According to my Mental Health Month Calendar on Wednesday 6th October you are meant to “reminisce on a funny or joyful time you’ve had in the last year”.
There are plenty of those! But there has also been one in just the last few hours! The incredibly wonderful news is that Lisa has made it safely back from Uganda and is currently in hotel quarantine, with medical facilities at hand, in Melbourne. Hooray! Thank you, God! Thank you, thank you, thank you, God! We are so relieved for her and for Pete and Lucy and Jillian and all the family who are celebrating her return. Over the next few months she will be undergoing a lot of medical procedures and, as there is no insurance covering her costs, many people have asked if they can assist. There will be more details in the bulletin this Friday for those who would like to support Lisa in this way.
There have been other joyful times in recent days too.
Sunday’s service with that incredibly long litany of animals – I felt a bit like Noah counting animals into the ark! – was wonderful. And it was truly lovely to celebrate Desmond and Janice’s wedding on Saturday. There was also the joyful news that Richard and Eliza had a baby girl on Sunday morning (in Perth) who they have called Zoe Eleanor – ‘life and light’! Wonderful, too, to see Penny emerge from the hospital after her last treatment (on video) on Sunday and be embraced by Meryl. It has been a hard road for you, Penny, and we are all praying and hoping that you will be back to full strength and all the activities of your wonderful creative and energetic life soon!
So, it seems very apt that tonight at Community Hour (5.30-6.15pm every Wednesday during lockdown On Zoom) we are sharing something that we are celebrating (or have celebrated) during lockdown. If you are stuck for something to celebrate, come along and tell us about a favourite children’s birthday party game! As you may have seen in last week’s bulletin, there will be bonus points for people wearing homemade party hats! And a few streamers might not go astray!
There are others who are struggling,having significant surgeries and long recoveries – we are thinking of Catherine and of Richard, Tara’s husband, at this time – and there are many we are mindful of this month living with mental illness. This Sunday we will focus on Mental Health Month in the service and our series on mental health awareness and advocacy will continue with Sundays at 6.
As 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” May we be people who empower others, who nurture the good health of others, as well as ourselves – all through the wonderful empowering, nurturing love of God.
Amen!
Belinda