Balance Life’s Demands with Grace
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.—Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
“May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.”—GENESIS 31:49 (NIV)
“My dad says hi,” my husband, Jean-Claude, tells me as we’re cleaning up after dinner. “I Skyped with him on my walk to work today.” My husband knows it means a lot to me to hear that his dad, who lives in France, is thinking of me.
Having a severe mental illness or caring for someone with severe mental illness can be isolating at times, especially when friends and families so often live long distances from each other. But having the internet and smartphones with video chats, texting, social media, etc., can make us feel close to the people we love and who are supportive of us.
Jean-Claude’s family is spread out in three different countries, and my family lives up and down the West Coast and in Arizona. I talk to my mom and dad daily on social media and on my cell phone, and my husband calls France and Egypt regularly with apps like Skype.
We cherish our local friends and church family, but we also see technology as a blessing, allowing us to receive support from across the globe.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending comfort and support from many people and places through whatever means necessary.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.—Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.—2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.—2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)