{"id":3374,"date":"2012-12-25T02:52:41","date_gmt":"2012-12-25T07:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3374"},"modified":"2012-12-24T10:54:33","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T15:54:33","slug":"this-morning-and-every-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html","title":{"rendered":"This morning and every morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"happy<\/a>There are few times that I don’t feel light-hearted and joyful. \u00a0My brother says that it’s only because I’m stupid. \u00a0I think it’s because God has given me the ability to see beyond present pain and embrace the joy of a new day.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong. \u00a0I went through years of depression. \u00a0In fact, at a time when I knew that I was in big trouble, I consulted a good friend who was a therapist. \u00a0“You have what is called a ‘smiling depression,'” he told me, laughing. \u00a0Even though, I thought this was a contradiction in terms, I knew that he had struck a deep chord of reality in my soul. \u00a0My life was filled with methods to hide, camouflage and disguise my real emotions, especially anger.<\/p>\n

He gave me a book to read,\u00a0Happiness is a Choice<\/em><\/a>\u00a0authored by Frank Minirth, M.D. and Paul Meier, M.D. \u00a0I learned how to resolve the anger that was causing the depression and work toward allowing the Lord to control my emotions.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to me that IQ doesn’t seem to matter regarding depression. \u00a0My husband’s IQ was off the charts; but from his childhood, he battled with depression almost every day of his life. \u00a0He died weeping. \u00a0Therefore, it’s easy to see how people who are intellectually disabled (ID) can easily fall into a state of sadness that leads to depression.<\/p>\n

\"christmas-family\"<\/a>We are told by the experts and our own experience that more people become depressed during holiday seasons than at any other times. \u00a0Where is my family? \u00a0Who cares for me? \u00a0What wrong with me that I don’t have the joy that others seem to have?\u00a0<\/em>are only a sampling of the questions that dance like sour grapes through our minds and thoughts. \u00a0There are more suicides committed during Christmas time than at any other time of the year. \u00a0We become angry and depressed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Much of our anger comes from a lack of control. \u00a0People within the mentally challenged community control almost nothing in their lives. \u00a0They live with their parents or surrogate parental figures all their lives. \u00a0Depending on their personality–rather than their IQ–this can lead to depths of sadness that would be hard for anyone to express. \u00a0Couple this with the fact that the ID community has a limited vocabulary and a limited ability to express it; and you have a powder keg waiting to ignite into explosives depression.<\/p>\n

Yet, God in his infinite wisdom gives us a new beginning with every sun rise. \u00a0Recognizing your sadness and anger are the first step. \u00a0The second is forgiveness. \u00a0When we forgive, I am not excusing the behavior. \u00a0I am simply releasing them from my judgment and turning them over to God. \u00a0After all, he is the one true and righteous judge.<\/p>\n

No matter how difficult and painful yesterday was. \u00a0It is gone and we have the morning. \u00a0This morning. \u00a0Great, powerful and joyful things are about to happen. \u00a0Rejoice!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are few times that I don’t feel light-hearted and joyful. \u00a0My brother says that it’s only because I’m stupid. \u00a0I think it’s because God has given me the ability to see beyond present pain and embrace the joy of a new day. Don’t get me wrong. \u00a0I went through years of depression. \u00a0In fact,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,334,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,4,41],"tags":[629,690,21,688,739,626,696,7,699,185,627,715,701,694,689,628,6,687,700],"class_list":["post-3374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-christmas","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-anger","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-depression","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-forgiveness","tag-holiday-depression","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-sadness","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-simple-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThis morning and every morning - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This morning and every morning - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are few times that I don’t feel light-hearted and joyful. \u00a0My brother says that it’s only because I’m stupid. \u00a0I think it’s because God has given me the ability to see beyond present pain and embrace the joy of a new day. Don’t get me wrong. \u00a0I went through years of depression. \u00a0In fact,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-25T07:52:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-24T15:54:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/happy-at-dawn.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This morning and every morning - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This morning and every morning - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"There are few times that I don’t feel light-hearted and joyful. \u00a0My brother says that it’s only because I’m stupid. \u00a0I think it’s because God has given me the ability to see beyond present pain and embrace the joy of a new day. Don’t get me wrong. \u00a0I went through years of depression. \u00a0In fact,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-12-25T07:52:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-12-24T15:54:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/happy-at-dawn.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. Howard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html","name":"This morning and every morning - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/happy-at-dawn.jpg","datePublished":"2012-12-25T07:52:41+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-24T15:54:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/happy-at-dawn.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/happy-at-dawn.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/this-morning-and-every-morning.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This morning and every morning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/","name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Linda Howard","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739","name":"Linda G. Howard","description":"Linda G. Howard is the best-selling and award-winning author of four books, including MOTHERS ARE PEOPLE, TOO and THE SECRET LIFE OF A HOUSEWIFE. Currently, she serves as area director of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. Additionally, she is the co-publisher and editor of CONNECTING POINT, the ministry newsletter. Her husband is a retired aerospace technologist who worked for NASA. They have three children and four grandchildren.","sameAs":["http:\/\/specialgathering.wordpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/author\/lhoward"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3380,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions\/3380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}