Hey there, ladies! Welcome back to Water with Lemon and thanks for joining in on this week’s episode! This week, I got to sit down with my new friend, Melissa Maimone. We got to talk about her struggle with anxiety and depression and how she has found the Lord in those moments. . I got to have such a life giving conversation with Melissa and finding freedom in having depression and anxiety because we have God who is with you the whole time. I think that this conversation is so important because we live in a world that suffers in anxiety and depression on a daily basis. Melissa’s testimony is so inspiring of how God has really transformed her and taken her from that. We chatted about how you can have a really good life but still struggle with a mental illness. It is so freeing to think that we have a God that carries our burdens when we don’t think we can take another step. I’m so grateful that I got to talk with Melissa because hearing her testimony and knowing that we are not alone in this! Something that was talked about in the podcast was about hiding in the darkness of depression and anxiety. I think that it is so easy to hide behind it all but there is grace through it all. We have a God that wants to be apart of the mess because He wants to carry those difficult things. We should not neglect the negative parts of yourself. It’s okay to be comfortable in the uncomfortable because Jesus is sitting with us through it. I hope that you go check out Melissa’s book, The Radiant Midnight: Depression, Grace, and the Gifts of a Dark Place to see more of her story and journey. I hope that this episode was refreshing to listen to. Thank you so much for the continued support and I’ll see you next week. Stay fresh, my people. Thank you for listening in today, I would love if you would share this episode with a friend and write a quick review and give the podcast a rating-it helps so much because of the iTunes algorithms. Here’s a little bit about Melissa! Melissa Maimone is a wife, mom, taco lover, and Jesus follower. She is the author of two books: “The Radiant Midnight: Depression, Grace, and the Gifts of a Dark Place” and “Gathering Dandelions: Meditations and Musings on Faith Fracture, and Beauty Mistaken for a Weed”. She is a frequent speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, sharing the message that the abundant life in Christ can be messy and magnificent at the exact same time. Resources: The Radiant Midnight: Depression, Grace and the Gifts of a Dark Place by Melissa Maimone Gathering Dandelions: Meditations and Musings on Faith Fracture, and Beauty Mistaken for a Weed by Melissa Maimone The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith The Crown The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Black Mirror Here’s what Melissa is… Reading: The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith and Lisa See’s books Watching: The Crown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Black Mirror What’s Refreshing: Times of Silence Walking her dog Listening to podcasts Really good food with really good friends Quotes: “You can have a really good life and still struggle with depression.” - 14:12 “Shame disappears in the presence of God.” - 17:45 “It won’t last forever” - 25:12 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emma-koch/support