- At a time when suiciderates are as high as they are,
and we've even seenpastors, in recent days,
take their lives.
Is there some kind of encouragement
you can give them, Paula?
Having been through so much yourself.
- Absolutely.
For anyone who, right now, is hurting.
For anyone feels beneath a baseline.
Feels so isolated and lonely.
Know that you're not alone.
First and foremost you have a god
that is gonna stick closer than a brother.
I encourage you to reach out.
If it's a suicide hotline.
If it's to some place that you feel safe.
But I wanna talk to everybody
that begins to understand the signs.
Because when a persontakes their life, Jenna,
it's not because they're a bad person,
they're a weak person.
Because a person a threshold,
and when they fall beneath that baseline
and feel there's no way out,feels there's no hope anymore.
That life is better without them.
And there are signs that we can look for.
There're signs that, I mean, you can.
Well the bad about theinternet, of course,
is there's so much junk,
but the beauty is thereare some good things
that say these are some signs
when a person gets into real withdrawal.
You can see, maybe, manic in them.
Real highs, real lows.
Specially if you beginto hear communication.
Often a person that is getting to,
or will their life or not,always talk about that.
They'll see that withdrawnness.
But I really encourage all ofour people that are watching
to pay attention, to look to care,
to have the ministry of presence.
To have the ministry ofloving and reaching out.
Because sometimes justone word, just one touch,
just one hug can make all thedifference in a person's life.
I'll never forget this,as it is an epidemic
and I think because people right now,
they're boarded by cultural messages.
Just get to that place, theyfeel overwhelmed and hopeless.
And that hopelessness is wherethe enemy says, you know,
life is not worth living.
But I was preaching onetime and there was a woman
that came to me afterwards and she said,
"You changed my life."
And I thought, you know,I honored, I was grateful,
I was humbled and Ithought well what part?
Was it during worship?
Was it this part of the word?
What part of the message changed her life?
Was at the altar call?
And tears were streamingdown her face, Jenna,
and she said "No."
She said, "You told everybodyto stand up and turn around
"and hug someone and tell them
"'I love you and there'snothing you can do about it'."
She said, "I had not beentouched in over 13 years."
She said, "I've not received a hug.
She said "And it felt very awkward."
And she's just bawling, shesaid "But it saved my life."
And you just never know the difference
you can make in someone'slife, by being kind,
by being present, by listening, by paying.
