How was that for a tirade couched between cute kids?
Makes me seem less scary 🙂
Welp.
Ya knows I gotta post some pics of my crew after that video tirade cuz now I feel ‘purged’ and can get on with my good ol’ self again.
ONE MORE NOTE!
IF you are someone who deals with what I addressed in my blog OR a Christian who thinks what I said was ludicrious please email me at: andreacockrum at yahoo dot com or find me on Facebook under my my full name: Andrea Lowe Cockrum. Â
I would love to chat with you…from whichever side of this you are coming from. I am ALWAYS open to new information and love making friends, especially where there’s a common thread already established.
Okay…pix 🙂
Tye WANTED “blue” hair…I SWEAR I had NOTHING to do with this request!Â
DOUBLE PINKY SWEAR!
 I thought he looked SO ADORABLE like this…but he refused to keep it ‘just bleached’. (btw: do you know how hard it is to truly ‘bleach’ asian hair???? It had to be on his twice the amount of time…!).
He demanded his “BLUE”…and…He got it!
I have no idea what he’s doing other than being deliciously adorable.
Then…today…
I got to spend a bit o’ time in my still totally wrecked Art Studio but twas fun to have paint on my hands again…LUV having paint on my hands…LUV it 🙂
 My twinnie needed this “vintage” window pair turned into a table display for her and her husband’s fundraising needs. She wanted it to look like a ” really old Indian window” and then I put henna-ish designs on the corners. She’ll put picture of their work in the window panes, etc.
 AMY actually PAINTED! That’s equivalent to me RUNNING (and not just after a good sale at the mall but actually running in running shoes outside in nature)
When your daughter says, “Momma, you need to paint while you wear a tiara” You ALWAYS say YES!
 Maybe a perfect afternoon for me…painting with my kids 🙂 My sis was there too 🙂
 The kids make “gift bags” …. we are going to work on spelling this year in school.
bwwwhahahahahaha
So.
There ya go.
A video tirade.
Cute kids acting weird on video.
Pictures of our daily lives.
I think that consists of a full blog post, eh?!
PLEASE LET ME KNOW, via a comment here or SOMETHING PEEPS, of your thoughts about my idea on the “church” and the “mental illness” issues.
I think the “Church” needs a seminar or something on “Mental Illness” issues 🙂
I’ll lead it.
errrr…..maybe not?
Andrea
Loved your tirade – totally agree.
If anxiety disorders were more accepted and dealt with within the church, I might still be married. As it is, the problems are ignored and the honest, out-loud sufferers looked down upon. Those that live near it are doomed to have their reality altered on a minute-to-minute basis, because there is no “normal”.
I’m blessed to see that you’re addressing it. I can’t say I consider myself a “woman of God”, but I am still His child, and I appreciate your words to all of us.
Hugs hugs
Agree! Agree! Agree! On all your points! (Even the dislike of running in running shoes…outside in nature! ha!) The brain is an organ too. You can’t simply will yourself not to experience these types of things. These illnesses are real and they are hard to walk through. I thank God for my spiritual leaders and their understanding! And I thank God for people who are willing to talk about this openly!
AMEN Andrea! I know a MISSIONARY woman who suffers from Bipolar Disorder (was diagnosed on the FIELD) and is still serving the Lord ON meds. She was hesitant to tell me, but I’m so glad she did so I could pray for her more specifically.
Keep sharing as the Lord leads. Satan DOES like when we keep things secret that bring to light that the Lord uses broken people.
I suffered postpartum depression shortly after I adopted my son. After spending so much time miserable inside myself, crying all the time and finding myself getting angry with a 3 year old for no reason…I went to my doctor. He prescribed Prozac and it changed how I “felt” in very good ways.
In looking back, I had friends tell me at different points in my life that I should talk to a Dr. I was always a very emotional person…I thought it was my “normal”. Now I know it wasn’t normal and found that the meds helped me in many ways. I still take the meds daily, because they make me a better me.
I was ashamed at first that I had a “mental problem” and didn’t talk to it with many people. Plus I didn’t want anyone to say “I told you so!” However, I tell people now. I talk about it in my small groups at church when I see other people struggling and ashamed to admit they have a problem. Or thinking that if they admit to having a problem that they might be “crazy”.
We’re Christians. We are not immune or invincible. Sometimes I think “Christians” make it worse for us Christians. Sometimes our very own are the worse about judging and compartmentalizing us.
It’s like those Jonesboro Baptist people. They give Baptists … well, Christians a bad name because of their behavior (which is NOT at all Christlike).
I haven’t witnessed much of what you are referring to. Maybe it is a difference in denominations, but I doubt it. You are probably just privy to more insight than I am since you hear from others since you are very public with your PTSD.
Keep on fighting your fight… I hope it gets all better SOON! Keep sharing yourself, candid, raw, uncut, puppets, bible thumping Guat girl, bird poop, blue hair, popcorn tossing and all!
Robbin – puppets? explain! bbwwhahahaha…
thx for the feedback and honesty so far my friends.
I can’t say it enough that there’s power in talking things “out”…out of the dark and into the light…removing the hype and replacing it with honesty.
Andrea
Thanks for sharing Andrea…agree totally. While I haven’t seen lots of this thankfully I definitely do think there is a stigma attached to mental illness which forces so many to not be open and honest due to embarassment about it. The thing is that once people do start opening up and sharing the reality of how widespread mental illness actually is shows itself!
Very cute kids btw:) Love the window frame idea for the photos for Amy. And congrats to preggos dog too:)
Anna
I totally agree, also. Just like “my3sonz” said, the brain is an organ, too! It gets sick just like any other organ can get sick. Which, now that I think about it, is a great way to explain it to people. A class or SOMETHING to get these issues more out in the open In churches would be great. I’ve had chronic anxiety since I was born and a close family member of mine has it, also. I’ve been on meds for it since shortly after high school and I’m now 26. Someone suggested to me that I may less severe version of PTSD after my son’s father was murdered a couple months ago, but Ive never looked into it because I do ok now on a day-to-day basis. Unless something triggers a memory regarding that day and then I kinda shut down. Anyways, not trying to tell you my life story or anything : ). But you have much support from me! – – Kelsey
Totally forgot to mention that I also have prayed so much about my anxiety and researched the Bible about it! I’ve prayed and prayed for God to take this anxiety away, but it still remains there. I often wonder if maybe God wants me to learn something from it…? I don’t know.
– – Kelsey
I agree with you about the tirae, Andrea. Though I might tweak it a liiittle bit? It’s not just GIRLS who feel they can’t be honest, but GUYS too. And it’s not just in the Christian community–there’s a stigma everywhere about having a mental illness. I don’t know WHY, as–like you said–it’s really no different than having an illness like cancer etc.
I’d say that HUMANITY, not just the Christian community, needs to do better.
Oh, and love Tye’s blue hair! 😀
Renee –
Actually … NO … you cannot ‘tweek MY tirade”. It is mine.
If you want to have your own. Go for it. Make a video. Post it somewhere.
You think my tirade should include ‘males’.
I cannot speak for guys. You can’t either really…only have an opinion.
I am not a male. You are not male.
I am a female functioning within my community, oftentimes surrounded by Christians but also in many other areas of life where ‘mental illness’ is taboo.
Where people involved in my life for years withdraw when I become honest.
If a guy has this problem.. sorry for him. I, personally, understand -but only as a female- having that hurt.
I make a point of not speaking about what I do not know. If I venture into un-lived territory I make sure to state that this is my opinion and/or idea but that it is not factual.
I’m a female. I do not understand the stigma a male has in regards to being transparent about his mental illness.
My thoughts were, also, not directed towards “humanity” but towards what myself and many people who’ve contacted me have, factually, experienced within a church setting or with churched people.
If I want to have a tirade against humanity..well…then that’s what I’d do. It is not what I wanted to do. It does not need tweeking.
Thanks though.
Andrea
I didn’t know about this and all I could think was WTH!!!
Too much emotion to type but something to add is that a lot of the ‘kind of thing’ you were talking about is what kept my dad from taking us to church when I was a child.
Showing a forgiving, loving front and shaming you behind your back or in your face. WTH
Scary that that’s the way it is. Confusing very confusing.
I have HUGE empathy for people with mental illness and remember that not everyone manages on drugs. Some end their lives because they don’t reach out for help= pharmaceuticals. (Funny, I felt you not saying you were on meds or took drugs to manage your illness like that would be taboo.)
This isn’t just a Christian community issue either, but it really makes me feel especially ill that a place where people could/should turn for comfort and help has this kind of shame to put upon you. Vomit.
I love your mental head,
Lisa J. Davis
I just around to watching this video. Thanks for posting it. I agree with you. I have 2 older sisters with bipolar disorder and a family history of severe depression. Some members of my family put off treatment of any kind (therapy or pharmaceutical)for their depression for years and years and years because they thought it wasn’t something a christian could do. I think mental illness is hard enough for the person diagnosed without the community around that that is supposed to be there fore them making them feel even worse about the situation. I love your honest posts. 🙂