Changing Seasons

Nearly ten years ago, Aroea was in the psychiatric ward, recuperating from a second suicide attempt. I knew who Aroea was, but she wasn't necessarily a friend at that point. But I remember feeling badly for her, through the grapevine. Today my now wonderful, irreplacable friend sent out an email about the journey of her past decade. Here's a statistic: Over 90% of people who attempt suicide twice will be successful at doing so sometime in the next 10 years.

Praise God that this was not Aroea's fate. He had something else in mind entirely. In that hospital, ten years ago, Aroea found Jesus.

In today's email, Aroea wrote about her journey of faith and just what it has saved her from and brought her to.

What she wrote really struck me, and I feel compelled to share it, as her words suggest: "Be not drowned out in stamping of life's blessings and trials. Be not choked out by fear, shame, doubt and unforgivness. Stay no longer in this place of unfulfilling, inactive, mediocrity. Turn to the one who first turned to you and hear His sweet words 'IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT I HAVE SET YOU FREE!' If then you too are a writer, then write. And if you are creative, then create. If you are a mother, then delight in your children. And if you have a mind for business then use it! If you are a shepherd, then gather your flock and if you are a scholar then apply your knowledge. But do all things for the glory of God. So when your life ends, and you are faced with your own mortality, you may be at peace, with the one who died to give you peace.

"Let such things, be at the forefront of our minds in the coming years. For the days are evil. They would suck from us our very breath if they could. Therefore redeem the time and live as one who knows what they were created for."

Because I'm a writer, I'm called to write. Such a simple, yet powerful charge. And in a day when I was feeling drowned by doubt and fear, she has reminded me that there I needn't be. I am just always amazed to hear my friend's story. She told it to me the night our friendship became real, six years ago. She was in her bed, I was in Rohana's, and we stayed up almost all night talking, sharing our struggles. And when she shared the depths of her pain, I started to cry because I knew that God had delivered her from it. I realized the void that would have been in my life without her friendship, and I crawled across the room in the dark and hugged her. That shared faith has created an amazing friendship.

And so I look at her now, with her little son, and I am reminded of the beauty of truth and of healing and I'm reminded that God is a God of miracles, even as the seasons change.