
As you read the following thoughts penned by H. W. Smith, may you be encouraged to praise Him no matter the circumstance, and begin to trust in His tender and wise purposes toward you;
See God in everything, and God will calm and colour all that thou dost see! It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if Christ as Lord and Master of our life is brought into our grief and gloom, He will compass us about with songs of deliverance. To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss,“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Lord” (Cowman, 277).
You can read more on healing from depression in my book Beautiful, Courageous, You soon to be released by Westbow Press! Pre order here
Lately it’s been on my heart to share an excerpt from my book, may you be encouraged that no matter how tough life gets there is ALWAYS Hope… always x
Overwhelmed with fear and alone I found myself calling on God, my God the God I had abandoned, the God I didn’t need. All the while I had been trying to do life my way, He was there waiting for me to come running back into His arms, all of my effort and strength was gone all I had left was to surrender to the hope that I once knew. Hope in God was buried deep within my spirit, early years of Sunday school had planted seeds of hope that somehow, someway there was a divine meaning to my life. As I turned my thoughts back to God, I cried out to the unseen, somehow I knew He was in the room with me as a profound peace swept over my being.
My broken heart carried a pain so deep that I could hardly breathe, still in grief from my father’s death, in shock from the promiscuity of *Jake and now I lay waiting, hoping for a miracle… the survival of my twin babies. Somehow that night my hurt collided with the healing power of Jesus, I felt simultaneously weak but strong. The apostle Paul tells of the strength he found in Christ “It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (MSG)
Letting Christ take over is hard for most of us, for me there was no other choice I had reached rock bottom with no options but to surrender my will to His. Often in a sorrowful situation we shout accusations at God and then turn and walk away, I have learned by my past to not shout at God but instead it is best that we stop and listen.
Amid the calamity, a monitor strapped around my stomach, intravenous drip and observations by the nurse every hour, I managed to drift into a peaceful sleep a peace which truly surpassed my understanding. I awoke early to the gentle nudge of the obstetrician on duty, before I could clear the sleep from my eyes he began, “good morning, we are making plans for you to be taken to a larger hospital that specialises in pre-term labour, it is the safest place to be should your twins decide to come early”. Within the hour I was in the ambulance and being taken to Rockhampton hospital, alone and uncertain of how the following days would unfold the long drive in the ambulance ushered in the opportunity for my thoughts to begin to race and before long my peace had turned to dread.
Immediately upon arrival I was taken for an ultrasound to check on the twins, a cold stone-faced radiologist performed the ultrasound without a word spoken to me. All I recall is thinking “God where are you in all this, it’s all my fault this is my punishment for turning away from you”, why would He want to answer my prayers? I was convinced that God was angry with me. Finally, the radiologist broke his silence; “we can’t do anything for you, one baby is very sick and will possibly die in the next couple of days and then the other will have a chance of survival, you need to be taken to Brisbane”. His words were like missiles flying off his tongue and straight into my heart, no warmth or empathy just very matter of fact. The hours went by very slowly that day, as I lay and wait for the next report on when and how I would be leaving, the same incomprehensible peace washed over me.
In my experience with healing from depression, I met many well-meaning Christians that were intent on spiritualising every aspect of my condition… everything was a stronghold or a soul tie, and yet most days I clearly heard the Lord say ‘rest is the most spiritual thing you can do today’.
It is true our battle is not against flesh and blood, there is a spiritual realm in which we must contend for healing (see Ephesians 6:12).
However if we are to contend for healing, I believe it is not to give the enemy so much ‘air time’ that we become paranoid and look for a demon under every rock. Rather I suggest we must embrace what needs to be addressed for spiritual health (prayer, deliverance, repentance etc.) alongside applying some practical steps towards healing our physical bodies.
Recently I read a daily devotion penned by L.B Cowman Streams In The Desert, she writes on the issue of confounding physical weariness with spiritual weakness:
And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was- under a juniper tree! And it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: “The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you.”
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is rest, along with spiritual laws we also must address the natural laws of ‘something good to eat and a good sleep’… today, give yourself permission to rest and have something good to eat 😉 X
There was a time, not that long ago, when I cursed the morning sun as each new day brought with it the biting reality of a deep 
Beautiful, Courageous You 