The Book Journey

If you notice on the right hand side, I've posted the names of nineteen books that I've entitled "The Book Journey" that chart my wondering and wandering through the wilderness, from earliest to latest. (There are many more I've omitted. I just feel like these are the most important. If you can concentrate, latch onto one and read it. My top two picks are,  "You Can Be Happy No Matter What" and "Winning Over Pain, Fear and Worry.")

When my mentor, Doris Black, was speaking at a Lady's Day in Decatur, AL. I was attending once said,  "Yes, Teresa, we've all had our own wandering in the wilderness, haven't we?" I looked at my wandering differently. It was the first time I could identify what was happening and give it a name. I knew the rest of Moses' story and felt like if God had hand-picked Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, then he surely had a plan for me, perhaps too, to be a leader one day. And he did, and I am. I see God's plan unfolding every day of my life, though God is not in a hurry to unfold it like I am.

If you notice there's a progression from "Your God Is Too Small" in the '70's, when I left home and got married (remember coming from a conservative church and family)  to "The Stress Myth" in the '80's, (when we moved back to Bowling Green from Northern KY., where I taught high school English and Phil went to Law School) to "Too Hurried to Love" in the early '90's (when David and Laura were children) ending with "Victory Over Depression" in the late '90's when I started seeing the light. Let it be known assuredly that just because I'm on this side of the wandering,  I still deal with some form of  anxiety, mania, depression, obsession or compulsion every day. It's okay if I always will. I've learned many lessons along the way that have caused a transformation--my ability to cope. My relationship with God has been strengthened, which is God's intention. I have a different perspective on life as a result of the mental illness. It's in the mind that a Christian is transformed. That's what God wants. The lessons work when put into practice. My goal is to enlighten you so you too can have the tools to forge ahead successfully. One of the major difficulties in this process, though,  is that the mind that needs transforming is the very mind that is sick. Transformation is a life-long process measured in baby steps, not leaps-and-bounds. God never gives up on his creation. Why should I?

Today, concentrate on my book journey, the titles, my thinking and know there is hope.

Keep reading and share with a friend.