Ganel-Lyn Condie's Blog, page 4

Huffington Post: You Are NOT A Burden

Interview with Ganel-Lyn (Seth Smith) shared on Huffington Post.

In March of 2014, Ganel-Lyn Condie was shocked to learn that her sister, Meggan, had died by suicide. Since then, Ganel-Lyn–an author and speaker–has devoted much of her time and energy to suicide prevention. Last year, I sat down interviewed Ganel-Lyn and she shared some powerful insights about overcoming grief and preventing suicide. During the interview, she said: “When I have the opportunity to talk to anyone that’s dealing with depression, or suicidal thoughts, I emphatically tell them that they are not a burden.”

Ganel-Lyn went on to say that her sister’s suicide had taught her many things. One of the most important things it taught her was that depression can darken our perspective and cause us to only see the bad things in our lives–and none of the good things. Please know that even though we may struggle with depression, or suicidal thoughts, we are filled with goodness–and we are loved. Of her sister, Ganel-Lyn said “I loved her…I would have kept her, forever and ever–just the way she was–with all of her flaws.”

Read the rest of Huffington Posts article here…

Happy Times with Meggan!

The post Huffington Post: You Are NOT A Burden appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Drawing the big plans, Part II

Editor’s note: This is the second part in the author’s quest for designing the perfect dream yard for her family’s home.

Snow covers the yard and thoughts of mowing, weeding and green landscapes are buried under a blanket of white.

Winter may be the perfect time to get a jump on some of those big ideas you have for that yard of yours! Or maybe you are more like us, brain cells stuck in frozen tundra — void of the creativity and horticultural knowledge needed to draw up functional landscaping designs. The kind of ideas that are going to take more than just a lawn mower and some hedge clippers to bring to life.

Read the rest of the article here and see the designs from LFDG…

see the custom landscape designs from LFDG

The post Daily Herald: Drawing the big plans, Part II appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: From the web, suicide prevention, the goal of one local author

Daily Herald From the Web: read article

 

The post Daily Herald: From the web, suicide prevention, the goal of one local author appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Video Interview: When A Loved One Commits Suicide

Speaker and author, Ganel-Lyn Condie, talks about her sister’s suicide and offers hope, healing, and advice for anyone who is struggling to find peace.

To learn more about Ganel-Lyn, please visit: www.ICanWithGod.com

Video Magic: From the cluttered office of  Seth Adam Smith, the writer of this blog & these books. Sign up for his newsletter!

The post Video Interview: When A Loved One Commits Suicide appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

RISE today for the New Year

This short film inspired me to write a New Years poem.

Watching the Joan of Arc documentary on BYUtv inspired me to move out of fear.

http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/today-i-rise/…

 

POEM

Today, I feel the beginnings of the New Year,

With mix of trepidation and hope.

My own self-doubts and anxieties

Nip at my thoughts.

My own fatigue of spirit,

Begs me to stop, to sit awhile and rest.

Today, I know moving forward, truly living my Earthly mission to the fullest,

Frees me from the entrapment of the fear!

For if I ignore — or shirk

My spirit and heart will grow cold.

Today, I will RISE.

Will you join me,

No matter what you fear?

And tomorrow?

In faith, I will RISE again the next day.

And for all my days to be.

-g. condie

#icanwithgod.com

The post RISE today for the New Year appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Good Samaritans often inconvenienced

It was my second trip to Walmart in three days.

With a shopping cart filled to overflowing with groceries, I walked to my car to go home. I was in a pretty good mood. Not like the previous day; when everything seemed to break, go wrong or took way too long. I didn’t handle that horrible, no good, really bad previous day …

But I digress.

So here I was, done with my shopping, in a much better mood. I pushed the key to open the locked car. But only one door opened. I clicked it again to open all of the doors, but no response. So I opened the door and placing my purse (with my phone and key inside), I reached the door to unlock the doors. Without pausing, I pushed the unlock button on the door and shut the door to open the next.

OH NO! I had just locked all the doors. With my purse and phone and key inside my locked car. With all my groceries in the cart outside the car!

Panic. Now what? Breathe. Pray. Because that is what I do, try to remember to do, with my everyday faith. Read the rest of the article here…

The post Daily Herald: Good Samaritans often inconvenienced appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Everyday Faith, sacrifice is really no sacrifice after all

I had a three-day migraine! The kind that makes you want to go a bit postal!

When I get them — Day 1, I handle it. Day 2, I start to feel edgy, a bit crazy. By Day 3, I am ready to crack. I want to cut my head off (too violent?) it feels so violent. It was during a recent Day 3 headache — crying and wanting to scream — that my husband did something. Something that was sensitive and almost sacred.

He sacrificed.

The back story is Rob was exhausted. He had recently started a new job and had been not getting much sleep himself. I knew he really wanted to sleep, but instead he sacrificed. For over 30 minutes, while I reclined in a chair, he brought me hot wash cloths and placed them on my forehead. He would then stay close by so he could take the cooled cloth and run it under the hot water to return it to my aching scalp. The pain and panic that I had been fighting against for days, slowly started to relax.

The next day I kept thinking about this man, so tired himself, quietly serving me. He has been my Mr. Condie for over 25 years. Anyone who has been married for that long will tell you that marriage isn’t always easy. Those loving feelings don’t just happen. The flowers, dating and fireworks come less often. But thankfully what replaces it is something real, lasting and time-tested. My husband is not perfect but Mr. Condie is good-hearted and kind. He wants to be there for me, and I want to be there for him. But it isn’t always easy to know what being there really looks like. Read the rest of the article here…

The post Daily Herald: Everyday Faith, sacrifice is really no sacrifice after all appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Catholics taught me to like Halloween

The spirits of our family who have passed on seem much closer as we celebrate All Souls Day.

I will confess I am not a big fan of Halloween. But this year — something changed for me. Maybe it was because of my dear friend Seth Smith who proudly proclaimed that HALLOWEEN is his favorite holiday! He said to clarify the day of after and after … really is his favorite.

I love Seth so this sent me searching, reading. And I learned something new. At the ripe old age of 44, I learned why my dear friend loves this time of year.

According to Wikipedia, All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows, Day of All the Saints Solemnity of All Saints, November 1 celebration begins at Vespers on the evening of October 31 and ends at the close of November 1. It is thus the day before All Souls’ Day.

Hallowmas is another term for the feast, and was used by Shakespeare in this sense. However, applied this term to the three days from October 31 to November 2 inclusive, as a synonym for the triduum of Hallowtide. Read the rest of the article here…

The post Daily Herald: Catholics taught me to like Halloween appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Prayer

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”

— Mother Teresa

As a little girl — I was taught to pray.

I learned the nuts and bolts of prayer: an opening, thanking, asking, repenting and closing. I am blessed that my parents and my church taught me that talking to God wasn’t just OK, but encouraged! But knowing the how doesn’t necessarily guarantee a recognizable what. Read the rest of the article here…

The post Daily Herald: Prayer appeared first on Ganel-Lyn: Writer, Speaker, Consultant.

Daily Herald: Hope can help stop suicide

I remember screaming, knowing already. “No! No, Dad! Bring her back! No, is she dead? Is it Meg?” But I didn’t need to ask. I already knew. He gently hugged me. “Yes, Meg’s gone. We can’t bring her back.” 

It was no accident. But I couldn’t say the word out loud.

Suicide. Suicide. Suicide — such an ugly, final, painful word. [excerpt taken from I Can Do Hard Things with God, compiled by Ganel-Lyn Condie, (Covenant, 2015)]

Suicide prevention awareness is personal for me. It is personal for my family. It is personal to too many families.

 ”According to the recently released World Health Organization (WHO) report: Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative, over 800,000 people die by suicide across the world each year. The report notes that this estimate is conservative, with the real figure likely to be higher because of the stigma associated with suicide, lack of reliable death recording procedures, and religious or legal sanctions against suicide in some countries. We may not be able to pinpoint the exact figure, but we do know that each individual suicide is a tragic loss of life. It is hard to imagine the extreme psychological pain that leads someone to decide that suicide is the only course of action. Reaching out to someone who is struggling can make a difference.” https://www.iasp.info/wspd/ International Association for Suicide Prevention homepage

So with Thursday being World Suicide Awareness Day, I had to share some feelings and thoughts about prevention. I wanted to prevent my sister’s suicide. Her therapist, her mother, her friends and her bishop all wanted to prevent suicide. Prevention is the goal and I believe in goals. They help us reach for a mark, to push beyond what we may have already been doing. Read the rest here… 

The post Daily Herald: Hope can help stop suicide appeared first on My Website / Blog.