Always. There.

Always. There.

I recently flew to Portland, Oregon. What a beautiful place. So utterly different from Florida. Christmas Trees everywhere! Wineries dotting along the drive to the Coast. Humongous rocks jutting out of the Pacific. There is just something majestic about the West.

What does my trip have to do with mental illness or times of struggle when seeking counseling is imperative? Well, it happened on my flight back.

I love flying. It’s exhilarating to me. Speeding down the runway, feeling the lift, soaring higher and higher. On this particular day there was heavy cloud cover. It seemed like forever until we broke through. As soon as we got above several layers of cloud, there it was…the sun.

I’ve had this train of thought before however this time it was not merely thought but sight and the message remains as powerful as ever.

When all we see are “clouds” in our lives the truth is the Sun is still just as powerfully shining above all that grey.

It’s always the same.

Sun up.

Sun down.

Always. There.

I don’t know what you are facing right now. I know the sun has been hidden from me in my life at times…this is the place where other people have to hold out hope for me and remind me the sun is still there despite the clouds that hide it from me.

Kind of like…hope.

Sometimes hope is hidden. Sometimes we need someone to hold that hope for us until we get there ourselves (which usually takes longer than most of us would like to admit).

As counselors we hold hope for you. We may not see the sun either but we know it’s there and seek to comfort you in the midst of times when all you see is clouds.

It’s there…

The sun.

He’s there…

Jesus.

Always. There.