So this weekend was the big weekend when my video testimony about my struggles with depression aired in church in front of about 1,500 people (for background read here, here, and here). By then I had watched the video at least a half dozen times and I, for the most part, could make it through without crying.
I decided to attend the last service (we have one on Sat eve. and 3 on Sundays) which is when we usually attend (well, hubby is there all weekend as he’s on staff). My in-laws come too. They are very soft-hearted people and I knew it would be difficult for them to watch. I tried to email them the link so they could view it ahead of time but it wouldn’t work so they had to go cold turkey. They actually remained somewhat composed – proud of you guys!
I got about a dozen hugs from people who had already seen it before I even made it to the auditorium, some I didn’t even know. Very cool! I love our church family!
The whole message went really well. It should be online by tomorrow and I will post a link. The main chunk of my testimony is at the beginning, then Pastor Greg speaks, then the end of my testimony, then more from Pastor Greg.
At the end we did a really cool thing. People had been told to bring "baggage" they wanted to release to God to church – some brought letters, pictures, divorce papers, etc. We put them in backpacks and hung them on the cross to symbolize the freedom we have in Christ. It was very powerful and moving.
I have a ton of other stuff percolating in my head about depression – a good week’s worth of posts. Hope you’ll come back.
P.S. I have to give a huge shout out to my girls who were praying for me through all of this and were such a huge encouragement to me – Stacey, Jen, Brooke, Tracy, Juli, Kristen. You guys Rock!
I think it was really powerful. I’m so glad you stepped up and really shared what you had gone through. It’s really going to make a difference to people in our church. Great job!!