Broken

For years, I wanted to do something that might help other women who struggle with depression. But I kept telling myself I couldn’t.

I was still struggling too.

What right did I have to tell another woman what she should or shouldn’t do to lift the fog she was living under when I was still living in my own? Over time, though, I began to realize something. Maybe that was exactly why I should share my story. I’ve been in that fog.

Sometimes it was so thick I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Sometimes I could see a few steps down the road. And sometimes it was so dark I wasn’t even sure there was a road at all. If I couldn’t understand another woman who was fighting depression, then who could?

That’s why I want to build this community. Not as an expert standing above anyone. Just as one woman who has been hurt, struggled, fallen down, gotten back up, and kept going. There’s something powerful about being understood by someone who has been through hard places herself. We are all different. We’ve lived different lives and carried different burdens. Something I’ve experienced may help you see a little light. Something you’ve experienced may help me.

Some of us are a long way down this road of life. Some are just getting started. Some have lived with depression for years. Others are newly discovering the monster that likes to live inside our heads.

Right now, this is simply a website and a blog I started one day because I found enough courage to try. But I can imagine it becoming more. I can see a community where women come to tell their stories.

To offer hope.

To ask for prayer.

To admit when they need hope themselves.

To say, “This is what I’m going through,” and know that someone is listening. I don’t know exactly where this will lead. I don’t know whether it will ever become everything I imagine it could be. But I do know this:

I want to try.

And so, I will.

One Friday post at a time.

I hope you’ll join me.

Crushed Olive Ministries