It's the First Week of February....

....which means we start our Book Talk! I am quite excited about this book, Christians Get Depressed Too. I can't remember where I heard of this book, or who told me about it, but I do remember thinking last November that it is the book I want to do for Book Talk.

Unless your head is in the sand, er, snow, you will have noticed that over the past few years, awareness about depression has definitely been a lot more on the forefront - the myths, the stigmas, the misunderstandings of it all. I am very thankful that more and more people are talking about it.

I will admit right off the bat - I don't understand depression, and I am very uneducated about it all. Well, uneducated when it comes to the very dark-deep-in-a-pit-can't-get-out-of-bed depression. I do believe that I have a bit of SAD: seasonal affective disorder. The weather definitely can affect me; the lack of sunshine can weigh me down.

I don't remember noticing it so much when I was teaching. The only thing I really noticed in regards to weather was whether the kids could go out for recess or not. That's all I really cared about. It wasn't until I was home fulltime that the grey days got to me. But it'd come and go. I'd be restless, lonely, moody and antsy for a day or two and then that would be it.

However, last October, October 30th to be exact, we had experienced a number of grey days. That particular day we also had some snowflakes. And with each snowflake, my heart became heavier and heavier, to the point of my crying at the supper table. I couldn't breathe when I thought of the fact that it was *just* the beginning of the season and I was already absolutely dreading Winter. Whenever I thought that we have at least 4.5-5 months of this, my chest constricted and it felt like someone was sitting on it.

My anxiety rose as I was quite worried that if I was feeling like this now already, at the end of October, how in the world am I going to get through this winter??!

Well, by God's grace, that out-of-breath, quick to tears and tight chest only lasted for 24 hours, and with thankfulness to Him, it has yet to come back again - praise God!! And that even includes December, where I don't think there was a single full sunny day the whole month!

Well, here we are, with January behind us and February upon us. Winter is still in full force and so the book, Christians Get Depressed Too, seems like such a fitting one......especially this week. Last night and today we were dumped on with snow, and there is more coming in the next days.

 Don't get me wrong, I *love* the snow - when the sun is shining! With that sun shining, it is just so glorious out there!!

So, come join me this Thursday, having read the Preface and Chapter One of Christians Get Depressed Too. My plan is to write a review of the chapter, then my thoughts, ask for your thoughts and end with prayer points. I so look forward to this - to learn more about depression so that I may not only help myself, but those around me.

See you Thursday!!