A few months ago a friend of mine, Linda Evans Shepherd, announced to our group of Christian women writers that she was starting a blog specifically to reach out to those who were considering suicide. I have to say that anything Linda touches is done well and with complete passion and heart behind it. Her most recent web site, Finding God Daily, has a wonderful collection of articles about all the places we can find God!
But would I be able to make a commitment to write an article or two a month about suicide? What do I know that may encourage someone else? And I just have a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, while many of the writers are professional counselors.
But then I got an email from someone at Rest Ministries pouring her heart out. . . about taking her life. And all those statistics about chronic pain or physical illness being the cause of about 70 percent of suicides kept popping up in my mind in the next few days (Source: Mackenzie TB, Popkin MK: “Suicide in the medical patient.” Intl J Psych in Med 17:3-22, 1987).
So I prayed about it. And God said, “Do it.”
I emailed Linda and volunteered and was accepted as a writer for this new amazing blog Thinking About Suicide. It just kicked off last week on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Why a Wednesday? Linda explains in one of the blog posts How to Live Through Hump Day that Wednesday is the day when most suicides occur.
In just a little over a week there is a wonderful growing collection of blog posts by this team of writers. Recently, author Karen Boerger wrote about Help For Chronic Pain With Suicidal Thoughts.
Our hope is that through a collection of various articles, when people search the internet about “thinking about suicide” this web site will come up, and not only will one find hope for the moment, but also a Christ-based resource that will provide answers about where that real, enduring hope comes from.
Please make a note to yourself that this blog exists and if you, or someone you know, needs a resource to turn to through a difficult time, visit it for a pick-me-up. If you are seriously considering suicide, I urge you to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) without delay.
Also, if there is something you are personally experiencing with hopelessness and would like me to consider addressing it in a future blog post over at Thinking About Suicide, please let me know.
My first article will appear on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. “Why Bother Living When I Am Facing a Serious Infection Without a Hand to Hold?”
If you are having a rough day, here are a few resources on our web site that discuss suicide– a tough but very real topic.
- When You Are Tempted to Speed Up The Trip to Heaven
- I Forgot: My Life is Not My Own, Christian Author Shares About Her Attempted Suicide
- Assisted Suicide Due to Pain of Illness and How it Fits With Our Belief in God
Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and she lives in San Diego with her husband and son. She is gradually learning how to balance motherhood, family, illness, and ministry, but she still knows it will be a lifetime lesson. You can see the books she has written, including, Why Can’t I Make People Understand? at the Rest Ministries shop.
I am happy that this blog was created. People need to know that they are not alone and understand the devastation that suicide causes.
When my husband was two years-old, his dad committed suicide. Damage was done on so many levels to the entire family. Thankfully over time the Lord has brought healing and He continues to do so.
GREAT news! My family, (on my father’s side) has history of depression and suicides. My own sister is one of them, as well as several cousins:( Having chronic pain, and a host of illnesses along with it-depression included-well, it’s been a difficult road. I now worry about MY 2 children, wodering if they’ve inherited it. Suicide has devastated my family, and chronic pain, (fibromyalgia, depression, etc…) have plagued my life. In the worlds point of view, I am now a failure. In GOD’S point of view, I am triumphant! I have trusted God, and my family is saved-knowing Christ changed our lives. I’ve often wondered what my role should be as a survivor. I know I can help people-maybe contributing to this is a start. I offer myself and my experiences to you. May God Bless you and your new blog~Teresa Krull
I would like to follow this blog
Lisa,
How surprised I was this morning to read the entry about suicide on the Rest Ministries daily newsletter. Due to more than one attempt of taking one’s life within the members of my Hope Keeper group, I had felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to approach this sensitive subject at this morning’s meeting. I made copies of your excellent article “When You Are Tempted to Speed Up the Trip to Heaven”, wrote some accompanying discussion questions and plan to show a 10 minute video by ALS patient, Pastor Ed Dobson, entitled “It Ain’t Over.” What I sensed I lacked was a Christian resource to point them to should those thoughts and feelings surface during a vulnerable time. Now I have it! Just in time ! Hmmmmm…maybe I am not so surprised after all. 😉
With love and appreciation,
Kristy Howell
(PS – By the way, your BS in sociology didn’t qualify you to be on the team of writers. God did ! I, too, hold a degree in an unrelated field, but like many of us, gained my skills where the Lord sent me to school: B.B. U. (Burning Bush University) 😉
Suicide hurts every one you love! I heard a man once say that “People do this because they want to hurt others.” But some are just trying to stop their own hurt. These should consider that all their brothers and sisters will be hurt by this (deeply hurt), their Mom and Dad will be hurt by this, their children will be hurt by this, their friends will be also. Not only will they be saddened by it but then they have to explain why their relative took his or her own life. People who have had a relative do this are said to have “Joined a secretive society of grievers”. Why secret, because they do not like to talk about it, there is a certain shame attached to it. The only ones who will talk about it to you are those who have suffered the same, and then they come to you or phone you and say, “I know how you feel.”
This as other sins start in the mind, change your thought life! If you have obsessive thoughts, you can’t stop thinking about it, or anything, then “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Start reading large portions of the Bible (out loud if necessary) and “cleanse your self”! (John 15:1-3, 17:17)
Is this it? THANK you. I have an untreatable illness that won’t ever go away–it’s so rare and so bizarre that people don’t even want to hear about it, or if they TRY to learn about it, it perplexes them–
I am not young (early 60s), and I had a very full life until about 15 years ago–
the illness has progressed and gotten more difficult to handle, and often I just don’t want to live. I won’t ‘take’ my life, but I have prayed, SO many times, for God to take me home. And He won’t. He seems to think I need to stay here–
I NEED this. Whoever is doing this is beautiful–
THANK you–