Sunday, November 2, 2014

 

 

Today is Sunday. There are a lot of times I am feeling sad because I am home instead of church. There are a lot of times I am sad that I am home instead of anywhere. My fibromyalgia keeps me at home and I miss out on being able to live life the way I want to.  Making plans and scheduling anything is difficult. Yesterday was a good day and I didn't overdue anything so there wasn't any chance of being too tired or sore the next day. Sounds great except guess what? I'm too tired and in too much pain to be able to attend church today. At the beginning I mentioned I was sad, but I have a lot of other feelings that go along with being at home. Sad. Lonely. Angry. Bitter. Irritated. Left out. Isolated. And with all the emotions there are physical problems to deal with. Tired. Pain. Dizzy. Weak. Aching. Fibro fog. I struggle to make sense of all of this. I wonder what good will come of this? What good am I at all to anyone?

I search and I find little bits that help me through the pain.

 

From Randy Alcorn's book Seeing the Unseen:

Perspectives from God’s Word

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Perspectives from God’s People

“I want to stay in the habit of ‘glancing’ at my problems and ‘gazing’ at my Lord.” —Joni Eareckson Tada

“There are rare and wonderful species of joy that flourish only in the rainy atmosphere of suffering.” —John Piper

OBX Souvenirs

Vacations are fun! Even though my fibromyalgia kept me inside today, I'm still enjoying myself. The family went out today and picked up some OBX Souvenirs for me. Dolphin goodies and a spoon. It was so awesome to see the dolphins swimming the other day and these dolphin trinkets will be sweet reminders of the special vacation I had with the family.

Being Real With Chronic Illness

I have the perfect quote about chronic illness:

"Ok. I’ve thought a time or two that perhaps my “over-sharing” on my blog (and then to Facebook, etc) may make some of my friends uncomfortable. But, honestly, these are my “friends” (most in the internet sense, some in the very real sense) so I would hope that they would love me regardless.... Stop letting our pride get in the way of allowing our invisible illnesses to be visible. If we need help we need to reach out and take it, and not deny ourselves those things we need because we don’t want people to see how bad we really feel, or because we don’t want to make others uncomfortable... It’s time for those of us who are chronically ill to start making our illness more real to those around us."-Julie Ryan

 

You can read the entire blog post here:

 

The Slow Death of Compassion For the Chronically Ill

A Look at Fibromyalgia

I saw this video and found encouragement from it. Take a look and try to understand. The pain and fatigue are so hard to deal with physically and emotionally. We want to live a normal, healthy life, but must find ways to cope with the disappointment of broken expectations. Thank you +Kelly Kvenlog Wichlacz !

It Is Well With My Soul - Book Review

 Book Review  It Is Well With My Soul 

This is absolutely one of the best devotionals that gives comfort and encouragement during difficult life situations.  Shelly Beach did an excellent job collecting the many life stories of people and sharing her situations to give hope to those who are hurting.

A story about Jill Gibbs on pg 105 was something that really spoke to me.

 Her advice for other women who mother with handicaps? “God gave you to your child.  He loves your child even more than you do.  He chose you to be your child’s mother, and your children aren’t getting the short end of the stick. Parenting may be difficult, but you’re the right parent for your son or daughter.”

With the diagnosis of my fibromyalgia I have struggled with a lot of false guilt. It is very painful at times to not be able to do activities with the family or even be able to do the simplest household duties. It is a relief to hear I am not messing my family up. With God’s help you can use illnesses and tragedies to make children stronger and full of compassion for others.

There are a lot of books out that are given to the hurting by well meaning people. Sometimes their “thoughtfulness” isn’t appreciated. This book is definitely one that will not be offensive but truly a treasure to own.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and guess what? I actually went to be with the family for the feast! It was wonderful to see my family, eat a delicious meal and play Apples to Apples!

 There are so many times I stay home and miss out on events or activities because of my fibromyalgia. It can be very disappointing and lonely. Sometimes it can be hard to stay positive. Staying focused on God helps a lot with my attitude.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 NKJV