We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we hope you remembered to thank God for His continued goodness in your life and for all that He has given you and for all that He will continue to give you. God blessed each one of our ministry team members with a wonderfully safe,quiet holiday full of love,laughter and His marvelous light. It was quite refreshing to be able to take some time out to enjoy family,friends and the simple things in life that we don’t have time for when we are working all of the time.But after eating Thanksgiving dinner,Thanksgiving can often seem just like any other day unless you choose to focus on it the way God intended for it to be focused on.There are many people that don’t celebrate Thanksgiving for many different reasons and that’s okay, also many people are working because either they want to or they have to but either way,Thanksgiving is an official day to take some time out to be thankful and full of gratitude for what is rather than what is not. Our ministry celebrates Thanksgiving every day, because each day that God gives us all, is reason enough to celebrate despite the many problems,set backs and attacks that we’ve recently encountered. We would like to encourage you to see every day that God gives you as Thanksgiving as well no matter what you’ve had to go through, and watch how easily your mood changes!

     We have noticed that during the holidays, when you’re with family and friends it is always good at first and then there are the disagreements, the different opinions and then there are those that want to fight for the remote control of the T.V. to decide what every one should be watching even if they don’t want to! Can you relate? Holidays are meant to be fun and meant to draw everyone together to celebrate, to enjoy and embrace God’s love and provisions, but we’ve noticed that depression often finds it’s way in the lives of many of God’s children during this time of the year because of what is, what was and what hasn’t happened yet.  God never meant for the holidays to be a source of stress and strain for you and He never meant for retailers to divert the attention of His people from the real reason for the season by offering drastic price cuts and early bird specials so that this would be what they looked forward to instead of enjoying God and the family that He’s provided, but this is what the holidays have become for many. We’ve learned that when you focus wrongly on the holidays by thinking of what is not working, what happened to you in the past that was terrible and what hasn’t happened yet because you’ve been waiting so long, it will always usher depression into your life some kind of way.

      When you’ve reached the point repeatedly of not being able to take it any more you will often become indecisive, suffer anxiety attacks and you will distance yourself from family and friends. Your passions leaves and what you used to be vibrant about will cause you to with draw from everything that used to give you joy. If this sounds like what you’re going through right now, you are depressed. Depression occurs when external pressures invade your heart and weigh it down with hopelessness. It can affect all of your relationships, but depression is especially damaging to your relationship with God. When you are depressed,you place more attention on your circumstances than you do on God’s Word and His power to deliver you,and that hinders your ability to hear clearly from God and that hinders your ability to trust God or to believe in His word and His power to deliver you.

To break free from depression, you must actively work at it. You can’t just put your head in the sand and ignore what you’re going through, and you can’t wish your pain away,either because it does not work. Depression begins with your thoughts,so it must be defeated in your mind. First, you have to change the way you think. You must believe that God loves you and wants you to enjoy life. You must beleive that no matter what you’ve been through or what you’re going through, God will turn it around for your good and His glory! You must spend lots of time with God in prayer and reading His word, then you can draw closer to God through His Word.  If you are battling depression, the following steps can help you break free from this curse of darkness that wants to keep you down and tied to the pit of despair:

1. Fill your heart with the Word. You may not always be in control of your circumstances, but you can control what’s in your heart. Plant God’s Word and His promises in your heart (John 14:1; Proverbs 4:20—23). Depression can’t take root in a heart that is firmly established in the Word.
2. Speak to your problems, not about them. The more you talk about your problems, the bigger they seem. When you meditate on the Word and believe in your heart that the Word is true, you can speak positive, faith—filled words that can change your situation (Mark 11:23).
3. Ask God to supply what is missing in your life. Don’t be afraid to ask God for what you need. Take pleasure in spending time with Him, and He will give you what you desire (Psalm 37:4; John 16:24).
4. Give God praise and thanksgiving. Praise lifts feelings of depression. When you praise God and thank Him for what He has already done for you—especially when you are in the middle of a difficult situation—He will ease your burdens and reward your attitude of gratitude.