Welcome to Evidence of Grace
Welcome! This is a community where we talk about parenting teens with eating disorders, depression and anxiety through the lens of hope, authenticity and faith. In our family, we have wrestled with the implications of depression, anxiety, eating disorders for our daughter and for us as parents. There is a unique combination of grief, anger, terror and joy that can accompany those conditions. Some of us get twisted up inside trying to figure out how to navigate it all.
I named this Substack Evidence of Grace because the practice of gratitude and reflection has been a life-saver for me. Without noticing those moments of grace and goodness, which may be tiny specks in a dark sky, it would have been too devastating to keep going. Cataloging the gifts along the way has helped me see where I have been carried in the moments when I could barely walk.
About Me
I’m Serena, mother of three teens, a writer, and a leader in the nonprofit world. I’ve been on my own recovery journey for over thirty years while learning how to help my daughter heal for the past few years. I’d love to share our stories and I’d be thrilled to hear yours. I’m also in the process of finishing a memoir called “Bittersweet Journey: Nurturing My Daughter Through an Eating Disorder.” You can read more about my book and catch my playlist at www.serenamenken.com.
I write under a pen name to protect my daughter’s privacy (definitely her preference which I respect) while sharing authentically and honestly about our family. So my ability to share photos is limited but this image captured my smile!
Subscribe and Join Us!
I’d love to have you join our community. On a weekly basis, Evidence of Grace seeks to encourage and inspire those who care about a loved one with mental health challenges.
Evidence of Grace is a free gift. If you’d like to support my work and help expand our reach, you’ve invited to subscribe at $5/ month or $50/ year. Thanks so much for investing in support for independent writing and families in need.
Please also share news about Evidence of Grace with your friends and on social media. A great way to help, whether you can pay or not, is to share the newsletter, encourage others to sign up, and to retweet/post on social media.
What People are Saying
“Thank you for sharing and writing these posts - I find them immensely helpful.”
”Beautiful essays!”
”Thank you, thank you, thank you for your words once again…”
“Genius right here…”
”The title of today’s post [is] exactly something I could’ve written. Thank you for sharing your experiences.”
