Episode 136: Knowing that God is not done with Ed Simpson
We are excited to share today's story with you! Ed Simpson joined us in the studio for a very vulnerable, heartfelt conversation. Before you listen, we do want to give a trigger warning for this story as combat trauma and suicide ideation are discussed throughout. Ed is fourth generation military having served as a military police officer in the Air Force. It is an incredible legacy to be a part of but there was also a heartbreaking side as many family members had untreated PTSD and mental health issues. Ed's father had served in Vietnam and unfortunately, he was abusive in many ways to his family after that. He shares about how he was negatively shaped by the verbal abuse he experienced, and that God was not a part of his time growing up. When Ed began attending NAU he made some friends who knew Jesus. This was the first time Ed had ever heard anyone talk about who Jesus was. He began to see love and community for the first time. Ed sweetly recounts how seeing the love families can have for each other showed him who God was. Through this community he met his wife Leah and continued his military career. Ed was deployed to the Middle East 3 months after 9/11 and there he experienced a lot of live combat. He had a few other deployments and developed PTSD after all of the things he saw and experienced. We appreciated how Ed brings us into his experiences and articulates what it is like to live with PTSD. You will be encouraged as he is real with the pain he has experienced but also how he has used his experiences to minister to others. Ed's main message is that there is hope - God is not done with you.
Combat Veterans Support Group at DSCC
Local West Valley AZ therapists (scroll to the bottom of the web page)
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Topic's covered in today's episode: PTSD, deployment, childhood trauma, combat trauma, therapy
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Want to share your story on The Stories Collective podcast? Email sarah@dscchurch.com
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