Only A Year Ago

It has been officially a year since Christine, Alyssa, and I started our website and published my first blog titled “How I Learned To Read.” I have grown in many different ways: like growing taller, becoming better at writing, singing, playing the guitar and so on, but I would definitely have to say that the thing that I have grown in the most is my relationship with God. This past year God has helped me overcome my depression, learn to become better at getting my confidence from him, and become better at trusting him.

I first started struggling with depression when I was 11 years old. During the 5 months I was in China (my eighth grade year) my depression became more severe. When my family and I came back to America, my mom took me to the doctor. My doctor diagnosed me with depression and prescribed medication for me. God started to heal me and teach me how to “take every thought captive and make it obedient to him,” ( 1 Corinthians 10:5). After a month or two I was able to stop having to take the medication. My depression symptoms disappeared almost completely, but in the summer they began to come back because I was bored and lonely. Throughout that summer and my first year of high school, God helped me overcome my depression once and for all. Even into this summer I have been able to, with God’s help, keep myself from sinking back into depression.

This past year God has also helped me learn how to get better at getting my confidence from him. Throughout most of my freshmen year, I struggled with comparing me singing voice to other people and trying to get my confidence and self worth from whether or not I am good at singing. It was my first year in my high school’s advanced choir, and it was my first time ever competing. Ever since I was little, I have struggled with comparing myself and my abilities to others. This usually caused me to get very anxious and worked up about any sort of competition. Most of my freshman school year I had trouble enjoying singing. I even thought about dropping out of choir. I decided to pray about my struggles. I asked God to help me be able to stop comparing myself to others and enjoy singing again. During the last trimester of the school year, God began to help me have fun in choir again. At my winter and my Spring concert, I was able to sing without worrying about whether the other people around me were better at singing than I was, and I had the best time singing in choir since 8th grade.

In the Bible God says, “I will answer them (his children) before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” (Isaiah 65 : 24). God has proven this to be true this year for me by answering my prayers and helping me overcome so many obstacles in my life.

If you have any question or would like to learn more about the C.A.N Sister’s Ministry, leave a comment below, check out our website, or email us at cansistersministry@gmail.com.