Feature Articles29 Feb 2004
Pam Seaman - Through the Darkness, into the Light
 Add this entry to Your Favorites
 [1] Comments
It seems in this day and time that there are so many people going through things. Health problems, financial problems and spiritual problems all seem to plague us, or someone we know constantly. Sometimes it seems we're blinded by the darkness for so long, that we are never going to see the light of day again. Pam Seaman is one of those people who has been there. She has been through the darkness of pain and despair and has been brought back into the Light. It was a long and painful journey, but through her experience, God has allowed her to share her pain with others and share her triumphs as well through music and ministry. Pam started singing when she was 3 years old with her dad and sister. With a love for gospel music, Pam attended Bible College majoring in voice. She met her husband, Doug Seaman while attending Bible College where they eventually went into ministry together. After graduation, Doug went on to pastor churches in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, while Pam led the music and worship. It was while they were in West Virginia and after the birth of their second child that life for Pam began its downward spiral. Pam picks up the story, "Not long after my daughter Kacy was born in 1996, I suffered from post-partum depression. We were pastoring a church and were in the midst of a new building project, which put the new sanctuary within 15 feet of our parsonage. My husband's office was run out of our basement, resulting in a constant parade of people through our home. I began to feel overwhelmed by the pressures of pastoral care. Along with a newborn, we also had a three-year-old son who needed his mother's care. I began to feel resentment and later even hatred toward the church body that I felt had consumed my entire life."
It was at this point that Pam and Doug found themselves at Emerge Ministries in Canton, Ohio, for intense counseling. The two of them took tests separately and Pam scored in the highest percentage for depression and suicide. The counselor reluctantly allowed Doug to bring Pam home for further care, where within a two week period, Pam ultimately had a complete emotional breakdown. It was through a Christian psychologist in Clarksburg, West Virginia that Pam began to see hope for her life, ministry and marriage. "I begged to be medicated so that I could sleep. But for fear of addiction, he wouldn't consent. He started me on a journaling program where I was to write as an outlet for all the hidden pain. Whatever emotion I was feeling, I was to write it down and get it out. Having grown up in church, I was raised with a lot of legalism, and couldn't see any grace for me. He helped me to see that I was not above the grace of God, and my feeling so was an act of self-righteousness. From that point on, I began to really understand the full meaning of grace and mercy for my life."
John Starnes produced Pam's last recording entitled "What Mercy Saw". The title song is Pam's testimony in a nutshell. "That song best describes my life more than any other. Sometimes it seems as if our lives are laid bare before others and we don't always know what the verdict is going to be but there is a mercy that far surpasses any darkness that we could face and out of those ashes comes love like we could never possibly understand." Through her wit and humor, yet with deep seriousness, Pam shares her life and through word and song has reached the hearts of countless women and whole churches as well. To find out more about Pam and her ministry, check out her website at [url=http://www.pamseaman.com]http://www.pamseaman.com[/url] You can also reach her for bookings and obtaining product information (including a recording of her complete testimony) via the following: Pam Seaman Ministries Also check out my review of Pam's latest CD "What Mercy Saw" Reader Comments
Pam is doing wonderful and her and Doug are still happily married. In fact, Pam came and ministered at my church a couple of months ago and we had an awesome service.God worked so many wonderful things and turned, what could have been disasterous, into something beautiful. Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages |
Now Playing About This Article
Pam Seaman - Through the Darkness, into the Light
 Written: 02/29/2004  Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Category:
Feature Articles
Comments: 1 Favorited:
Add this entry to Your Favorites
Favorited by:  Email this article RSS
feeds
(What's an RSS feed?) |
Because of the depression and loneliness Pam felt, she began starving her body and using laxatives. As the stress of the ministry and just life in general continued to take its toll, Pam began having panic attacks. "I would deal with the struggles of the day, all the while hating it, and it began to take its toll on my body. I then began having panic attacks in my sleep, where I would wake with my body convulsing off the bed. Doug would wake up and begin praying for me. I could not even share with him how broken I had become. It wasn't anyone else's fault; it was just what I ended up making out of the circumstances in my life. I began to withdraw from everyone. I became very bitter, anxious and nervous, and decided the only way out was to leave my husband and the ministry altogether. Doug convinced me to stay and make a move to another city and church, where we currently reside. Just shortly after our move to Maryland, all of the things about my life that I had kept so hidden suddenly became an open book, and my world was shattered by the loss of integrity and total exposure to what I had been involved in and put my body through."
Walking hand in hand with her husband, God restored what Satan tried to take away. "It is through my experiences that I developed a deep compassion for suffering women, especially pastor's wives. I speak at many churches and women's conferences and let women know that even pastor's wives may struggle or fail but God can cause us to rise up declare His mercy, grace and delivering power."
|
