Among Lions: Fighting for Faith and Finding your Rest while Parenting a Child with Mental Illness

Parents need protection.The ambush of shock, the infection of resentment, the crocodile roll of defeat…Among Lions explores 10 “beasts” that can attack parents when a child has mental illness.Each chapter includes:• Defense strategies• Illustrations from the author’s experience• Perspectives from other parents• Application of Scripture• Research and advice from mental health professionals• Practical pointersDrawing on three years when the author’s teenaged son first suffered the onslaught of bipolar disorder, Among Lions offers hope and constructive help. Parents cannot escape the circumstances that attract the beasts, can’t fight them off by themselves, and can’t chase them away, but they can rest even while surrounded. Among Lions assures hurting parents that their souls can survive devastating crisis with practical help, hope from God’s Word, and encouragement from a mom who has found rest even among lions.What Others are Saying:Carol Kent, Speaker and Author of He Holds My Hand: Experiencing God’s Presence and Protection (Tyndale):“If you have a child with mental illness, or if you want to encourage those who do, read this book! Kirsten Panachyda is an exquisite writer. Her chapter introductions, descriptions, stories, and honesty captured my heart from the first chapter to the last. Among Lions will touch your emotions while giving you practical pointers, defense strategies, and professional points of view on how to keep your sanity, hold on to your faith, and rediscover your humor in the midst of unthinkable challenges. Don’t miss this remarkable book!”Lucinda Secrest McDowell, award-winning author of Soul Strong and Life-Giving Choices:“Are you fighting the beasts of mental illness in someone you love? Author Kirsten Panachyda knows your agony, your struggle, and how often you’ve been tempted to give up. She too has learned what it is like to “lay down with lions” (Psalm 57) and her newest book Among Lions: Fighting for Faith and Finding Your Rest While Parenting a Child with Mental Illness may just save your life, your faith, and your family. This book-you-cannot-put-down not only reveals the authentic story of one family but offers a practical strategy and answers for whatever your own family might be going through as well. All the hard emotions are here, but so is the hope and the perseverance to hang on and power through. Because of love, and because of God. I highly applaud Panachyda for so opening her heart, her struggles, and her life with the hopes of redemption in a greater story experienced by too many today. Please read on to the conclusion and experience, as I did, a renewed hope in the power of divine transformation.”Eva Marie Everson, multiple award-winning author of numerous books, including The Bipolar Experience with Leeann Jefferies:“It is difficult to understand. Until you’ve been there–until you’ve watched a child you love more than breath itself fall into the vortex of mental illness. Precious, chunky toddlers become aggressive, out-of-control teenagers, seemingly overnight. The very child you would die for, you fear. And you fear for. But who do you call? Logical efforts of love and discipline do not apply here. But why? What did you do wrong, you wonder. What didn’t you do right? In the midst of it all, amazingly, you discover you are not alone. That your baby is not a monster. Yet the stigma follows you like a nightmare you cannot shake. Still, hearing that someone else has traveled this road… “Yes. There is hope. Kirsten Panachyda understands. She knows. She has lived it and, with God’s help, she has written this timely work. Among Lions: Fighting for Faith while Parenting a Kid with Mental Illness is for anyone who has stared into the monstrous eyes of mental illness, those who work with the parents, or those who simply want to understand.”