Kay Warren’s son Matthew committed suicide almost four years ago, but for the first time, she has revealed the prophetic vision God gave her shortly after her son’s death.
“Not long after our son, Matthew, died, I had a vision in prayer. I don’t regularly see visions, so this was unusual,” the wife of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren shares in a Facebook post.
She continued:
In my mind’s eye, I pictured the Worship Center at Saddleback full of people who are living with a mental illness—depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, an eating disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia—or any other mental illness that was making life challenging. Everyone in the room was reaching out to God without having to pretend that life felt okay—some people were crying, others wrapped themselves around a large wooden cross, some were praying, some were offering hugs to others—but all felt safe to bring their pain and their sorrow to God. Then I saw laughter—the kind of laughter that comes when others walking a similar life-path talk about the shared, common ups as well as downs, the moments of absurdity and humor in living with a mental illness. In my vision, hope began to rise. Hope for no more isolation. Hope for better days ahead. Hope for relationships with others who truly “get” what it’s like to live with a mental illness. Hope for acceptance and a place to belong. Hope for today … for tomorrow. And the day after that.
Warren has remained a fierce advocate of mental health awareness and treatment since her son’s diagnosis and subsequent death.
Last Halloween, petitioners inspired by Warren helped shut down a mental-illness focused attraction at Knott’s Berry Farm. {eoa}
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