by Chronic Joy® | May 7, 2019 | Heather MacLaren Johnson, Mental Illness
After eighteen years of loving her, of nurturing her since I picked her up in my arms as a nearly six-year-old in that dingy, Russian orphanage outside of St. Petersburg, I couldn’t believe yet another diagnosis would be added to her multiple others. My dear Anna,...
by Chronic Joy® | Mar 6, 2019 | Anxiety, Depression, Heather MacLaren Johnson, Mental Illness
Are you a Christian? Do you, or does someone you know, suffer with depression? Or anxiety? Or bipolar? You know, the real illnesses. Not the words batted around daily making folks like me feel like we have no clue about what it actually means to deal these illnesses...
by Chronic Joy® | Sep 25, 2018 | Anxiety, Depression, Heather MacLaren Johnson, Mental Illness
Early this summer, I forgot to take my antidepressants for three days in a row. Normally, a two-day memory lapse would throw me into the pit of deep darkness. This time was different. I thought maybe I had reached a point where God had answered my prayers—20 years of...
by Chronic Joy® | Mar 15, 2018 | Anxiety, Caregivers, Chronic illness, Depression, Heather MacLaren Johnson, Mental Illness, Parenting, Story
She stood on the threshold wearing a red dress, her chopped hair topped with a big chiffon bow customary for little Russian girls. Holding the hand of the orphanage director, she looked across the room where I sat on a red couch in front of a wall of windows covered...
by Chronic Joy® | Nov 14, 2017 | Heather MacLaren Johnson, Leaders
WHY DID I WRITE A GUIDE FOR FACILITATING SMALL GROUPS? THREE REASONS: I know the power of good small groups. Many people feel unqualified to lead small groups. Many books written for small group facilitators are not user-friendly. As a former therapist who’s led...
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