Stewardship of stories: Mental illness and Sparks of Redemptive Grace

“There have been many times when our family has found itself in the midst of an adventure . . . like the time we were in rural Africa and the rugged airstrip where our tiny plane had just landed was actually too short for the return takeoff,” writes Catherine P. Downing, author of Sparks of Redemptive Grace.

 

“It was a bit scary as we watched the pilot work through various plans to extend the length of the runway. He concocted a number of configurations for adjustments and finally we were able to leave.

 

“It’s a story I love to tell (and in more detail), and there are many, many more.

 

“In fact, for all of us, our lives are composed of a series of stories that string together and provide markers for our memories and moments.

 

“We have stories of childhood pranks (like when my older brother dared me to sit in my second birthday cake, and I did), teenage dramas and vacation fiascos.

 

“For families with loved ones dealing with mental illness, our stories are of a different nature. We are hesitant to tell them for many reasons. Some are too painful, and we just don’t want to remember them.

 

“Others are too personal for ourselves or our family member. Then there is always the fear of stigma, or the dangers of self-pity.

 

“But there is value in our stories,” Catherine says. “They help others get a truthful picture of the realities of mental health difficulties that can tear down stigma.

 

“They comfort and counsel other families going through similar situations.

“And, if faith and prayer are running themes, then many of our stories tell of the goodness of God’s love, provision and protection.

 

“In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells His disciples, ‘You will be my witnesses.’

 

Catherine asks: “How have we seen God at work in our lives as we care for our loved one? Have we watched Him, like we saw the pilot in Africa, take an impossible situation and orchestrate a number of configurations for adjustments that lead to a brilliant solution? How have we witnessed His care, presence and power?

 

“Your stories . . . may give other families hope and direction,” says Catherine. “Opening up . . . may garner much-needed prayer. Being willing to talk about the realities of life in the midst of mental illness is a first step in becoming an advocate for new and better health care and legislation.

 

“As believers, we have been given the privilege and responsibility of being stewards of our stories. Let’s be aware of opportunities God gives us to tell of His goodness in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13) and to declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness by night (Psalm 92:2).”

 

 

Catherine P. Downing’s book, Sparks of Redemptive Grace, provides 14 brief chapters sharing one family’s challenges with mental illness. Each chapter overflows with insight, hope, Scriptures and prayers. It’s for sale as an e-book or in paperback. Order copies for your pastor, church library, friend, family, and mental health providers.

 

Click here to read what others say about Sparks of Redemptive Grace.

 

Sharing your stories with your family: The most important job in the world

Do you worry about influences on your kids, grandkids, and great-grands?—influences that lure them away from your best hopes and dreams and prayers for them?

Less-than-stellar influencers bombard today’s young people, enticing them to live and believe in ways that could diminish them morally, spiritually, personally, mentally, and relationally.

Today’s kids are listening to the stories of movie stars, athletes, singers, podcasters, comedians, the press, educators, politicians, authors, friends, and paranormal characters in books and movies.

If you worry about the stories your kids, grandkids, and great-grands listen to, how about telling them your stories?

There’s a good reason the Bible is full of stories. There’s a reason Jesus told parables.

Never doubt the power of stories!

Kathy Edens writes,

“Research proves that stories and anecdotes

help people retain information better.

Forbes reported most people only remember

about 5-10% of statistics you cite.

But when you accompany your stats with a story,

the retention rate bounces up to 65-70%.”

Wow! Did you know that? That’s impressive. Read that again!

For example, if you want to teach your grandkids the importance of telling the truth, you can tell them, “It’s important to always tell the truth, and you can get yourself into tons of trouble if you lie,” but your words will probably go in one ear and out the other.

OR, you can tell them a story—a story of how you, or someone you know, learned the importance of honesty, and the consequences of dishonesty.

Your stories can teach your kids, grandkids, and great-grands many important things—about keeping a commitment, being faithful, working hard, being kind.

Your stories can teach them to handle tragedies with tenacity and faith.

Your stories can help them choose courage over fear, generosity over stinginess, compassion over meanness, thankfulness over ingratitude, and so much more.   

 “The world’s greatest wisdom passes through stories,” writes Kathy Edens.

Think about this:

The world’s greatest wisdom

can flow through your stories!

If you’re still not convinced of your stories’ importance, here’s something else for you. It’s staggering, really.

In fact, this is a big deal.

In his New York Times article, “The Stories that Bind Us,” Bruce Feiler explores, from a secular perspective, what makes families healthy, resilient, happy, and functional.

He writes that Dr. Sara Duke, a psychologist working with children, discovered that while all families have struggles, “The [kids] who know a lot about their families tend to do better when they face challenges,” she says.

Fascinated with Dr. Sara’s findings, her husband, Marshall, also a psychologist, and his colleague, Robyn Fuvish, did their own research on how much individual kids knew stories of their family’s history and its members—parents and grandparents, for example—and how much they knew of their family’s struggles as well as its triumphs.

They came to what Feiler calls “an overwhelming conclusion: The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their own lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”

Shortly after that research, the United States experienced the attack on September 11, 2001, and Dr. Duke and his team checked again on the children they’d studied. None was directly impacted by the terrorist attack yet each one, like the rest of us, still suffered trauma. Nevertheless, “Once again . . .” Dr. Duke found, “the ones who knew more about their families proved to be more resilient, meaning they could moderate the effects of stress.”

Don’t miss the rest of Feiler’s article, “The Stories that Bind Us.” You’ll find that youngsters who felt the most connected to their families—through stories of both ups and downs, and of their determination to survive and thrive—were the kids who could handle challenges and overcome obstacles in healthy ways.

There’s a good reason Jesus said,

“Go tell your family everything God has done for you.”

(Luke 8:39)

That means you need to tell your stories!

And this is important: Avoid writing stories that are dry. Or dreary. Or preachy—avoid a “holier-than-thou” attitude.

DO write stories that include humor, adventure, mystery, romance, pets, childhood escapades, teenage pranks, athletic competitions, parenthood, hard work—the list could go on and on.

“We are storytellers,” writes Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros. “With the help of God, it is up to us to steward our calling and steward it well.”

Think about this:

What stories have been entrusted to you?

And perhaps even more important:

Who has God entrusted to you?

And are you stewarding them—caring for them—

to the very best of your ability?

“. . . Everyone needs writers—

every child, every woman, every man—

to bring out these hidden truths

that lie dormant in us and help them

live what truly matters in life.

Writers have all got to work hard

at this occupation—

for the glory of people

and our most cherished beliefs and ideas.

To fight to ignore all the distractions

and take the time to share our stories

and unpack their meaning and messages. . . .

It’s the most important job in the world.”

Mick Silva

Be good stewards of your experiences and stories.

Do what Jesus said: Go tell your family all God has done for you.

Your stories could be life-changing for those who read them.

This is a big deal: “The world’s greatest wisdom passes through stories”

Do you worry about influences on your kids, grandkids, and great-grands?—influences that lure them away from your best hopes and dreams and prayers for them?

Less-than-stellar influencers bombard today’s young people, enticing them to live and believe in ways that could diminish them morally, spiritually, personally, mentally, and relationally.

Today’s kids are listening to the stories of movie stars, singers, comedians, the press, educators, athletes, politicians, authors, friends, and paranormal characters in books and movies.

If you worry about the stories your kids, grandkids, and great-grands listen to, how about telling them your stories?

There’s a good reason the Bible is full of stories. There’s a good reason Jesus told parables.

Never doubt the power of stories! Kathy Edens writes, “Research proves that stories and anecdotes help people retain information better. Forbes reported most people only remember about 5-10% of statistics you cite. But when you accompany your stats with a story, the retention rate bounces up to 65-70%.”

Wow! Did you know that? That’s impressive.

If you want to teach your grandkids the importance of telling the truth, for example, you can say to them, “It’s important to always tell the truth, and you can get yourself into tons of trouble if you lie,” but your words will probably go in one ear and out the other.

OR, you can tell them a story—a story of how you, or someone you know, learned the importance of honesty, and the consequences of dishonesty.

Your stories can teach your kids, grandkids, and great-grands so many important things—about keeping a commitment, being faithful, working hard, being kind.

Your stories can teach them to handle tragedies with tenacity and faith.

Your stories can help them choose courage over fear, generosity over stinginess, compassion over meanness, thankfulness over ingratitude, and so much more.   

 “The world’s greatest wisdom passes through stories,” writes Kathy Edens.

Think about this:

The world’s greatest wisdom

can flow through your stories!

If you’re still not convinced of your stories’ importance, here’s something else for you. It’s staggering, really.

In fact, this is a big deal.

In his New York Times article, “The Stories that Bind Us,” Bruce Feiler explores, from a secular perspective, what makes families healthy, resilient, happy, and functional.

He writes that Dr. Sara Duke, a psychologist working with children, discovered that while all families have struggles, “The [kids] who know a lot about their families tend to do better when they face challenges,” she says.

Fascinated with Dr. Sara’s findings, her husband, Marshall, also a psychologist, and his colleague, Robyn Fuvish, did their own research on how much individual kids knew stories of their family’s history and its members—parents and grandparents, for example—and how much they knew of their family’s struggles as well as its triumphs.

They came to what Feiler calls “an overwhelming conclusion: The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their own lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”

Shortly after that research, the United States experienced the attack on September 11, 2001, and Dr. Duke and his team checked again on the children they’d studied. None was directly impacted by the terrorist attack yet each one, like the rest of us, still suffered trauma. Nevertheless, “Once again…,” Dr. Duke found, “the ones who knew more about their families proved to be more resilient, meaning they could moderate the effects of stress.”

Don’t miss the rest of Feiler’s article, “The Stories that Bind Us.” You’ll find that youngsters who felt the most connected to their families—through stories of both ups and downs, and of their determination to survive and thrive—were the kids who could handle challenges and overcome obstacles in healthy ways.

There’s a good reason Jesus said,

“Go tell your family everything God has done for you”

(Luke 8:39).

That means you need to tell your stories!

And this is important: Avoid writing stories that are dry. Or dreary. Or preachy—avoid a “holier-than-thou” attitude.

DO write stories that include humor, adventure, mystery, romance, pets, childhood escapades, teenage pranks, athletic competitions—the list could go on and on.

“We are storytellers,” writes Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros. “With the help of God, it is up to us to steward our calling and steward it well.”

Think about this:

What stories have been entrusted to you? 

And perhaps even more important: Who has God entrusted to you?

And are you stewarding them—caring for them—to the very best of your ability?

“…Everyone needs writers—

every child, every woman, every man—

to bring out these hidden truths

that lie dormant in us and help them

live what truly matters in life.

Writers have all got to work hard

at this occupation—

for the glory of people

and our most cherished beliefs and ideas.

To fight to ignore all the distractions

and take the time to share our stories

and unpack their meaning and messages….

It’s the most important job in the world.”

Mick Silva

Be good stewards of your experiences and stories.

Do what Jesus said: Go tell your family all God has done for you.

Your stories could be life-changing for those who read them.

Tuesday Tidbit: Our responsibilities, our stories

There's a reason Jesus said, "Go tell your family everything God has done for you" (Luke 8:39).

What reason(s) come to mind?

And are you doing what he said?

A must-read for you: Avoid scams and schemes

"These days, there are more people making money off new writers than there are writers making money," says Anne R. Allen.

Read that again: "These days, there are more people making money off new writers than there are writers making money."

"Recently," Anne continues, "I've run into a lot of new writers who do the very things that make them fall prey to unscrupulous scammers."

Don't let yourself fall prey to scammers and fakes.

How do you do that? By becoming a wise, energetic student of writing, publishing, and marketing. Start here with Anne R. Allen's post.

There's a reason Writer's Digest listed Anne's blog among their 101 Best Websites for Writers, and there's a reason Author Marketing Experts, Inc., listed her blog among their Top 50 Websites for Indie Authors, and several others. Week after week, year after year, Anne R. Allen shares information we all need to know.

In her blog post, Don't Fall Prey to Publishing Scams: 7 New Writer Mistakes to Avoid, she covers these and other points:

Writing-in-a-Garret Syndrome: Such people avoid writing classes, writing groups, writing books, critiques, beta readers, editors, and writing blogs and magazines. They fail to educate themselves on the publishing industry, self-publishing, and book distribution. Nevertheless, they believe they're brilliant writers and will soon find their books on bestseller lists. Anne says, "These people are prime targets for bogus agents, editing scams, overpriced marketing schemes, and ruthless vanity publishing companies because they're so easily flattered and bamboozled."

Trying to Publish Too Soon: Here Anne addresses those whose manuscripts "have pacing and structure problems,... cliches,... saggy middles, slithery points of view." She warns, "Bogus agents are happy to take them, though. For a fee. Then maybe they'll sell them to their own bogus 'publishing company,' which will be happy to take more of your money...."

Read the rest of Anne’s valuable post in which she discusses Obsessing about Marketing before you Learn to Write and Expecting to Make Money with a First Book and several other relevant topics.

“Every phony publisher, bogus agency, and scammy editing service with a slick website is waiting out there, ready to pounce,” Anne says. “So do your homework…. Even if you’re only writing as a hobby, if you want to publish at all, you need to learn how the business works or you’ll pay a lot of money for something embarrassing.”

 Don’t miss Anne’s final piece of advice, “Always check out a company at Writer Beware, and never sign a contract without running it by a legal professional. For real self-publish advice, follow Joanna Penn’s blog and The Alliance for Independent Authors. Reedsy and Writer’s Boon can give you lists of vetted service providers. And David Gaughran’s book, Let’s Get Digital, gives a great overview of indie publishing."

Many thanks to Anne for the consistently rich resources she provides with every blog post. I highly recommend you read her blog and follow her on Facebook. Also check out Anne's book, How to be a Writer in the E-Age.

Anne’s bio: “Anne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market. Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.”

Read Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros' blog post, Five Minute Friday Retreat: A Reflection.