Blessed are the Crazy: Part One

A year ago on July, 4, 2013, I began this blog with the hope of breaking the silence about mental illness.

Today I am thrilled to announce that my book Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family, and Church will be published this September by Chalice Press as part of The Young Clergy Women Project series.

In the next week I’ll be looking at a PDF of the typeset book. Geeee!

Also, we are doing cartwheels over the amazing artwork of Shawna Everett whose creative design magic will grace the book cover. The cover design could go in a number of interesting directions…and I’m staying open to the possibilities. This part is really fun!

The book is not only a personal testimony about how God (has and does) show up in the crazy, but the book is also a resource designed to help get the conversation going about mental health…there’s a small group study guide at the end of the book, too.

I had no idea what I was getting myself (or my family) into three years ago when I pushed send on that first book proposal. I had no sense of how collaborative this process would be and I had no idea how much I would love it.

Since writing the book and this blog, I’ve grown even closer to my brother Scott who is on full disability because of his mental illness (bipolar). He’s supported this project from the beginning, saying, “I’ll do whatever I can do to help.”

Back in 2011, The Young Clergy Women Project was the first to say yes to this idea of breaking the silence about mental illness. That was risky and took courage. I am grateful.

And the folks at Chalice Press have been super great to work with: encouraging, supportive, professional, responsive, and open.

So happy one year anniversary everybody!

Let’s keep the conversation going, breaking the silence, decreasing the shame and stigma of mental illness. Our health and well-being depend on it.

Pre-order Blessed are the Crazy here