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The danger of silence

I recently chatted to a friend who told me that she had suffered really bad post-natal depression.  She had had a really bad time for a while and none of her friends knew about it.  I felt really sorry for her, not that that helps now because she is mostly over it. 

Yesterday I read about a 16 year old who got hold of his dad's gun and shot himself so he didn't have to go back to boarding school.

This morning I read about a 17 year old who threw herself in front of a train because she felt guilty about waisting her mom's money after failing a grade.

There are often stories of teenage moms dumping babies in latrines or worse or simply abandoning them.

On a different kind of extreme I've recently read the blogs of people running away from church (the institution), because they believe it is no longer looking like what God intended it to look like.  The sadness for me is that while I can understand the frustration and disillusionment I do not understand what seems to be a turning away from Biblical, not church, standards?  I have some thoughts I share in a separate blog.   

Why do we not open up our mouths and ask for help, or shout out out against all that is wrong?  When I was in my late teens I had a really bad thing happen to me.  And I told no one.  For years after that I lived out the life of a broken person.  I made really bad decisions and hurt a lot of people.  Why did I not speak to someone? 

I am a mom now and there are days where two little people can be a bit much.  I love my children dearly but I sometimes have had just too much screaming or crying or nappy changes or temper tantrums.  In those moments I turn to my husband and let him know I need some time.  He is not a mind reader and as much as he already does unless I tell him I need help, he does not always know.

What I am trying to suggest in this post is that if you need to talk to someone because whatever it is is getting too much, talk.  Also don't think what you are going through is not important enough for the person listening to hear.  We have to live the best lives we can and almost always that means having people come around us to support us to do that.  And if you for any reason need prayer, I would like to pray for you. 

Philippa
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Comments

  1. Leoni1 February 2011 at 10:10

    This is so true! Thanks for the important reminder. It's also a reminder to be the kind of 'listener' that we feel we sometimes need.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Philippa1 February 2011 at 14:19

    this one was really personal to me. I know I need to move away from being the person needing to the person available. Thanks for commenting. I really appreciate the feedback.

    ReplyDelete

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