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I remember my family life while growing up in San Antonio, Texas as being tattooed by chaos, conflict, and consistent pain. My older relatives were often haunted by drug and alcohol abuse, violent relationships, and illegal activities. Like a bomb that explodes, the pain of this life left shrapnel in my heart.
From the time I was about 10, probably until I was about 26, I held bitterness and unforgiveness in my heart toward family members who hurt me with their erratic and inconsistent lives. I was able to forgive them when I came face-to-face with Jesus’ forgiveness given to me. In light of his grace to me, I was able to extend grace to them.
Unforgiveness has been replaced with forgiveness. Confusion has been replaced with understanding. Anger has been replaced by compassion and empathy. Jesus did this and is still doing this in me.
Mental Illness
I now realize that several of my family members suffered from mental illness, and my family is not alone because 61 million Americans suffer from it in a given year. That is one in every four adults.
As a pastor, I’ve sat with parents as they’ve shed tears explaining how their teen was a model child only to transform in a short time into someone they didn’t even know. After much pain, the parents learned that their child was like the 20 percent of teens aged 13 to 18 in America who suffer from mental illness.
Sadly, 60 percent of adults and half of teens have received no mental health services in the previous year.
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SOURCE: Christianity Today
Derwin L. Gray
