Hello! Welcome to Designed in the Image! My name is Brent Propst.  I am a follower of Jesus Christ and a husband to my beautiful wife, Cristy Propst.  I spent 22 years in the Law Enforcement and Security Professions.  In 2020 I was diagnosed with Complex PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) which brought an end to my ability to work in those professions, or any profession for that matter.  Suffering from mental illness has sent me on a journey to find purpose in the pain.

Throughout my life I have suffered childhood trauma and trauma as it related to my years in Law Enforcement and Security.  Not being able to work or do the things that I loved sent me into a deep depression. However, through this season of my life, God has shown me that too much of my identity was wrapped up in so many things that are not eternal and can be gone or taken away at any second.  As much as I thought my identity was rooted in Him, I quickly learned I had been fooling myself when all those things I thought defined my identity were taken away in a blink of an eye.

Fast forward 4 years, I’m navigating my way through the challenges that PTSD presents. This blog is dedicated to the grace God has shown me through this process. It is recognizing that we are designed in His image and we do have a designed purpose, no matter the season of life we find ourselves in! I hope in this blog I can help breakdown the stigma that comes with mental illness and PTSD and that these conditions do not define or stop us from living out God’s designed purpose for our lives.

I realized that my mind had become a vault, keeping in all the thoughts and feelings that plagued me. Then I felt God whispering to me….” If your mind is a vault…then writing is the key to unlock the treasures that lay within.”