That explains that!!!

I've been reflecting back over the past several weeks since I received my "official" diagnoses. I was diagnosed with Major Depression, Adult Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), & Bi-Polar Disorder. Major Depression is when you get down and stay down longer then normal and have a hard time getting back to "normal", whatever that may be. ADHD is when you have a hard time staying focused on something over a period of time combined with a high amount of hyperness. And then finally, Bi-Polar Disorder. There are several kinds of Bi-Polar disorder with the common connecting factor being someone that has mood swings that swing higher then normal, lower then normal, and more often then normal, with once again with whatever "normal" is.

I am so relieved to finally have my diagnoses! For years & years I was blown away by some of the things that I've done. Literally, thousands and thousands of times I've thought either "Am I crazy? What the heck am I doing" or "That was stupid, what the heck made me do that?" I know now that I've been afflicted by a mental disorder that is physically based. My depression is caused by low levels of Serotonin, the chemical that enables nerve cells to communicate with each other. My ADHD & Bi-Polar Disorder are also physically based. In fact medical science has found that all three of my conditions are also hereditary. Or should I say, "I didn't get this way on my own!"

An interesting note here, I've been adopted twice...

Once at birth by my loving parents...

&

Once again in 1988 when Jesus welcomed me into His family!!!

Due to my being adopted at birth I have never known either one of my birth parents including whether they had any of the other disorders I have including my Spina-Biffada (more on that later). I'm sure glad that besides my loving wife I've got Jesus & the Holy Spirit with me as I travel this new course set before me in discovering my mental health.

Before my diagnoses, whenever I would go off on a tangent or something the enemy would really attack me & hold whatever silly thing I did over my head and use it to try to separate me from Jesus. Now, whenever I do something silly, I know where it comes from and I just put it under the forgiving blood of Jesus!

The Apostle Paul gave those of us with Bi-Polar Disorder a fantastic verse in Romans 8:38 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Be Blessed!

BIG