So … I Have Adult ADHD

By definition, adult ADHD is a mental health disorder that includes a combination of persistent problems, such as difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.  I have no idea how I ‘got’ it.  I don’t know when it started.  I rarely know when it will manifest.  But, I deal with it, daily.

My wife, adult kids, and my Mom, have been urging me to be evaluated for ADHD — almost humorously — for more than 20 years, but I simply shrugged it off as a silly idea. So, recently I began to experience unforeseen sudden panic attacks, along with the familiar bouts of depression, which I have experienced often for more than 20 years or so.  The panic disorder is a bit different for me, because I’ve never considered myself as being prone to panic, since I was raised in a very puritanical work-ethic git-r-done country boy culture.  We just don’t panic. We rise up. We fight. We press on. We push through.

So, I have evidently, according to my medical advisors and counselors, ‘pushed through’, one too many times.  And now with the global shutdown of COVID-19 and all the residual fallout we have all dealt with — my ADHD and depression condition has simply magnified itself and accelerated it’s malicious effects on my brain, and on my body.  And, on my soul.

But wait, I am a Christian. I’ve even given my entire adult life to ministry!  I’m one of the good guys. You know, a disciple of Christ. The One. The Savior. Messiah. Healer. Christus Victor.  So, why on earth would someone like ME suffer from a ‘mental health disorder’.  Of all things?

Well, as I’m discovering, Christians suffer depression too.  And, we ‘get’ mental health disorders too.  In fact, according to Rick and Kay Warren’s Hope For Mental Health, people who claim to follow Christ, especially in America today, are suffering mental health disorders at an alarming rate.  I am forever grateful for wonderful leaders like Rick and Kay, who have been unashamed and quite courageous in their mission to help people like me who suffer from such conditions.

To avoid getting too deep in the weeds here, I will simply say, if you need help … ASK FOR HELP!  We all get ‘the blues’ from time to time.  Everyone has a ‘bad day’, sometimes. But, when the bad days, the dark days, the heavy days, become more and more consistent and persistent … STOP and take notice.  Don’t be a hero.  Don’t fall prey to the myth that you can ‘push through’.  You cannot. And you should not!

THANK YOU to everyone who knows the struggle and who has remained near.  I love you, every one.  Thank you to my dear friends who I can be completely vulnerable and honest with, warts and all.  Thank you to my precious wife and our children, who have accepted and loved me, and affirmed me, without exception.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” – Psalm 34:4-6 CSB

Sermons Now Available

Hey Friends!

I know … it’s been a minute.  I would like to invite you to join me for Sunday Morning worship services with my good friends at GracePoint Mt Olive United Methodist Church, in north Jefferson County, Alabama.

GracePoint has offered me the opportunity to preach and teach a few Sundays this past year, for which I’m grateful.  Please enjoy worship with us and let us know if the messages and worship are a blessing to you.

NEW and EXCITING updates coming very soon at Robby Myrick Music and Robby Myrick Ministries.

Anniversaries

The dictionary definition of “anniversary” reads:  the annual recurrence of a date marking a notable event.  April 7 will become a new anniversary on my calendar.

Dad went to be with Jesus on April 7, 2020 amidst a new global pandemic, in a bed at a small long term care home, with precious saints nearby who cared for him lovingly until his final breath on earth.  I was graciously allowed to be with Dad before he crossed the River into his new heavenly Home.  My brothers and Mom joined me on a FaceTime call just hours before he left us.  His personal nurse assured me that he would not be alone when his time came.

April 7 will forever become a notable event on my calendar.  Dad’s birthday is April 22nd and he would have been 81 had he lingered here.  I know he was tired and weary of the struggle here, and frankly, I’m glad he celebrated his 81st with Jesus, his Mom and Dad (Mamaw and Grandaddy), my mom’s parents who he loved dearly (Deb and Margie), and a host of loved ones, friends, and Christian souls who found Jesus on earth because Dad shared the Gospel with them.

Anniversaries can bring much joy and anticipation, especially to couples who have vowed their love to one another for life.   We all long for another year of making memories, enjoying one another, living our adventures together.  And anniversaries can bring sorrow and sadness.  We remember the good times.  We mourn and lament the hard times.   We grieve the loss and loneliness.  But, tomorrow always comes.  And usually, it’s a brighter tomorrow.

Daddy, I love you and I miss you.  I know that you are finally healed, happy, and wholly redeemed at the King’s Table.  I know that the celebration is amazing and you wouldn’t come back here for anything in this world.

We shall join you soon.  It will be that Glad Reunion Day we always sing about.  And, all the old songs will finally be our new reality.   I Will Meet You In The Morning … What A Day That Will Be … I Know A Man Who Can … I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy … and O, What A Savior!

Happy Anniversary, Dad.

Love Is Love

So, Blaire and Jess did a thing …

Our baby daughter married her best friend and gay partner this October.  The Wedding was THE most beautiful we’ve ever experienced and our endless gratitude goes to the wonderful staff at Drakewood Farm for your amazing talents and skills.

Our little “Blaire-Blaire”, the “Blairest” of them all, came out of her Mama’s womb breach, feisty, strong-willed, and Independent.  Just ask every baby sitter, teacher, grandparent, and friend who’s ever known her!  Jess came into Blaire’s life through mutual friends around Nashville, and they immediately “knew” … she’s the one.  We all knew.  And, it’s been beautiful to watch their love grow to this amazing Day.

Blaire and Jess were surrounded for the past few years by their amazing community of LGBTQ+ friends and family in Nashville.  We had met a few of these beautiful people, occasionally during quick visits to Nashville or Birmingham, but had never truly spent any quality time with them.  We had only learned of their love and care for Blaire and Jess via random incidents of COVID-19 trauma, job changes, errand running, and simple acts of Love.

As I walked our Baby Girl down the aisle last Friday evening under the canopy of Greens, Yellows, Blues, and other amazing hues of nature that our Father provided, my heart leapt into my throat, of course.  This was It.  The Big Day. Her Wedding Day.  I was “giving her away”.  Or, that’s what I felt for a moment.

As the ceremony flowed, so did the laughs, the tears, the joys, and the vows.  Those vows!

Blaire and Jess wrote out their vows the morning of Wedding Day.  Life had been so busy for us all, with our relocation from the Coast, to CV19 concerns, to booking the venue, to preparations for the Day.  So finally, they jotted down the vows that were in their hearts, individually and privately.  Then, at that ceremonial moment, they both spoke words that both had felt for months leading up to this moment, “… you are the sky. Everything else, it’s just the weather.”  

Wow. Tears. Hankies. More tears!

Photos, dance, music, wine, beers, and food followed.  More photos, and more dance!  Then, began the Toasts.  Many beautiful friends shared their love and memories of Jess and Blaire, their “firsts”, their budding relationships, their own individual remembrances and nuances of moments with both our girls.  Then, my brother Danny shared his thoughts and the Love.  Then, his boys shared.  Then, our boys shared.  Then, it was my turn.

I wanted Blaire and Jess to know how deeply LOVED and EMBRACED they are.  By their friends, by their Nashville family, by their family of origin, but mostly by the Father.  He LOVES them.  More than ANY of us can.  More than any of us will EVER love them.  And, He desires for them to know Him — more fully and wonderfully than ever.

I shared a few words from my extemporaneous ADHD heart, many of which were probably my typical filibuster, but from the heart nonetheless.  One thought that I do recall sharing is that … the Love of the Father has become more fully significant to me through this marriage of my Daughter and her Bride.

John 3:16 means SO much more!

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 NLT

So does 1 John 3:16 mean so much more!

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” – 1 John 3:16 NLT

Blaire and Jess have lived out these two very simple LOVE passages from scripture.  So have their friends.  So have the plethora of Nashville community connections who have created safe spaces for gay and queer people who have been abused, rejected, bullied, harassed, objectified, and thrown aside.

We have learned, all over again, what Love really looks like.  Love is Love.  The old hymns and the new worship songs call God’s Love … wondrous, greater far, boundless, measureless, strong, enduring, deeper, eternal, endless, reckless, beautiful, holy … and unconditional.

Love is Love. It is all those things from the hymns and songs.  It is all those longings we feel for our beloved spouses and partners. It is all those hopes and wishes that we all feel for our babies. It is that yearning we always feel down deep in our soul for our Father.

So, congratulations Blaire and Jess!  We celebrate You.  We bless You.  We see You.  We embrace You.  And, we release You to go and Love others with the Love that you’ve been so graciously shown.

#LoveIsLove
#LoveWINS

Daddy’s Home

Home, where there is no night
Home, where the Son is the light
The place I’ve been dreaming of so long
Loved ones there to welcome me
But His sweet face will be the first I see
When my journey’s over
I am going Home

(c)1983 Charles Aaron Wilburn | Rusty Goodman | Tanya Goodman Sykes

 

 

Lonnie Myrick went Home to be with Jesus on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.  He was 80 yrs of age and had lived a long and full life.  We are so grateful to the Riemann Family and to the precious caregivers who walked with us through Dad’s end of life here.   Please share and comment on his Obituary page as you feel led.

Dad’s life here was filled with lots of love from his high school sweetheart and their family together, with all sorts of small town boy adventures, with world travels, with a bit of music and ministry success, and with his own very personal turmoils and strife.

Everyone who knew my Dad realized that he was a restless heart, eager to race towards his calling as a Gospel preacher.  Raised on a south Mississippi farm, Dad knew the value of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears.  He knew the hardships of the common man.  He knew from childhood that this life was filled with heartaches and sorrows, but that there was more to this life than just living and dying.  And, he was going to find his path somehow.

Dad answered the Call to Gospel ministry at the tender age of 19 yrs old.  He fell in love with Rosemary, his high school sweetheart, a country girl with amazing musical talents.  They married young, completed “some college”, started ministering the Gospel in rural churches, and soon after started their little family.

Fast foward ten years, and The Rosetones would be fully engaged in touring across South Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, recording Gospel music albums, and singing on stages with Southern Gospel Music’s most famous talents.

Lonnie would proceed to lead some of south Mississippi’s most dynamic evangelical churches, leading hundreds of souls to faith in Christ with his sometimes fiery salvation messages, calling lost souls to the altar for repentance and forgiveness.  He rallied young preachers alongside him in ministry, and built some of the Gulf Coast’s most evangelistic Baptist churches, reaching record numbers of converts in the 1970s and 80s.

But, with all that “hellfire-and-brimstone” conviction … there was also a tender mercy that spilled from Lonnie’s spirit, a Christ-like gentleness that caused the most weary of wanderers to know … maybe God loves even me.

Lonnie and Rose, and their boys, along with several renditions of The Rosetones, would eventually produce seven full-length vinyl records laced with top 40 Gospel favorites.  Their most stellar production was the 1983 Gloryland Gold album which featured Danny Myrick‘s top hits — the title track, along with I Know He’s Coming Back and the #1 hit song Jesus Is The Light, made famous by the award-winning Dixie Melody Boys Quartet, also known as DMB Band.

With great music and ministry sucess also came intense anxiety, leadership demands, and the neverending needs of growing churches, not to mention a touring family band.  Lonnie, by his own admission, was unable to cope with the demands without the relief of pain medications and therapy.  Eventually, Lonnie would succumb to narcotics abuse and addictions, which would end his public ministry and result in more than a decade of very difficult family struggles.

But, God had a greater plan.

Lonnie would find redemption, recovery, and restoration through dozens of addiction recovery programs and ministries, not the least of which was his successful graduation from Home of Grace in Vancleave, MS.  His dear friend and co-laborer in pastoral ministry, Bro. Bill Barton, would extend mercy and help Lonnie through the darkest years of his life.

For more than a decade, my Dad fought through addiction recovery, re-entry into ‘normal’ life, and was eventually able to find refuge and fellowship in the very churches where he had ministered as a much younger and healthier pastor.  God brought another prodigal son home!

As Dad and I tried to recover the ‘lost’ years, we discovered just how grueling the path of recovery can be for the addict.  And, for the family of the addict.  Somehow, God used Dad’s story, his testimony, and his witness of God’s amazing Grace, to help others who struggled with same or similar addictions.  Pastors who loved Dad back into the fold were invaluable to his recovery.  Church folks who showed overwhelming love, mercy, and compassion gave Dad the motivaiton he needed to simply … belong.

I was with Daddy that Tuesday evening before he went to be with Jesus forever.  His frail body was letting go of this life, and racing towards the glory of Heaven … which I’m certain he could see with his spiritual eyes.  I sang his favorite songs to him, cooled his brow, stroked his thick wavy grey hair, and told him how much I love him.  I told him he was a good Dad.  I told him what an amazing preacher he was.  I reminded him of the thousands of faces I see when I think of our travels and revival services.  I recalled our tours with all the great singing groups of the 70s and 80s who loved our family and supported our little band.

And, I told him once again … You are forgiven. You are loved. And you are valued. God loves you. We love you.  And, you can go HOME!  So, he did.  Tuesday night around 10:30pm … Daddy ran to jesus and the Father in Heaven.  The prodigal came HOME!

I’ll miss my Dad.  I’ll miss our talks about the good ole days.  I’ll miss our Waffle House meetings. I’ll miss having him ride along with me to a revival meeting, and sitting proudly in the congregation to support my music ministry.  And, yes … he always requested his favorite, I Know A Man Who Can.  Kirk Talley sang it so much better than me, but Daddy loved to hear me give it my best shot!

Daddy, I love you.  And, I’ll keep telling the Story, as long as folks will listen.

Jesus, thank you for loving my Daddy.  Thank you for Salvation.  Thank you for Grace.  Thank you for your Holy Spirit.  Thank you for paying the price for our sin.  Thank you for being our Friend.

I’ll tell everyone, everywhere, just like Daddy did … I know a Man who can.