In the month of May two years ago I packed up my life and entered a residential women’s addiction program in Winnipeg.
Photo taken in May 2024.
Because of the mental health challenges I had faced since I was a young teenager, I had begun to use coping behaviours to escape the hell that I faced in my mind every day. So, after another very breaking incident in my life, my friend recommended that I go to an addiction’s program to find help for the coping behaviours I was engaging in. This was the best decision I have ever made for myself.
My time in Charis Centre was such a healing experience. I expected to focus on overcoming my coping behaviours. But instead my counsellor and chaplain, as well as all the classes I took during my eleven months in the program focused on healing from the trauma in my life and building a personal relationship with God.
The time I spent in this intensive therapy has made me a stronger person in all aspects of my life. The love, care, close support, and spiritual teaching that staff in the program were pouring into me gave me the safety I needed for my body, mind, and spirit to heal.
Early during my stay there, I read the verse in Jeremiah 17:14, which says,
“O LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;
if you save me, I will be truly saved.
My praises are for you alone.”
I wrote the verse on a piece of paper and stuck it on my wall as my theme verse that I claimed for my time in the program.
And I deeply believe it was God who did the work of healing.
Yes, I committed myself to weekly or bi-weekly counselling sessions. I put my all into the classes I was in. And God did His part and strengthened my spirit, my body, and my mind. And He healed me.
Now, I do need to put out a disclaimer though: I am still a girl on a journey. I will always be. Sometimes I still get triggered. And sometimes I still lose my way. And sometimes I still slip back into my old coping behaviours.
But now I get to live with a purpose I did not or could not live with before.
I am pursuing a dream and a calling that I believe God has planted deep in my heart. And most days I have peace and strength that passes all understanding in comparison to the years I suffered from suicidal depression.
Photo taken in April 2026.
I am not the girl I used to be.
And it is all because of the beautiful love of Jesus.
He gave me:
- a crown of beauty for my ashes
- peace instead of despair
- confidence instead of my shame
- boldness instead of my insecurities
- and faith in a loving God for my fears.
If you are still struggling in life, I want you to know that if God was able to do this for me, He can do it for you too. Open your heart wide to Him and let Him heal you.
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