Niamh Eddleston-McGrath
Nov 28, 20233 min
Hi, my name is Niamh. I am 15 years old, turning 16 in just over a month. I live in London, UK and I am currently studying for my GCSEs.
For the past few years, I have struggled massively with my mental health, particularly with depression and anorexia. They really are things that I never expected to struggle with. Growing up, I always loved life and food, I was a very bubbly and happy child, but as I got older, people started making more comments on my appearance in a negative way. I think anyone can relate to that feeling when people start to point out the things that make you insecure or give you insecurities that you didn't even have to start with.
I was in a very low place when I first felt the Holy Spirit and the love that God has for us. I think I was about 12 years old, in a Religious Studies class, and the teacher was explaining the crucifixion to a room of chatty kids. It was the first time that I really understood the agony and the sacrifice of Jesus' death. Something about it made me think. Why would someone go through that for something that they didn't know was real?
I started to reach out to family and friends that I knew were Christian. They were delighted, of course. Many of them had previously tried to tell me about God's love for us, but I never really paid it much notice, and, if I'm being completely honest, I thought it was all a little silly up until that point.
I began to learn more and more about Jesus and who He is and all the wonders that the Bible tells us of. I ended up converting to Christianity in early summer of 2020. For a while, I was in a sort of honeymoon stage. I was so happy to have come to Christ and feeling so blessed, but then I think the lockdown started to get to me, and I started to spiral in secret. I began to take my insecurities out on myself, and my eating and mental health got very bad.
A year later, in the summer of 2021, I finally joined my local church and met some of the most wonderful people I now know. I finally had a family of people around me that I could talk to about Jesus and ask any questions that I was struggling with. They believed what I believed, and I felt at home. Looking back, I think this was my first step towards my recovery. I felt surrounded by God's love, and I could see that what I was doing to myself was hindering my relationship with Him by a lot.
It took quite a while, but last year I finally opened up to my parents and my church family about what I had been going through internally. They were so glad I was finally telling the truth, and they had all been worried for a very long time. It has been so hard. A lot of the time my head is in agony with all the horrible thoughts, lies that the illness and the Enemy tell, and battling going on inside it, just to get through each day. I truly believe that without God, my church family, or my Christian brothers and sisters, I would not be here today.
It makes me quite emotional to think of it like that, but I know that God has been and will be with me through every trial, relapse, and storm, but also through all the good times and both the big and little wins. Please take this as your sign to never stop reaching out and witnessing to those around you; it genuinely does save lives.
I know now that my strength is found in Him. His love makes me determined to recover, and I am so happy to give my life to Him. I am hoping to get baptized soon, and I know that, through everything, God and my brothers and sisters in faith will be there for me at every step of the way. Amen.
Stay Lit, everyone! 🙏✨ #FaithJourney #Recovery #StrengthInFaith #MentalHealth
Hi, my name is Niamh Eddleston-McGrath and I live in London. I love fashion, dance, singing and animals. I am very passionate about animals rights