Why Songs of Hope?
Why create a blog specifically on maternal mental health?
As a mom of 4 who has experienced this struggle in many different seasons of my life I understand how scary it can be to have thoughts that feel intrusive and unwanted. To feel hopeless in the struggle as you rationalize and try to make sense of what your mind is doing. A few months after the birth of our youngest child in 2017, I battled a severe case of postpartum anxiety and OCD. It brought on so much shame and I felt scared and incredibly desperate for help.
In the midst of my own journey towards healing I felt a clear desire and calling to help other mothers find biblically sound encouragement and resources in their own maternal mental health crisis. During my recovery in 2019, with the help of my husband, I launched the Knowing Motherhood podcast. This audio resource features biblical counsel and honest stories of women who have faced trials of many kinds. Knowing Motherhood has reached listeners all over the globe and offers the hope and healing that only God can provide. Serving in this way has provided healing for my own heart as well- what a gift!
Still I’ve never forgotten how desperate I was to find out if anyone else understood my pain or had answers for the frightening symptoms I was experiencing back in 2018. The day I landed on a website that made me feel seen was one I will never forget. The tears poured down my face as I read the stories of other women struggling and hurting just like I was. Finding those stories gave me hope, yet I noticed that most of the women sharing in that space didn’t seem to have the hope of the gospel that I knew to be so real.
As I read through the words of confusion (“what is happening to me?” “Am I a monster?”) I felt every bit of these brave women’s pain but couldn’t find any biblical truth or wisdom to apply to my personal distress. I wanted to know why this was happening to me and what the bible had to say about it or at least find some clue that convinced me that God wasn’t mad at me for all of the scary thoughts I was experiencing. I was desperate for reassurance (which can actually be a burdensome symptom of OCD) but I also just needed to know that I did in fact have hope of recovery! Two doctor visits early on had left me feeling unsupported and I walked away with just a bottle of medication for anxiety in a dosage, we would find out months later, that was far too low.
In 2022 I started to consider what it might look like to start an online space for guest writers to share their stories of maternal mental health struggles and initially thought it would be part of the Knowing Motherhood website but that never took off as it was just never the right time. As the idea began to take shape, I realized women in the midst of anxiety or depression desperately need a solid landing place for not only good counsel and hopeful encouragement but also strong biblical truth. And so here we are today launching this new space, Songs of Hope, prayerfully placing it in the Fathers hands and asking him to bless the writers who will join me in creating something impactful and beautiful here in the coming months.
Written words are powerful and through this new space, I pray mothers everywhere will be impacted by the bright light of honest storytelling and biblical encouragement that is published here at Songs of Hope!
~Lynnelle
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> Do you know a mother who may be struggling? Share this with her today!
>> Do you have a story of hope that you’d like to see published here?
Please feel free to send your inquiry to hello@lynnellepeters.com for more info.
Thank you so much!