Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Dont let anyone tell you just because you have issues you cant serve God... people use to tell me that.  You see I have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder stemming from the tragic lose of 5 friends/family, (2 to illness, 3 two car accidents) and some horrible things that happened to me outside of that as well. 

Many things can cause PTSD, from war, to sudden death of loved ones, to natural disasters, to rape, to abuse, to terrorist attacks, to childhood neglect, and many other reasons.  What exactly triggers it and how to prevent it, is still vastly unknown.

PTSD is a strange thing, for some it passes in just six months, for others it does not set on till six months afterward.  It can last for 6 months or a life time. It has been over the past 9 years, and yet it still haunts me.  The flash backs, still come unbidden during the night.  Still I struggle connecting with people, and freak if I am trapped in a corner with no way out, but that is kinda expected.

Yet, though at the time I could not see the good in it, now out here working with teens who have gone through many of the same issues I have, can offer the hope I have found in Jesus to them.  Not the casual, "He will fix everything.", but the He is there through it all holding out His hand to help us through the valleys of the shadows of death.