Miracles in a Graveyard

As stated in the book Empty No More, “What is your personal graveyard? Your relationship with your children may resemble a tombstone – hard, rough, heavy. You’ve tried  to be a good parent, but distrust and frustration have taken over. Does it seem like an unlikely place for a miracle? So did the tombstone outside of Jerusalem.”

I would have not have experience or recognized the miracles that I have encountered if I had not been buried in the graveyard. Being buried has caused me to recognize and not take for granted as much as I have in the past. Depression and anxiety are my graveyard and the depth of that graveyard was my two suicide attempts. My miracles are that I am a functioning person in society and that I now know how to handle and manage my depression and anxiety better than I did before. I have come to accept that my battle with mental illness will continue and that I must counteract the demons inside my head. Thankfully I have a support system here if I feel I cannot manage on my own. What a miracle! As I pursue my new art career, with the assistance of all the financial resources I have in place (what a miracle!), I can recognize satisfaction. Now my goal, which I must continually work on, is to let myself feel satisfied. I must trust in God. The art festival I participated in last weekend did not generate much money. But the crowd was light and considering it was not well attended, most people that came to my table bought something. What a miracle! Last week my work has started to be represented in Fernbank Natural History Museum. What a miracle!…even if nothing sells.

Now when I wake up everyday I am thankful for a restful night’s sleep, proud to be living in my new home, and for my family. All of which I generally took for granted or did not recognize without experiencing the graveyard.