Almost 30 years ago, my life as I knew it came to a halt. My concentration and my memory functioned at their lowest levels. My body always felt exhausted even to the point that I went four days without taking a shower. Nothing was enjoyable or if it felt good it did not last very long. Even food did not taste the same. My life as a college student came to an end and I felt as if the world had ended. All that I could see was a pile of ash, of dreams burnt into flames and plans gone awry.
Yet my God is one of compassion and mercy, He never let me go. Today I have both a bachelors and masters degrees, a husband of nearly fifteen years and it has been seventeen years since my last psych hospitalization.
So tonight, I received ashes as Alexander John Shaia puts it “ to continue to strengthen me and to know that Love is God’s face and my own. “ Tonight I remember the healing I have experienced and joy that comes from knowing that even though following my calling is not easy, I am healthy and alive much more so that I was for many years. Bipolar Disorder will never stop being apart of my life. I will always be on medication and always have to monitor my sleep,diet, exercise and stress but I have been given a second chance at living. This blog is entitled, “livingintomycalling” because that is what I know to do, to live into who I have been created to be to allow Christ to work through me and continue to transform me.
I feel called to be a spiritual director because I have gifts of listening, compassion and mercy that I want to use to help others care for their souls, discovering meaningful practices that will connect them to Christ in a deeper way. I offer companioning and guiding for those who need a listening ear to share their stories and help them discern the spirit. Why? Because during my deepest depression, I realized that when your life is turned upside down, the spiritual practices that worked before may feel meaningless and seem to bring more despair when you cannot do what you did before. Thus I want to guide others to help find practices which connect them to God that are not the traditional spend an hour with God, read scripture and pray. I also became a spiritual director because I recognized that there is such a need for it, beyond counseling and beyond physicians, we often need spiritual support as well to bring us to healing and wholeness. As our spirituality evolves and unfolds, we need people to journey with us as others fall away.
To learn more about my work visit, http://www.jennifertrently.org/
So this 100 days is a season of grace and of love, of a movement toward holiness with a focus on living into who I have been created to be. I invite you to join me and offer your comments and reflections here.
Yet my God is one of compassion and mercy, He never let me go. Today I have both a bachelors and masters degrees, a husband of nearly fifteen years and it has been seventeen years since my last psych hospitalization.
So tonight, I received ashes as Alexander John Shaia puts it “ to continue to strengthen me and to know that Love is God’s face and my own. “ Tonight I remember the healing I have experienced and joy that comes from knowing that even though following my calling is not easy, I am healthy and alive much more so that I was for many years. Bipolar Disorder will never stop being apart of my life. I will always be on medication and always have to monitor my sleep,diet, exercise and stress but I have been given a second chance at living. This blog is entitled, “livingintomycalling” because that is what I know to do, to live into who I have been created to be to allow Christ to work through me and continue to transform me.
I feel called to be a spiritual director because I have gifts of listening, compassion and mercy that I want to use to help others care for their souls, discovering meaningful practices that will connect them to Christ in a deeper way. I offer companioning and guiding for those who need a listening ear to share their stories and help them discern the spirit. Why? Because during my deepest depression, I realized that when your life is turned upside down, the spiritual practices that worked before may feel meaningless and seem to bring more despair when you cannot do what you did before. Thus I want to guide others to help find practices which connect them to God that are not the traditional spend an hour with God, read scripture and pray. I also became a spiritual director because I recognized that there is such a need for it, beyond counseling and beyond physicians, we often need spiritual support as well to bring us to healing and wholeness. As our spirituality evolves and unfolds, we need people to journey with us as others fall away.
To learn more about my work visit, http://www.jennifertrently.org/
So this 100 days is a season of grace and of love, of a movement toward holiness with a focus on living into who I have been created to be. I invite you to join me and offer your comments and reflections here.
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