Sometimes in those moments when we feel most forsaken, God has never been nearer, and life has never held such promise. The Lord’s assurance to His people in Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favourite Bible passages. The Israelites were exiled to a foreign land but God had not forgotten or abandoned them. He said, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

In the fall of 1974, I didn’t see much hope. To me, the future looked bleak. I was born in Toronto, Canada and I loved my city, my neighbourhood, my home. I was a month shy of my eleventh birthday when my parents moved our family back to their birthplace in eastern Canada. It was a painfully difficult adjustment for me. Transplanted to a dairy farm in a small rural village, I missed the city and my friends…and believed my life was over!

But God had a plan and the move to the country was ultimately used for my good. It was there--seven years later--that I met a handsome, young man who lived just down the road from the family farm. Tim and I began dating and were married two years later.

Five years passed, two babies were born, and then our happy life was painfully interrupted. I had become deeply depressed and was admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward. Over the next nine years I spent much time in the hospital and was treated with one antidepressant medication after another, but none provided any significant relief from the debilitating depression.

Tim became both mother and father to our two little girls…and my caregiver. His role as husband became difficult and painful, but he remained faithfully committed to our marriage, our family, and to me. Tim’s response to my illness was a key factor in my surviving depression. He was always there to provide the encouragement and support I needed. In my soul I knew that when I could no longer push forward, Tim would be there to carry me.

Part of the divine purpose behind that painful relocation from the city to the country so many years earlier is now clear. God carefully positioned me to receive His provision for an even more difficult time that was to come. His plan was not for harm, but to protect me and teach me about the power of love.

While Tim’s love gave me strength, it was God’s love that finally healed me. For more of this story, visit the Writing page and read “A Mission of Love,” “Depression: My Spiritual Battle for Deliverance,” or “Dying for a Crown.”

I’ve experienced devastation, but I’ve also witnessed God’s ability to redeem broken lives. From my own lost years, He’s birthed a ministry to reach out to other hurting souls, sharing the promise that God has a wonderful plan for each life; a future full of hope!

Tim and I have enjoyed more than 25 years of marriage and two daughters, Lauren and Jenna. We make our home in eastern Canada, between the forest and the sea.