I posted this this morning in Noah's Mark:

A few months ago, I made the painful decision to turn over Noah’s Mark to Danny, a member who expressed interest in moderating the group. At the time, I was fighting some very big issues. My wife was recently diagnosed with colitis, which is a disease similar to Crohn’s Disease. It is an internal bowel disorder. In layman’s terms, my wife has ulcers that line the inside of her colon. At this time, there is no cure for this disease.
In addition to this, I was battling my own demons. For at least five years, I have struggled off and on with depression. I have tried several medications, one which worked very well, so well that I felt that I could live without it. I went back to it a few months later and it was not as effective as it once was. Reluctantly, I agreed to see a psychiatrist. He diagnosed me as clinically depressed. I knew that this had to be a chemical thing, and my doctor believed the same thing. Despite all the stress in my life, there were times when life was going great, but I was still depressed. The doctor prescribed some other medications for me that seemed to have lifted the fog.
If you have ever struggled with depression, you know the hell that it is. If you haven’t, the only way that I can think of to describe it is being in the bottom of a well. As you look up, you can see people walk by the well. You can even interact with them to a certain extent. But you can’t get out of the well. You try to do things that you enjoy, but the reality is, you are still in that well. The medication has helped lift me out the well. I am now doing much better.
As many of you did, I received the email from Danny that he was going to delete the group. I immediately emailed him back and told him that I would be willing to take the group back if we would be willing to give it back to me. This morning, I received and email that he had again made me owner of the group. I spent a great deal of time yesterday brainstorming about how I could make this group better. A change that will take place immediately is that this club will no longer be about debate. No one who comes to this group seems to want to debate this issue, so we are going back to a purpose which is closer to the original purpose when this group was called “The Other Side of Broken.” I have modified the email that new members receive to reflect this purpose and I will repost that on the site, so you can see the changes.
I am next going to go through an extensive process of defining in more detail the purpose and mission of this group and posting that in the group. I am going to make an effort to make this group more grounded. I would like to start a local small group in the downriver area of metro Detroit for people with these issues. I’ll tell you more about that later.
I would like to personally thank Danny for his willingness to step up and take care of things while I dealt with my issues. My wife’s disease is in remission, but please keep her in your prayers. I would also like to thank the members that have faithfully stuck around during these turbulent times of change. Please continue to hang in there and I will attempt to faithfully lead this group to deeper waters.

Noah’s Mark…I’m back!

Sincerely,

Dave McDowell, Owner

If you click on the link on the left side of the blog that says "Noah's Mark," it will take you to the home page. There is also a link to join the group at the top of the blog. I will also be creating a separate blog to couple with the website.

Thanks,

Dave M.