“With his (Jesus) stripes we (I am) are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). I stepped into the chapel of the Good Shepherd Church today to pray. I wanted to tell God, “I surrender all.”
I remember hiking a mountain trail with friends and being so tormented by the darkness that I could not see the beauty surrounding me. I asked Laurence to pray for me. Healing took time. A long time.
The assignment for the writing group I belong to is: “What affects your mental health, and how do you deal with it?” So, I’ve been thinking of a checklist for good mental health. I asked Laurence what to put on the list. What would you add?
• Holding no offense
• Spirit-led Bible reading
• Being thankful
• Applying the Philippians 4:8 principle
• Giving my loved one’s problems to God to solve; believing that He can take better care of them than I can.
• Stopping any and all fear the moment it enters my mind
• Going for a walk
• Work
• Enough sleep
• Spending time in the mountains, woods, the beach, or anywhere in God’s beautiful creation.
• Being moderate with phone time.
• Have good relationships
• Being unselfish
• Exercise
• Write
My experience on life’s journey is that the above list must begin with surrendering to God, saying, “Not my will but thine be done.” Then comes a peace that I can’t explain and my joy overflows.
Berniece
P.s. It was a cold, windy market day but sales were good, and I enjoyed both co-workers and customers. It’s so wonderful that the F train is again stopping at Roosevelt Island.
An Ordinary Life 
mental health checklist for me:
minimize phone time
read stories to my littles
play with littles sometimes
be thankful for the little things
work outside in my yard
pray often; while washing dishes, laying awake at night, quiet time while littles take naps. Liz
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There’s lots of help and advice out there. Many things that our head knows we should do. But I know in my heart that nothing works unless I do as you say, “A complete surrender and not my will but thine” is the only way!
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