“…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; [He] went about doing good and healing all…who were oppressed…for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38 NKJV)

I've been thinking about Christ in the Bible – how He fed the people and helped the people. It makes me think about how we're supposed to be like Him and help everybody we can. It also makes me think about all the ways people have helped me over the years. In elementary school I struggled with depression but didn't know that's what it was. As I grew up the mood swings in my teen years were bad. In the military, I was in a submarine in places like Guam and Pearl Harbor . I was proud to serve my country, but my troubles didn't go away.

Eventually I received an honorable discharge and it was a VA psychologist who finally diagnosed schizophrenia and I got some real help. It took years of many kinds of treatment, including counseling, shock treatments, and finding the right medicine. Things are lots better now. My time with mental illness taught me you can't deal with a problem until you face up to it.

I grew up in the church but fell away for a while. I think about how Christ helped people and how people helped me, especially my niece and Marilyn.

I didn't really start to grow in my faith until I came to church at Greenwood .

Ed Boudman (as told to Shirley Leonard)