I Survived My Suicide - Part 1I Survived My Suicide - Part 2I Survived My Suicide - Part 3FamilyLife Today® Radio TranscriptReferences to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Life in Spite of MeDay 3 of 3 Guest: Kristen Jane Anderson From the Series: And Then God...________________________________________________________________Bob: At age 17, Kristen Jane Anderson survived a suicide attempt. Today, more than ten years later, she has a powerful message for those who find themselves in despair. Kristen: If you’re struggling with pain in your life or with suicidal thoughts or with depression, I want you to know that there’s a reason you are here, that God created you for a purpose. No matter what you’re going through, it’s temporary. You’re not alone. He has tremendous plans for us, every single one of us. Nobody is an accident including you. There is a reason you’re here. So, I just want to encourage you to hold on, to seek God with all of your heart, and I know that you will find Him. He will bring you out of the depths of despair like he has me. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, September 10th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey and I'm Bob Lepine. Kristen Anderson joins us today to give a reason for the hope that is within her. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us. We’ve been hearing a remarkable story of God’s redeeming work in the heart and the life of a young woman this week. A young woman who attempted suicide by laying across railroad tracks, and miraculously, God spared her life. But, I’m just thinking, here we are at a point in the unfolding of this story where all of a sudden, life has meaning and purpose, joy and hope. There’s just this one bummer, and that is, “I don’t have legs anymore.” I don’t mean to sound crass or trivial about it but… Dennis: It’s the result of what took place. Bob: Here is hope re-dawning but, I’m in a wheelchair with no legs. Life is going to be very different from here on out because of a decision I made—an impulsive decision—trying to end my own life. Dennis: Well, that young lady joins us again on FamilyLife Today; she’s the author of the book, Life in Spite Of Me. Kristen Jane Anderson joins us again on FamilyLife Today, Kristen welcome back. I just have to tell you, I really appreciate your willingness to go back and revisit some very painful moments both emotionally and physically as you shared about that attempt at suicide. Kristen: Thank you; I really appreciate you having me on. Dennis: I wanted to ask you, just as you have processed the loss of your legs like Bob is talking about here, people who lose a limb experience what’s called “phantom pain”? Kristen: Yes. Dennis: Or they have the feeling, the phantom is as though their legs are still there? Kristen: Right. Dennis: Do you experience that? Kristen: Yes. I always feel like my legs are still there. It’s really interesting. It’s not like they feel normal or anything. But it feels like they’re still there. It’s very interesting. Bob: Are there times you’ll wake up in the middle of the night and without stopping to think about it, think “I’ll just swing my legs out and get up out of bed”? Kristen: Not as often as I used to. In the beginning I used to always be really surprised by my wheelchair next to my bed. But now I’m pretty used to it. Every once in a while I’ll think, “I want to go for a run.” Or something like that, that I can’t do any more. Bob: The thing that I keep thinking about here is, at a point when your life experienced a radical transformation, you trusted Christ, you began to understand what it means to follow Him and to give your life to Him, and you’re a new creation in Christ. The thing is, the old you had legs, the new you doesn’t. Kristen: Right. Bob: How do you process that? Kristen: The thing that helped me the most was learning that I was whole in Christ, whether or not I had legs isn’t what made me whole. He was more than enough for all of me, I didn’t need anything more. The more that I trusted Him, and I put my faith in Him, the more I just felt whole. I realized I was going to fine without my legs. I was going to be fine as long as I had Him. I didn’t need them as much as I needed Him. Dennis: You said before we came into the studio, that you’ve been working with—is it a physician who creates prosthetics? Kristen: Yes, he’s called a prosthetist. Dennis: You’ve been working with him for four years? Kristen: Longer actually.Dennis: Actually longer than that? Yet, it’s interesting to see your demeanor. You have some opinions about why they have not been ...
