We all feel anxious sometimes. That’s why it’s a relief to remember Jesus doesn’t ask for perfection from His disciples, He asks us to listen and trust as He works both in us and through us. To experience God’s hope and share it with others we look up to, seek God’s wisdom, look inside to reflect on where God is at work in us, and look out to ask for help from others.
This fall, the Youth spent 8 weeks discussing faith and mental health.
— Amy Brown
Read Julianna Vaughn’s words about this experience:
In this study, we were presented with information, subjects to consider, and roadmaps on how to sustain and improve our mental health in addition to helping others with their mental health. We were introduced to how balancing different aspects of our lives can keep our mental state healthy and centered. The aspects we learned to balance were spiritual, emotional, physical, environmental, occupational, intellectual, and social.
In particular, different activities from each category can help us cope with stress and anxiety. We learned how important it is to be able to talk to someone you trust and how our phones can have a negative impact on our lives. Perhaps most importantly, we talked about how we can be there for each other.
We conducted an activity where we divided into two groups and explored strategies to support each other. The two group subjects were emotional and physical. We talked about ways to cope with stress using emotional and physical activities and explored in detail how stressful school can be and why. A licensed psychiatrist came and talked to us about mental health from the perspective of a mental health practitioner.
We also explored how meditative prayer, along with reading the Bible to gain a greater historical understanding of that body of literature, can help improve our state of mental balance.
Thank you for supporting and praying for our Youth! They are resilient, compassionate, and eager to share. We are blessed to have these young people in our church family.
