I too am a Christian and want to thank you for your words of encouragement and scripture to review. Last summer I took off 7 weeks (during the summer) because the IBS was taking control of my life and my health was suffering so badly. Through counseling I found ways to de-stress my life that I could incorporate when I went back to work. I also made a decision to leave my job w/ the State in 4 years (after I had my 20 in) and during that time I would make new discoveries about myself to determine where my life would be headed at that time. Then we were offered an Early Retirement Incentive and even tho I was too young to retire (I was 39) I did have the time in and could reap the benefits of being there for 22 years by buying 5 thru the buyout. I made my decision w/in a 4-week timeframe and felt it was the right thing for me to do. My husband didn't like seeing my health suffer, but was concerned about the financial aspect if I wasn't working. I took off a few months ("retired" 12/31/02) and really started looking for a job the beginning of April. I haven't found anything yet and am getting very discouraged. About 3 weeks ago I felt a few signs of depression start to come over me again and I've been trying to deal with that. I was very hopeful about a job I recently applied for and on Monday of this week found out it wasn't going to happen. I was shattered. After collecting myself I started thinking about how things are for me right now - feeling run down, getting sick, then having terrible attacks from the antibiotics - I realized that I hadn't been praying like I usually do. Since realizing this I've begun really trying to focus on that, but it's been an effort. Thank you for sharing your stories and for passing on the gift of Christianity to others thru your words. You have really helped me today. Thank you.