I
am a Jersey Girl, straight from the bowels of "Little Italy," and transplanted
to Florida at the age of five. Growing up in north Florida, I remember rainy
and cloudy days in a row; however, I could always count on the sun to shine
several days of the week.
Then,
when I married, my former husband moved us regularly. We lived for months and
years at a time in the states of Missouri, Arizona, Arkansas and Pennsylvania,
as well as several stints back in north Florida. We also traveled full-time with
our three children for four years.
One
fact of life in all of these places was rainy and cloudy days. Don't get me
wrong. I love the rain, because it keeps our reservoirs full, and also waters
my garden for me and makes everything so green and vibrant.
Yet,
end-to-end cloudy days started to affect the psychological balance of my
melancholy personality with Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder (SAD), a
type of depression that is related to changes in seasons.
In
Pennsylvania, I bought a Kaleidoscope kit, and followed the directions. I made
myself a means of viewing colored glass flowers encased in a delightful
triangular case. It fed my soul - the home of our thoughts and emotions - any
time of the day or night.
At
my request, I also received two prisms for Christmas one year, and I hung them in
a sunny window. My prisms and kaleidoscope brought me continual pleasure as they
sustained my soul with their cheerful colors, and moved with me through several
life-altering events in my life, including being divorced.
Eventually
moving to south Florida with my new husband, I found so much joy there for so
many reasons. One major cause of this bliss included the fact that it only
rains there for hours, rarely for days at a time.
I
could always count on short, daily showers to water my garden, preceded and
followed by the cheerful sun. After 20 years in this tropical paradise, God
sent us to IL to Pastor a growing church in a little village.
The
weather soon reacquainted me with regimented cloudy and rainy days that
followed one another like marching soldiers. I rarely had to break out a hose,
but I found myself once again struggling with Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder
(SAD).
Counting
on my Kaleidoscope and prisms for cheer, I looked forward to the sun coming in
the windows, refracted through the prisms, and sending splashes of cheerful dots
of rainbow "flowers" all over the walls of our living and dining rooms.
The
prisms are hanging on my potted plant racks. These shelves boast of a variety
of "green growing things" that also cheer my soul all year long. Many
of them detox the air we breathe by absorbing toxins from the environment that
trickle inside the house whenever we open the door.
There
are many ways to overcome negative emotions associated with seasonal changes -
especially by living, moving and shaping our identity in Christ (Acts 17:8). If
you also suffer from SAD, let me encourage you to find your own ways to escape
the depression, and to abide in the joy of the Lord.
Prayer:
Father
God, I am so thankful to You for giving us Your Word, which continues to be on
the best seller booklist even in today's godless culture. Not only did You send
Your only begotten Son to pay the penalty of our sin; but You also gave us Your
Spirit to guide each moment of our life, and Your encouraging and sustaining
Word to comfort us in every circumstance.
Thank
You also for green growing plants all year around, for color and music and
nature - which enrich our life, for friends and family to encourage and support
us, for pets to give us unconditional love, for ministries in which to serve
You, and for healthy food to sustain our body. We praise You, O Lord our God,
with all of our heart.
Thought
for the Day:
We
can spend hours of time each day thanking God that we are not prisoners of our
human personality or the whims of the weather outside; instead, we live as His
adopted children and co-heirs of His Kingdom with our brother Jesus.
- Romans
8:17
