Tag: following Jesus

Not All Christians are Mean or Stupid or Sappy

~ Colleen Scheid ~ 2 Comments

Ninth Reason I Wrote “Someone They Can Trust”

“Someone They Can Trust”, my new novel, is available on Amazon. To receive news about what I’m writing, please subscribe to the author email at the bottom of this post.

I watched a fantastic movie last night, “The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society”, but one of its characters made me flinch with a familiar irritation.

She was a Christian who read her Bible all the time. She was also mean, judgemental, self-righteous, prim, petty and vindictive – basically the antithesis of how Jesus acted. You just don’t often see a sane, appealing Christian character who can speak in whole sentences on mainstream media produced this century.

Often people who follow Jesus are depicted as villains or fools, on screen and in contemporary books.

I just finished writing a novel, Someone They Can Trust, that depicts real people who say they’re following Jesus, and almost all of them are really following Jesus. They’re likable, authentic and say amusing things. They show how a relationship with God is fleshed out in real situations.

There’s Maya, an art school graduate who seems kind of perfect except that it’s hard to get close to her. There’s Matt, the music minister who makes people laugh almost every time they see him. There’s Janice, a woman who’s been through long term suffering but retained kindness, caring and hope. Laura is a deeply spiritual woman losing memory to Anzheimer’s. Charise, a recovering addict who inherited a B&B, is dressed to kill even on cleaning days. Her cousin Darnell, a big stoic guy who keeps to himself, only came to a Bible study for the food, but then this thing happened…

And so it goes. A diverse group of people who may have very little in common other than Jesus. But He’s more than enough to make them a vibrant community.

I’m not saying there aren’t some ignorant and hateful people who say they’re Christians. I just know from experience that there are many authentic and loving people in our churches. That’s important to know for people who are seeking out truth. That’s why I wrote this book.

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The Darkness of Depression Will Lift – Promise

~ Colleen Scheid ~ 5 Comments

What I find most heartbreaking about the high rate of suicide among young people, is that I know, if they could have waited, they would have come through the dark time and been glad to be alive.

The first time depression hits, and it gets hold to the point where life isn’t worth living, you think the rest of your life will feel like that. But you swing out. Most of us don’t just suddenly wake up feeling awesome – it’s a slower swing, but soon you look back, and think, “Wow. I was in a really bad place. Glad that’s over.”

So if you’re in the middle of it, please hang on! Even without doing any of what my previous posts suggest, we were made to move on from sorrow and failure and heartbreak and despair, to adapt and grow and thrive. You will too.

The Tools You Need to Fight Depression

Taking care of ourselves chases depression away, just like it does for other illnesses. When we get to a more solid place, that’s when we need to make the self-care stuff habitual. There are things we can make part of our lives that will keep us out of the deep hole of depression. Here’s my top ten, linked to the posts that explore the topics:

  1. Say kind things to yourself: If you catch yourself thinking self-critical thoughts, change them to positive ones and say them out loud.
  2. Bring your thoughts back to the present moment when you realize they’ve gone to weird or yucky places. Remind yourself that you only have to do one thing at a time and you don’t need to worry about what’s next.
  3. Don’t isolate. Make people part of your life even when it’s hard and get help when you need it.
  4. Deal with past trauma; not just big stuff, but little things that you don’t want to remember. Once you process it with another person, it loses its power to haunt you.
  5. Beware of avoiding things that make you anxious. Avoiding stuff that should be faced makes you more depressed.
  6. Eat food that helps your body function and drink eight glasses of water each day.
  7. Live in tune with the rhythms of the natural world, pausing to rest between segments of the day.
  8. Make your living spaces functional and beautiful, into places you want to live and work.
  9. Examine your world view. Ask yourself if it is consistent with reality and helps you to live through and beyond depression. If you don’t already, consider following Jesus Christ.
  10. Examine where your time on screens is going, and whether it’s helping or hurting you.

Depression isn’t something we have to put up with. There are so many steps we can take that will lead us out to a better place.

Homework: Journal what choices you’re making that help you feel good, and which ones lead to you feeling bad. Analyze one of the bad choices, and note what kind of help you need to change it. Then go get that help.

Anything helpful to add? Click on the top title, then comment below.