A New Life: Part 2

Hi, this is Bernie Dake.

And I'm Lori Miller. Welcome to the Salvation Army's Wonderful Words of Life. Welcome, Bernie. Thanks, Lori. Welcome back to you.

Thank you. And Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. In the United States, this is a week every year that we celebrate Thanksgiving, being thankful for all of the blessings in our life. Do you have any special traditions, Lori? You know, what's interesting is that I grew up as the daughter of Salvation Army officers who served in the Adult Rehabilitation Center. And for us, Thanksgiving always meant going down to the rehabilitation center and having a meal with those who were in recovery.

And so it looks different for me. And that really set a precedent for me that Thanksgiving is about being thankful for everything that I have been given, but also to be thankful for the lives of other people who have been redeemed. And so that's really powerful for me. I love that.

For me, it's just the memories of being somewhat dependent on my parents and being home, or even now as an adult when you get to go home. And my mother will make this cranberry and orange relish. Oh, my. It's a lot like an orange, but she says oinge. Oinge.

But it's just a wonderful relish that goes with the turkey and all of the fixins. Yeah, absolutely. It's definitely something I look forward to when I can be home. Well, this is our final episode in this series. And I just want to say a special thank you to Aliada, who has done a lot of preparation and been wonderful sharing her own experience, her expertise with us on mental health. And if you're listening to this, Aliada, just know that we love you and we're grateful for your wisdom.

Yeah. What do you think about the series in general, Laurie? Oh, I feel like it's so powerful. I'm so glad that we chose to address this topic, particularly because we're not always comfortable talking about it. And I think it's so important. And my prayer and my hope is that it will reach somebody out there in a powerful way. Yeah, I think we've certainly done a better job at addressing it just by being open.

That's right. Like you've said, there were some things that we mentioned about just being present with people, taking some time to find someone to talk to, perhaps, and even just taking some time for yourself and meditating. But I want to be sure that we mentioned whatever you choose to meditate on. For us as Christians, we think that the Bible is a good answer.

Absolutely. That's where you can get some solid wisdom, godly wisdom in you that will help you through all of the trials of life. In fact, the Bible says in James chapter 1, I think, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith develops perseverance. And one of the ways that you can battle depression is helping other people. That's right. So there it is.

That's godly wisdom. We just want to encourage you with that. Absolutely. There's some resources too, Laurie. Do you want to tell us some more about that?

Absolutely. There's some more resources we want to give you. For more information, you've heard us say salvationarmy.org is one of them. And then Christian Counseling and Educational Services, and that is ccesonline.com. And then last week we talked about the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and you can check out more with them at nami.org. Thank you for joining us for this series.

If it spoke to you and there's someone you think should hear these messages, please share the show with them, or better yet, show them how to subscribe to it on iTunes or wherever they get their podcast. And don't forget to follow us on social media and to find out more about our Advent Series beginning next week. Thank you. Take me away to worship. All I want to do is tell you how much I love you. With all that I am, I'll worship you. Take me away to worship. All I want to do is tell you how much I love you. With all that I am, I'll worship you. I want to tell you just how much I love you.

I want to tell you just how much I love you. I'm glad that you've joined us. I'm Bernie Dake, and this is our new friend, Aliata Dawkins.

Aliata comes to us from Washington, D.C. She has a passion for mental health, and she works for the Salvation Army there. We're glad that she's joined us, but this is unfortunately our last episode together. It went by so fast.

It went by fast. Thank you for having me. Man, it's a privilege. You make me better. All right. You make us better. And that's the Proverbs 2717 model we mentioned on one of the previous episodes. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

I feel smarter today, sharper today, because of the words that you've shared with us throughout this series. But I want to do a couple things with you before we lose you. First, tell me, if we need help, where can we find help if we're dealing with mental health issues? My initial place that you would go is SAMHSA, and then NAMI, the National Association of Mental Illness. So that number is 1-800-950-6264. And if you're dealing with substance abuse or drug and alcohol abuse, you can call the 1-800-662-HELP to get additional support.

Okay. Now, the Salvation Army throughout the United States and Canada in particular have adult rehabilitation centers for men and now centers for women. And we have Salvation Army churches and communities that we serve.

There's people that can help you. Throughout the series, we've often talked about or we have talked about our faith community, our own church homes, places that we go to worship. I hope that you, as our listeners, have a church home.

And if you don't, I would encourage you to find one. There's strength in numbers, as they say. And what happens in a faith community in particular is you're surrounded with people who are like-minded.

They want the best for you. And if you can find people that you can be honest with and open with, I think you'll find some success in dealing with mental health is something that Aliada has certainly reinforced in our thinking while we're here. Do you know of any good success stories that you can share with our listeners to keep it upbeat and know that, you know, we've talked about how to succeed. Can we talk about anybody in particular that you'd like to highlight while you're here?

Yes, I think I've been in social services for a while, and so I've seen a variety of clients who've had a variety of experiences. But what this one individual comes to mind in terms of everything in life that could have happened, did happen. She lost her mother at an early age. She was homeless. She was dealing with some educational deficits as an individual. And even at one instance, she attempted to, she had a baby, wanted to leave the hospital, but because she didn't have anywhere to go, she couldn't take her child with her. So that sprout her down into a very deep, deep depression in terms of that, and it was just walking along beside her. She got involved with the Salvation Army's pastoral care through the Pathway of Hope program, and she slowly built herself back up.

It did not happen over the course of night, over one night, even over the course of a few days, but slowly. And I think that's what it's really about. As you accept a new life, society always has instances that tries to isolate us.

Whether we're comparing ourselves along our journey to someone else, whether we're looking at Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, there's always an instance to compare ourselves with someone else. But just understanding who God has created you to be can help you adapt to a new way, a new way of looking, a new way of living and being present in your life and in your family's life. So I think those are things that happen with this particular individual. And day by day, slowly, she set a plan. She started to think about change. We started to talk about change.

And then you started the change to become her. And it brings up the scripture for me that weeping only endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. And if we can adapt that thought process every morning or through the ups and downs of life, I really believe that whatever life hits us with, where we have foreknowledge of it or not, whether it's a tragedy or something we know that's going to happen in the future, that we understand that God is the creator of us all.

And he takes care of us. And that all I got to do is be present in this moment and understand that I can go at my own pace. And so she went at her own pace. And today she's living independently, both of her children. Does she still have sad days around mother's days and holidays?

Of course, because that's a part of life, but she's learning to not get over, but to adjust. Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Hey, I want to ask you as our listeners to understand that your story can be an encouragement to others. If you were willing to let us use your story, would you please share that with us either through email at radio at uss.salvationarmy.org or call us at our 1-800 number, 1-800-229-9965. We would love to use your story to encourage someone else if you will allow us.

We would never use your name without permission, but if you think that you've been through something that could be helpful to a listener, please understand we will use that in faith believing that God can use our experience and powerful ways to encourage others. I hope you've been encouraged by Aliada and the talks that we've had over these 11 weeks of this series on mental health. And I pray that you would be encouraged and know that you're not alone. Take a breath and come back and see us at Wonderful Words of Life. God bless you.

God bless you. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support.

And we would love to hear from you. Email us at radio at uss.salvationarmy.org. Call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at P.O.

Box 29972, Atlanta, Georgia, 30359. When you contact us, we'll send you our gift for this series. It's totally free for listeners like you, one per household while supplies last. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for Wonderful Words of Life. Follow us on social media for the latest episodes, extended interviews, and more. And if you don't have a church home, we invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center. They'll be glad to see you. This is Bernie Dake inviting you to join us next time for the Salvation Army's Wonderful Words of Life. Music