By Stephanie
I learned about depression while living in the Pacific Northwest. Before that I had never really experienced it or understood it. And since moving back to Vegas, all mine has evaporated with the sunshine.
Avery however has not been so lucky. I noticed a few things like she almost refuses to go to school. She has been 2 hours in the last three weeks! And even piano, which she LOVES, she doesn’t want to practice or go to lessons (which are already paid for so it’s super frustrating for me). It’s like she has given up and only wants to sit at home and watch TV. So NOT like Avery.
And Nathan too. I mean seriously? He cries. All the time. I know he is 13. I know he has to do more. But really…tears? All the time? I wasn’t expecting that.
So I talked to Chris and to Avery’s doctor about her. Her doctor suggested some great medicine, which we might have to do. But I have been trying to think of ways to help them understand what we are all going through. It goes get to be a lot. But I have sunshine. So I am ok. It’s just the rest of ‘em.
On Saturday I attended this wonderful women’s conference put on by our church. They had a couple speakers, the Christensen’s, who have four out of four kids with much more major health problems that our family has faced. They have a show on the Mormon Channel called, “Enduring it Well.” Ok, even as I look this up I noticed the title of their episode is “"The Rain Decsended". Perfect. Now I know you have to see this. Somehow I was able to remain composed during their presentation. I think I knew if I really started crying, I would not have been able to stop.
I asked the husband, W.A. Christensen if he had any suggestions on helping a child through depression and the feelings of major medical things. He is praying and thinking on it. I will let you know what he says…
In the meantime, also at that conference I got three wolf stories. Which is kind of weird because Nathan and Chris love wolves.
So we are going to learn about these this week. I will share with you first.
FIRST WOLF STORY
There was an old Cherokee Indian. One day he relayed to his grandson that he had two wolves inside him fighting. One was despair and anger. The other was hope and love. The grandchild then asked which one will win, “The one you feed”, was his reply.
We are going to talk about how we “feed each wolf” and make sure the white one wins.
SECOND WOLF STORY
Ok this is fun. Get a bag of “building material” for each family member. Things like straws, sticks, cards, marshmallows, etc. But one bag needs Lego's (or similar blocks) including the foundation piece. Have each family member build a “house” while you tell the story “The Three Little Pigs”. You may have to do more or less piggys depending on your family size. The Lego house is the last.
Why didn’t the house fall down? It was connected. Then get out a paper and have each family member say how they are “connected” with Christ and with each other. (put their name by their answer). This will help them and you see how they feel and how they see themselves. It also helps that this house had a foundation. The foundation is Christ. And we will talk about that.
THIRD WOLF STORY
When a wolf is hungry he follows a herd of sheep until he sees one, usually a baby, wonder off. If we don’t want to be taken by the wolf we need to stay close to those that will help us and protect us. How can we do that?
This should prove interesting. I am hoping it helps us as a family deal with the load of burden we have. And thank you again for all the love, support and prayers. It truly means a lot and we get answers to those questions because we have so many of you praying for us.
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