When Pain Is In The Next Room

As a counselor, I deal with a significant number of individuals who deal with depression.  Most of it is generally stemming from the loss of a loved one or the lack of a significant person in their lives. Whatever the cause, I’ve been able to navigate through these emotions with them successfully at a high rate.  I’m not boasting at the accomplishment, for it is the love of God that does the work, I’m just the vessel being used.

I’m grateful for the positive outcomes I have in my counseling practice, but I’m also challenged.  How do I deal with the pain that’s coming from the next room in my home? I understand the power of the mind, as we’re taught in the scriptures to let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ, but the reality is that society doesn’t function that way.  I deal with pain in the next room tenderly at times, but at other times with little or no empathy.  I wonder how it is that I’m so tender with outsiders but don’t extend that same measure of care in my home.

I can only attribute that behavior to the fact that I know that I’ve given those in my home truth about who Christ is, and stand on His word for change.  Silly me!  I’ve learned that being the wife, mother, or grandmother, or sibling to a hurting family member requires the same if not greater compassion and love.  We must love beyond the barrier and embrace them with the same love we offer to everyone else.  Let me modify that – I must – as I pray that other counselors are doing a better job at navigating family than I have.

What I’ve gleaned from this scenario is simple, when pain is in the next room, don’t ignore it, address it as if it came through the door of your office and give them the same love and attention you give everyone else.

Valerie