How a Green Sticky Note at the Temple Reminded One Woman That God Sees Her
Ganel-Lyn Condie walked into the temple heavy-hearted. She was worried about one of her children. She cried through the entire initiatory session. She saw no one she knew. She left without answers, without relief, without any sense that God had heard her that day. Then she found a green sticky note on her windshield. It said three words: you are loved. No other car in the parking lot had one.
That sticky note now lives in her study journal. Every year, she moves it to a new one. It is her reminder that God is aware of her, even when prayer and worship feel silent. In a recent episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Ganel-Lyn shares how that small moment fits into a much larger story of faith tested by chronic illness, the loss of a sister to suicide, and 13 years of struggle that turned out to be the very definition of belief.
The Stewardship Principle That Changed Her Parenting
About 10 years ago, Ganel-Lyn came across a single sentence in a workbook that reshaped her understanding of her entire life. That one sentence became the foundation for her book, The Stewardship Principle. The idea is simple but disruptive: we do not own anything. Not our health, not our careers, not our children, not our struggles. Everything is a stewardship entrusted to us by God.
She contrasts this with the modern obsession with ownership, the idea that if we just take enough control, we can fix everything. In the parable of the talents, she suggests the servant who buried the one talent may not have been lazy. Maybe that servant had been entrusted with something embarrassing, something like addiction or a learning disability, something no one talks about in a testimony meeting.
For Ganel-Lyn, this principle directly shapes how she parents. She was diagnosed with lupus as a newlywed and told she had 10 years to live and would never have children. She did become a mother, but lupus influenced every choice she made. She could not say yes to everything. She could not train for marathons. She could care for her body as a steward, doing what she could each day and releasing the outcome to God. She says the stress comes down and the trust in God increases when you stop trying to own what was never yours.
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
When Ganel-Lyn's 40-year-old sister Meg died by suicide 12 years ago, the grief was unlike anything she had experienced. Meg had struggled with mental health for her entire life. As the oldest sister, Ganel-Lyn had spent years watching Meg cycle between doing well and falling apart. In those first terrible days, she went to the scriptures looking for where God had already spoken about someone who spent a lifetime fighting and losing.
She found the woman with the issue of blood. This woman had spent 13 years seeking help, and every time she tried something new, she got worse. Ganel-Lyn imagines that woman sitting in her community, listening to neighbors testify about the diet, doctor, or exercise program that cured them of the very thing she could not overcome. That image resonated deeply with how Meg had lived. It resonated with anyone who has tried Plan A through Plan Z and still feels broken.
But the part of the story that arrests Ganel-Lyn is what Christ said when the woman touched the hem of His robe. He told her that her faith had made her whole. Her faith was not a single answered prayer. It was 13 years of it not working out. That realization, that struggling and failing and trying again is itself the definition of faith, is the anchor of everything Ganel-Lyn teaches today.
Mental Health Is Not Something You Pray Away
Ganel-Lyn has spent 12 years working in mental health education since Meg's death. She has spoken to groups all over the world, and she says there is not a single audience where people do not either struggle with mental health themselves or love someone who does. That is everyone. She is direct about what faith alone cannot do. You do not pray away depression. You do not scripture-read it away. You do not serve in 15 callings until your anxiety disappears.
She uses the metaphor of a toolbox. Some days, the screwdriver does not fit. The hammer does not work. The wrench does not help. You have to keep digging. The woman with the issue of blood had a very full toolbox of things that had not worked. What made her reach for the Savior one more time was not a five-star review. It was the courage to try again without evidence that it would be different.
To anyone in that place, Ganel-Lyn's message is clear: stay in your body. Research on survivors who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge found that the vast majority knew they had made a mistake the moment they let go. Today is not your forever. Suicide is a response to pain and exhaustion. When we can reduce the weight even slightly, there is room for one more day, one more reach for the Savior.
Learning to Keep Faith
Ganel-Lyn grew up in Northern California as the only Latter-day Saint in her school. Classmates asked if she was Amish, Buddhist, or Jehovah's Witness. A friend's father had a book that listed both Catholics and Mormons as cults. She went home crying. But she now calls that experience a gift. Being forced to explain and defend her faith at a young age built something in her that has never left.
She still attends her high school reunions. Her junior high and high school friends, none of them members of the Church, are among her biggest supporters. When the Feather River Temple held an open house, the area authority invited Ganel-Lyn to bring two groups of those old friends through. She sat in the celestial room with people who had known her most of her life and watched them begin to understand her covenants and her community.
That interfaith instinct now drives a significant part of her work. She hosts conversations with people of different faiths and says that learning how others keep their faith inspires her to keep hers. She has spoken in the Middle East and learned about Ramadan fasting. She has attended synagogue and deepened her understanding of prayer and the Sabbath with Jewish friends. Her testimony is not isolated. It is built on the foundation of seeing how God works in many lives, not just those within her own tradition.
Keep Reaching
Ganel-Lyn Condie's faith was not built on answered prayers and easy miracles. It was built on unanswered prayers, a sticky note, 13 years of struggle that turned out to be faith, and a sister whose story she carries as a mission companion. Her invitation is for anyone who feels done, anyone who has tried everything, anyone who cannot feel the Spirit today: keep reaching. Even the hem of His robe, even the thread of a hem, is enough.
Consider whether you have been treating your hardest stewardship as something you need to own and fix rather than something God entrusted you to carry with Him. The stress comes down, and the trust increases when you stop trying to control what was never yours. If this story resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear that today is not their forever.
Key Takeaways:
Stewardship perspective on life, health and family reduces anxiety and increases trust in God.
Chronic struggle can become a setting for deep discipleship instead of a measure of spiritual failure.
Mental and emotional wellness improves when spiritual practices are combined with wise, professional support.
Honest conversations about pain, loss and suicide can open doors for healing within families and wards.
Repeated turning toward Jesus Christ, even in very dark seasons, allows His love to reach and sustain the soul.
Thank you for reading this week's blog post, inspired by the Why We Believe show. If you are interested in more stories like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes at WhyWeBelieve.com. Hit Follow and share it with someone who needs to hear that God sees them in the struggle. Leave a review for Why We Believe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Your support helps us bring more inspiring conversations like this to listeners everywhere!
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