Life Beyond the Label: How God Showed Me a Fuller Story

When I was first diagnosed with schizophrenia, I felt like my life had suddenly been divided in two: before and after. I pictured my future shrinking, confined to my apartment, watching old movies and putting together puzzles, praying I wouldn’t slip back into psychosis. It felt like a partial death sentence—a quiet, isolated life where I was just trying to get by.

But that’s not the story God had in mind for me.

As time passed, God began gently showing me that a diagnosis doesn’t get to be the author of my life. He does. And what He’s been writing is a story filled with so much more color, creativity, and peace than I thought was possible back then.

I’m living a full, vibrant life—not in spite of my diagnosis, but alongside it, with God’s grace guiding me every step of the way.

I’m a mother, a writer, a creative, and someone rediscovering parts of myself I thought were long gone. I work in a job that brings me joy and purpose. I’ve started blogging again, creating graphics, and now, I’m even returning to music, stepping into guitar lessons after years away from it.

What amazes me is how all of this feels so… normal—but in the best way. There’s a rhythm to my life now. Yes, there are challenges. Yes, I still live with schizophrenia, but it doesn’t confine me to the sidelines of life. I’ve learned how to thrive within the boundaries of what God has given me, and in that, there’s incredible freedom.

I don’t wake up every day worrying about when or if things will fall apart. Instead, I wake up with hope. Hope that today, God will continue to show me how much is still possible. And He does—every single day—in big and small ways.

Finding Purpose in the Unexpected

One of the biggest things I’ve realized is that this diagnosis has been a teacher. It’s helped me slow down and live more intentionally. It’s helped me develop deep compassion—for myself and for others walking their own difficult roads.

And through it all, God has been faithful. He’s gently reminded me that I am not defined by my diagnosis, my past, or even my limitations. I am defined by His love and His plans for me.

I now know that Jeremiah 29:11 wasn’t just a verse to hang on my office wall—it’s the thread woven through every chapter of my life:"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

For Anyone Who Feels Stuck

If you’re reading this and you’ve felt like your life has been put in a box—by a diagnosis, by your past, or by fear—I want you to know this: it doesn’t have to stay that way.

God has a way of gently leading us out of the places where we feel stuck and showing us wide-open spaces we never imagined. Sometimes, He does it in subtle nudges, like prompting me to check an art center schedule twice. Sometimes, He does it in quiet whispers through Scripture, or through the peace you feel settling into your own little office space.

You don’t have to “wait until you’re fully healed” to live fully. You can start now, with what you have, exactly where you are.