"The Silent Battle: Depression, Faith & Finding Hope"

In this raw and vulnerable episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth and Grace Conversation Podcast, Shannon and Deb hold space for a conversation that’s too often silenced in the church: depression, postpartum struggles, and suicide. After two attempts to record this story, today—despite a summer cold and spiritual resistance—is the day.

Deb courageously shares a deeply personal chapter of her journey through the darkest valleys of her life. Together, she and Shannon explore how faith and mental health coexist, how God sends people to walk with us through pain, and why the body of Christ must start having real conversations about emotional suffering.

This is a message of truth, grace, and hope. If you or someone you love is battling depression or suicidal thoughts, please call or text 988—a national, confidential lifeline offering 24/7 support. You are not alone. Jesus sees you, and so do we.

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Rooted in truth. Covered in grace. Carried in faith.

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https://unrelatedsisterspodcast.buzzsprout.com and tell us your stories and let us know if it’s okay to share (no names). Let us know if you need prayer or how we can support you in your journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. Follow us on Facebook @Unrelated Sister's: Truth & Grace Conversation Podcast or Email us at unrelatedsisterspodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:14

Dear Lord, I want to thank you for this day. I want to thank you for the mercy and the grace that you show us every day. Today's podcast Lord comes deep. And we want to pray that you help Deb through this today. We have been praying healing over her voice, Lord Jesus. We've been praying healing over her sinus infection or the summer cold that she's having right now, Lord Jesus, so that she can speak freely and clearly because we truly believe that today's podcast is finally here and ready to be spoken into the world, Lord Jesus, and that it is going to find healing. Our listeners are going to find healing in this podcast today And we are so thankful and so grateful for the opportunity to do this, Lord Jesus. We just praise your name today, Lord Jesus. We praise you and we are thankful for you, Lord Jesus. And we are thankful for this opportunity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11

Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

Welcome back, ladies and gents, to Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation Podcast. I'm Shannon, and I'm with a very courageous co-host, Deb, today. Today, Deb is going to share about a real dark time in her life. The thing is, this will be the third time we try to record this episode. The first time, I forgot to hit record. The second time, God had us on a different path. All week, Deb has been fighting a summer cold. Her voice has been in and out for days, so please be patient as we do this today. I know today is the day because Psalms 4211 was my verse of the day. Psalms 4211, why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I put hope in God. I will praise him again, my Savior and my God. So, Deb, whenever you're ready, the mic is all yours.

SPEAKER_00: 2:10

Thank you, Shannon. So, yeah, everybody bear with me today. I'm going to try to speak with the boldness and confidence and speak clearly. I want to talk today about a really dark time in my past. I think a lot of times depression is not talked about a lot. The women, mental health. That kind of thing. You're labeled if you are depressed or you're going through those seasons. And so a lot of women don't speak up about it. But I just want to share some things that the Lord brought me out of. A few years ago, I was going through a really, really dark time. It's when I was really in bondage through addiction. And, you know, you think that... And I'm going to speak on this in a little bit, but... You know, when I was out in sin, depression kind of comes with it, you know what I mean, when you're living in sin. But then when you get saved, you think everything's just great. But still, sometimes you go through those seasons of discouragement. And some people do fall into a deep depression. But let me go back to my first story. When I was 20, I think I was like 24, 25, I had attempted suicide once. Three or four times. A couple of times it was for attention. I was broken and I was crying out for help, but I was doing it the wrong way. Even though my family was there and they were trying to love on me, they really didn't even know how to deal with me, but I was just so broken. I would just take a bunch of pills, try to overdose or cut myself. Just crazy stuff to release the pain that I was feeling. Well, this one day in particular, I was going through a really, really, really rough time. And I thought, well, this is just it. I was to the point in my life, and I was believing the lies of the enemy, that my family would be better off, that my kids would be better off. I just left the earth. That God didn't have a plan for me. And when you're in those moments, you really believe those lies. You couldn't tell me otherwise. People could tell me in my face that God has a plan for you. You have a call on your life. But none of that seemed real to me. None of that even seemed obtainable to me. The past few years before that, I felt like that had done too much, that God didn't care about me, which I know is a lie. This particular day, my dad was being ordained as bishop. It was almost like the enemy always knew when to pull these attacks. I feel like this was not just an attack on me, but on my family as well, because this was a big, huge moment for my dad. He was really proud. He had family coming in from all over. The Church of God would come from Atlanta, and they were going to ordain him as bishop. He had worked really hard. They get a phone call that Well, actually, I had wrote a note and gave it to my daughter. I think she was maybe five or six at the time. I said, don't give this to Nana and Papa till after church because I wanted to take all these pills. I was seeing a psychiatrist and I was on seven or eight different medicines. They had diagnosed me bipolar, all kinds of, you know, all kinds of stuff. And so I had just got my medicines filled two or three days prior and I took everything that I had. All my medicine. 70 of them being Xanaxes. And if anybody knows anything about benzos, you know, sometimes people take two, three, four at a time and overdose and die. So I took 70 of those along with all my other mental health medicines. And so I give the note to my daughter, pretty much a suicidal note. So she did what I said. I gave it to them after church. But by the time they got to me, I barely remember. I was like in and out. And so I remember the ambulance coming to get me. And then after that, I don't remember nothing. Until maybe the next day or two, my mom and dad, I woke up in ICU. I had tubes all running down my throat and everything they have you hooked up to. I remember seeing my mom and dad at the end of the bed praying. Literally, they had their communion. taking communion at the end of my bed. And my dad was praying and saying, my daughter will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. And I always remember that. He didn't even know that I, I know that the Holy Spirit allowed me to wake up and see that. And I went right back into the coma or whatever I was in. And so I didn't even tell him until later what had happened, of course. And he confirmed, you know, I didn't know if I was like dreaming or like the Lord was showing me things, but it was definitely true. Because when he had went up to the hospital, to see me that day the lord told him to come armed and um so he on his way up there he said lord you know i have a covenant with you and um i gave my daughter you when she was born and we were in covenant together and i'm not gonna let the enemy have her and so they begin to to pray and i think that's so important that even when you have family members going through things that you stand in the gap for them. I really feel like my mom and dad's prayers helped pull me through. Not only because I do have a calling on my life, but at the same time, I had people covering me when I couldn't cover myself. I didn't even feel worthy to pray, Shannon. I didn't even feel worthy to step into a church. I really didn't because I always felt like that. Even if I would go, the During those times, the Spirit would be convicting me and I would go. I always felt like I was being judged or that people were talking about me. I

SPEAKER_01: 7:58

always felt like God was going to strike me dead if I stepped inside a church when I was in that time of my life, too. I understand that 100%. He's going to strike me dead. I'm going to fall dead. I've talked about gripping the back of the chair so much that my fingerprints would be left in the chair in front of me. I understand that conviction.

SPEAKER_00: 8:20

Yeah. And so I'm going to be real honest. There was lots of times I would be high, but I would feel convicted. And I would go to church high, or my girls would ask me to go. And looking back now, because I would be like, this is horrible. You know what I mean? But, you know, the Bible says that the church is a hospital. It's for the sick. I was sick. It's not for the people that have it together. So I feel like that when people come into the church, and so if they are high, so if they are... drunk or whatever the case may be, at least they're there. You know what I mean? And so even though that I might not have been in my right mind and I was not living right, the church is always open for that.

SPEAKER_01: 9:07

But isn't that planting the seed? It is. It is. I mean, if you walk

SPEAKER_00: 9:10

in the building, you have to hear the presence.

SPEAKER_01: 9:13

You have to hear something you wouldn't have heard if you hadn't walked in. You have to feel

SPEAKER_00: 9:19

That conviction.

SPEAKER_01: 9:20

Right. And you can't come out of addiction until you feel that

SPEAKER_00: 9:24

conviction.

SPEAKER_01: 9:25

Yeah. Like you can't find your way out until you start feeling that conviction.

SPEAKER_00: 9:29

And there would be a lot of times that I would cry or I would go to the altar and I would want to surrender and go and get right back home. And go right back to doing the same thing because I was so bound. I wanted to be free, but I didn't know how to get free. And so I just lived in this vicious cycle of depression and suicide. And not only was I going through it, then my kids, I had two girls that suffered, tried to commit suicide or tried to self-harm. And so they had to go to places. So we think a lot of times that the things that we're going through, oh, it's only affecting us. No, there was so much stuff that I was passing down to my kids that now that I'm more knowledgeable, I can, you know, we're coming against those generational curses so it don't pass into my grandkids. But I would think, oh, I'm just, I'm not hurting them. They're took care of. They're with my parents. But in reality, they were going through depression and suffering things because of the way I was acting. And they even said that. They're like, they told the psychiatrist one day, why would you, they said, why did you do this? Because my mom's locked up again. So we think, well,

SPEAKER_01: 10:36

It's okay. It's okay to cry. It's okay. This is healing for you, not just for our audience. And I get exactly where you're at because, you know, me and my son, we talk about it now. And, you know, he's 21 and he's been talking about, you know, finding that person or finding his faith. And he's struggled with faith and his struggle with faith. He only learned it from me, right? When he was young and when I should have been developing him and when I should have been leading him to God, I was struggling, right? And so he learned to struggle with his faith, with his emotions from me, right? Because we teach, you know, they follow what we teach them. They follow what they see. And so we may not have been able to break those generational curses then, but we can do

SPEAKER_00: 11:29

it now. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 11:29

You know, we can walk in that faith now. We can walk in that path now, and it's okay.

SPEAKER_02: 11:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 11:35

You know, it's okay. We know we're broken. God knows we're broken, right? And it's okay to be broken. And just watching you today be so vulnerable, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00: 11:47

Yeah. And I think, too, that—and I just want to say that God has fully restored my relationship with my kids and, you know, and healed them from those— You know, like, we're very transparent with each other. And so, you know, we're able to talk about these things now. And, of course, it's still, you know, when you think about it, like, wow, you know, you put your kids through a lot. But

SPEAKER_01: 12:06

that's the enemy. That's the enemy.

SPEAKER_00: 12:11

I'm so faithful, though, to bring it back around. And I'm so grateful, like, because some people don't get that.

SPEAKER_01: 12:17

Right. Right. You know, they choose not to listen. Yeah. They choose not to, you know, and it is a choice. It is a choice. yes, drugs are an addiction, and yes, it's, you know, you hit rock bottom, right? Ben Puller's song says, you know, there's a thousand ways to rock bottom, but there's only one way out. And you have to find that one way out. And, you know, in NA, they talk about the higher powers, right? And you can't do it for your kids. You can't do it for your mom or your dad, or you have to do it for yourself or for God. You know, and... And you have to find your way. And me and my son are on a good path now. And we haven't been in the past. And I'm very transparent. I'm very transparent about my addiction. I'm very transparent about his father's addiction and why we were together. I'm very transparent about why his dad isn't around. And that's been very hard for us, for him. in lots of ways. But we talk about it freely. And I feel like to be able to talk about it freely with our children is what is going to break those generational curses that has come. Even though your parents didn't have addiction. I had one in addiction and one not in addiction. Both your parents were God-fearing, God-loving people their whole lives. Or as long as I've known

SPEAKER_02: 13:48

them.

SPEAKER_01: 13:50

And When you talk about addiction or when you talk about depression, I've not ever been suicidal that I know of, that I can think about. There's some years in my life I'm not real sure about. where I was at or where I came from or how I got to here, you know, but I don't remember ever being suicidal, but I do, I do know that when my son was born, I was dealing with a lot of emotions. Um, I was six months pregnant, uh, before I knew I was pregnant. I was doing an eight ball a day by myself. Um, I was also sharing an eight ball a day with people, you know, um, I had the best, uh, drug supplier in north georgia and i had the cleanest if there's such a thing drugs in georgia in north georgia um and uh you know i was getting high every day and i went and i worked a full-time job i worked 40 hours a week i was a functional drug addict

SPEAKER_00: 14:51

yeah

SPEAKER_01: 14:52

if there's such a thing

SPEAKER_00: 14:54

i was not functional

SPEAKER_01: 14:56

if there was such a thing

SPEAKER_00: 14:57

right

SPEAKER_01: 14:58

um Now that I look back on it, it makes me laugh, right? But I was six months pregnant, went to work one day, and the assistant, my assistant that worked under me, she goes, I said, Oh my God, what are you wearing? And she's like, what are you talking about? And she was eight months pregnant. She was already pregnant. So she wasn't wearing perfume. She wasn't wearing, she had to wear unscented deodorant. Like everything made her sick at the time. Right. And I was like, Oh my God, what are you wearing? And she's like, what do you mean? And I got sick and I ran to the bathroom and I was sick and I just got high that morning. Like, you know, I've been up for three hours smoking bowls, you know, getting high before I come to work. And, um, And she's like, I'm not wearing nothing. She's like, you're pregnant. And I was like, no, I'm not. I can't get pregnant. Right? Like at 19, I was told I'd never have a kid.

SPEAKER_00: 15:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 15:47

You know, so she's like, yeah, you are. And I was like, you're crazy. She's like, I'll prove it to you. So she runs down because I'm working in the mall. She runs down to the CVS. She does a pregnancy test. And she comes back and I go in the bathroom and I take it. 30 seconds. It come back positive. I sent her back down there. I had about eight tests before I would even consider being pregnant. And I'm talking about, I'd pee on the stick, eight seconds. Less than 30 seconds, it was about costed. I cried and I cried. Like I couldn't even come out of the

SPEAKER_00: 16:21

bathroom.

SPEAKER_01: 16:22

And so I left work that day and I went home and I told my baby's daddy that I was pregnant. And he got mad and he threw some things and he yelled and he screamed and he cussed and he left. I crawled in the bed and I laid in the bed for three days and I cried and I prayed to God for three days. And I hadn't talked to God since I was 13.

SPEAKER_00: 16:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 16:48

You know, I hadn't openly spoke to God since I was 13. And I prayed and I cried for three days. And I got up on that fourth day and I went to the doctor and I walked into the OBGYN. And the doctor must have thought I was insane. Because not only did I tell him what kind of drugs I was doing now, I told him every drug I ever done in my life. Right. And I started getting high at 15. You know, I started drinking at 15, and then, you know, I started doing drugs at 16, and I started doing real drugs, you know, at 17 when I graduated high school, and I told him everything I'd ever done. You know, I told him the acid and the ecstasy and the, you know, the... Molly's and all the, just the different things I've ever done, you know, and he was like, okay, he's like, well, let's, you know, he's like, let's do this. Let's run this. Let's do this. And he made me a high risk pregnancy. Um, I quit my job, uh, cause I knew I had to get clean and I knew I had to do, you know, I had to do some things. Uh, and I honestly believe this with all my heart that God said, God, give me a baby. when he gave it to me because i think they're going to end up dead or in prison

SPEAKER_00: 18:03

yeah

SPEAKER_01: 18:04

and uh and he knew the only thing i was chasing was something to love me like i loved it right um something i i was going to love this baby unconditionally and i was and it was going to love me back unconditionally and i truly believe that in my heart and that's all i'd ever chased right i learned my i wanted my daddy's love to not have conditions I always felt like it had conditions. When I was little, I had to be perfect. When I was in school, I had to make good grades. I always felt like it was conditional. But our Father in Heaven is not conditional. Fast forward, I had a great pregnancy the rest of the time. I caught the flu in December. And I had the flu the entire time until he was born. The day he was born, I was finally cured of the flu. Only time I've ever had the flu. And I think it was getting rid of the toxins in his body is why I had the flu. Because I stayed sick. I threw up a lot. And he was born perfectly healthy. He was born with... He doesn't have ADHD. He doesn't have all the things that usually come with drug addiction. With a baby, he was born... He was, you know, of weight. He weighed 7'2". He was 21 inches long. He was born completely healthy. He's not had any learning disabilities. He's not had, he didn't have any stunt growth. He didn't have any of the things that normally come with addiction, right? And I'm so grateful to this day. But fast forward six weeks in, I go back for my checkup and the doctor's asking me all these questions and I'm, got on the mask everything's perfect everything's

SPEAKER_02: 19:59

fine

SPEAKER_01: 20:00

everything's fine and in all honesty I was I was going through postpartum and I didn't understand it right but I needed to go back to work because in that six weeks the baby's daddy didn't want to get clean he didn't want to stop doing drugs and so he would come to the house to see to see Dylan and he would pass out on the couch where he'd been up three or four days and so he wasn't actually visiting with Dylan it was a place to be

SPEAKER_02: 20:27

safe

SPEAKER_01: 20:27

a place to be safe because he knew I wouldn't let anybody mess with him or bother him at the time and one day when Dylan was three months old I looked at him and I said this isn't how this is going to be I said because in six months he's going to realize that you're only around when you want to be And in a year, it's going to break his heart. And in two years, it's going to mess him up, and we're not going to do this, right? So you need to make a choice. You get clean. You find a stable place to live. What you do when he's not around is your business, but when he's there, you're sober. You're going to see him on a regular basis. You're going to be a dad to him. You're going to take him to baseball games. You're going to do these things. And if you choose not to do that, when you walk out that door, If you choose not to ever come back, if you choose not to ever call again, I will never come after you, right? You know, you will make a choice and I will make one too. So he walked out and we hadn't seen or heard from him. And I've never chased him for child support. I've never asked him for help for any part of Dylan's life. And I'm okay with that. I've always talked with Dylan about it. You know, and when he turned 18, I told him if he wanted to find him, that I would help him find him. and anytime as as as he gets older if he chooses to do that that's his choice yeah um but going back to the three months uh in the six weeks and the postpartum because i was in postpartum dylan didn't get the nurturing that babies get yeah in the first six months of their life he was fed his diaper was changed he was bathed he was well physically taken care of but emotionally he was not Not with me. Right? Thank God that I had moved back home and my mama was there. And that emotional bondage was there. The two of them have it. Right? And like I've said in the past and on several, I thank God that he has that with her. Right? And we will never have that emotional bond. And I'm okay with that. Yeah. You know, and it's hard. But postpartum is real. And I had to go and find, I finally went to a doctor, to a psychiatrist or counselor, and I was diagnosed with PTSD because when I go through trauma or go through a tragedy, I choose to pretend like it doesn't happen. And I don't deal with it. At the time, I don't deal with grief. I don't deal with trauma. I don't deal with anything bad in my life. I choose to pretend like it didn't happen. But you can't do that. Because when you do that, it comes back and bites you in the butt later. And I take medicine for that. I have been taking medicine for that for 20 years. And I'm okay with that. When I first started, I was ashamed that I couldn't When I found my faith, I stopped taking my medicine, right? And I was like, I'm giving it to God, right? God's going to help me through this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And one day I'm having a mental breakdown. I am having a panic attack in my car. so bad that I have to pull over on the side of the road going down 75 because I can't. I just can't. I can't function. My body can't function. I can't think. I can't breathe. I am in full-fledged panic attack for no reason. And in that moment, sitting on the side of 75, God says, I give you professionals to help you. Don't be ashamed. And I was like, what? What? So then I was like, I don't understand. It says in the Bible to give it to God. It says in the Bible to just give it to Him. Well, I'm giving it to Him, but there's just things in life that you have to have help with. And God gives us to find a professional that believes the same rules that you believe and follow with them. Let them pray over you. Let them talk to you. It's okay.

UNKNOWN: 24:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:54

I'm grateful today that I don't have to take medicine anymore. They said I always would. But if you'd like, you're saying if you do, my dad talks on this all the time. He's like, God, give us doctors. Like if my dad, if he gets a symptom, of course he prays, but he also uses wisdom and he'll go to the doctor and go ahead and get him just like Monday. I was like, you know what? I've had this for three days. I'm going to go get me a steroid shot. That's what they're for. That's what the doctors are for. You know what I mean? I can speak healing and the Lord can heal us, but he also gives us wisdom to Use medical. Use doctors. You know what I mean? So it's okay. Like you said, don't be ashamed. And reach out for help. That's the biggest thing is trying to mask. Don't mask it. It's okay. Like if you're going through things, even after I gave my life back to God four years ago, I went through things, and we talked about this last episode. I was in a really hard season, and I could have really fell into some depression. I was right on the fence. I'm not even going to lie. I was smiling at work, smiling at everybody, at their face, smiling at church, here, wherever. But at home, it was not the same. I really had to make a decision to... Either you're going to change it or I'm going to leave or, you know what I mean? So I'm so thankful that God intervened and that I didn't listen to the lies of the enemy. That tells me that that was, because there was, oh, so many times the enemy would say, it's not going to work. This is not, this is not what, this is not your portion. This is not where you're supposed to be. And so, and then I would sit and think about it. What is it? Is it? You know what I mean? For a second, you're like, and then I want to go back. But God, I know what you said. I know what you spoke to me. I know I heard your voice telling me that, what it's supposed to look like. But I think a lot of times when we're not seeing things the way, when God gives us a word or gives us, sometimes it's not for that moment. And you have to, and when you're going through the middle, the middle is always so ugly. I've never met a person that has went through something, you know, God give them a word about something and then, And they had to wait a while to get to that. They'll always tell you that that middle part between there was not lovely. It was painful. I wanted to punch the wall sometimes and be like, God, where are you? It's very discouraging. But God brought me out. And I'm so thankful that these last two weeks that my house has been... My house is just so peaceful. And I'm so grateful that I didn't listen to the voice of the enemy that told me to leave and to give up. And, you know, sometimes it takes being around friends. I'm so grateful for Shannon. I'm so grateful for the prayer warriors that I had that will speak life into me. Because sometimes when you're discouraged and you can't encourage yourself, you know, David got into a spot where he's just like, you know what, I have to encourage myself. And that's good. But sometimes you're just in a spot where... You don't even feel worthy to encourage yourself. You thought, there's so much chaos going on right now. Lord, you're going to have to send me somebody. And I'm so grateful that He sends people into our life that will push us and to encourage us. And when we feel inadequate, we feel like, I'm not even worthy to do this podcast. Lord, do you even know what, do you see what's going on in my house right now?

SPEAKER_01: 28:23

You know, and that's funny, right? That's so, so funny because when we went to that women's conference, the devil,

SPEAKER_02: 28:30

the

SPEAKER_01: 28:31

time of life that you were in, it's like he just kept slapping you in the face, right? I mean, and we've talked about this in past podcasts, you know, and God wouldn't let it go. Like, he's like, she's going. Like, she's got to go. She's got to go. She's got to go. She's got to go. And I'm not usually one to chase. Right. That's just not who I am. Usually I ask you if you tell me no, then I let it go and I move on to the next person, you know, because I'm going. I want to go. I'm going. Right. And the same thing with concerts or anything that I choose to do. And, you know, and But God just wouldn't let it go. Like, I'd text you, you know, and you would, you know, some excuse or something was going on or whatever, you know, and so I'd move on. And a couple weeks later, you'd be there again. And I'm like, okay. So I'd text you again, you know, and not knowing what's going on, you know, at the time your father-in-law was sick. But your house was already falling apart then.

SPEAKER_00: 29:33

Well, we had three deaths since January. We had three deaths back to back to back. My ex-husband died, which is the father of my oldest three girls. That was in January. Or maybe Leslie died first. Kevin's sister died January 23rd. And then my ex-husband died. And then in March the 3rd, my father-in-law died. So even in a month. two months period, we lost three people in the family, just like that. And so on top of all that, the enemy was trying to do a word. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:09

Attacking your house. And, uh, you know, we go to that conference and, and God is so vivid, right? He is so present and he is there. And, you know, he's, he's whispering to you. He's whispering to me. It's just all over the place, you know, and we started this podcast, right? And every week God tells us what to talk about every week, you know, Monday, I'm sending you, this is what we're going to talk about, you know, I'm usually off on Sundays, so I spend time in this room praying and just listening to God and all that. We talked about this last week, and last week, nothing. It was just silence. And it's because it was time for it to come out, right? It was time for us to be honest. It was time for you to tell your story. And I think that's why the whole depression thing, we had to tell the first story first. Yeah. Right? We had to tell the season we were in. And it amazes me. Like, it just, I have cold chills today. Yeah. You know, it just amazes me at where we're at as far as where this podcast is headed, where our lives are headed with God and with our faith, you know. There's so much more to come, and I'm so excited that y'all have chosen to do this journey with us.

SPEAKER_00: 31:34

And I just want to, I'm excited too. And I'm so thankful that you pushed me. And you need to find you some friends that will push you, that will go to war with you. And I'm so grateful for you. And I just want to encourage you that, you know, that you can come out of whatever you're going through right now. You can come out of it. God's faithful. And if you can just remember that no feeling is final. You think that when you're in that moment and you're discouraged and you're depressed and you feel like nobody cares, God cares. Yes, He does. When everything feels dark, there's always light, and it will shine again. God sees you. He's not forgotten you. Psalms 34, 18 says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saved those who are crushed in spirit. That means right now, in your darkest moment, He's right there near you.

SPEAKER_01: 32:17

Yes,

SPEAKER_00: 32:17

He is. And call on Him. The Lord bring me out. It says that pain will pass, healing is possible, and your story isn't over. There's more life to live, more joy to find, and more beauty ahead.

SPEAKER_01: 32:27

Yes, there is. So depression and suicide is real, and we as Christians don't talk about it enough. Yes, give it to Jesus, but didn't Jesus give us compassionate people with the training to help us? Jesus puts people in our paths, in our hearts, when we need help the most. Amen. Amen. Amen. Today, right now in this moment, please pick up your phone and text or call 988. Lifeline is a hotline with people to help. It's a national hotline, so no matter where you are in the United States, you can dial 988 or text it and a professional will contact you. If you need prayer, please message us on our Facebook page, Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation Podcast, or email us at unrelatedsisterspodcast at gmail.com. Remember, you are not alone. Rooted in truth, covered in grace, and carried in faith. Until next time, we love

SPEAKER_00: 33:50

you. We love y'all.