An uncle fighting stage 4 melanoma, an aunt with "several masses" [update at the end of today: she's been diagnosed with cancer], my mother-in-law in remission from breast cancer, family members struggling with their marriages/finances/big decisions, friends going through divorce, last surviving grandparents in nursing homes, both grandpas fighting dementia, a dear friend's mother-in-law fighting stage 4 ovarian cancer, a brother-in-law causing some dilemmas....
A messy house with way too much junk. Trying to organize it but finding my junk to be too overwhelming, and not having the resources to organize it properly. Keeping my car spotless because it's the only area I feel I have some control over.
Fighting Fibromyalgia every day. Trying to sort through what I can do in the midst of what I must do. Sorting through the overwhelming ideas for weight loss, healthy eating, exercise, and every diet plan known to man.
More research & discussions about Fibromyalgia than I can begin to fathom. A to-do list that grows faster than I can keep up with it. A hundred or so blogs that I love but cannot keep up with even monthly.
A book reading list the size of the city of Chicago.
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| image from Flickr. copyright (c) Walt Stoneburner, 2009. |
At the breaking point of what we're able to handle. Bad news seems to be surrounding and engulfing us. And we aren't seeing eye-to-eye on anything.
As if that wasn't enough, my car started having major issues. We had trouble getting it in anywhere. Finally we were able to. Turns out the rear brakes were at 0% and the front brakes are at 15%. Then with the car in the shop and me unable to take myself anywhere, I started feeling really, really sick at work yesterday morning. Hubster had to leave work to come get me. :( I felt so bad about that, but am so thankful he was willing! Flu, grrrrrr. :(
Anyway, I took a 2-hour nap after getting home, and laid on the couch for another 5 hours after that before even remotely being able to sit up and look at anything other than a blank and semi-awake stare at the TV.
Upon being able to, I glanced at a few of my favorite blogs. I regularly read an amazing, godly, inspiring blog with about 30 different contributors called (in)courage. It always has incredible posts that uplift & inspire me, and often make me get all teary.
One of yesterday's posts was no different. Here's an excerpt from a lady who also deals with chronic illness. In the midst of her feeling overwhelmed by life, here are some of her inspiring thoughts:
"Jesus took the pain that was to come for Him and, in the midst of what must have been overwhelming, acknowledged the Father. He acknowledged that what was going to be brutal for Him would be transformed into grace, because that is what the Father does. He didn’t let what would overwhelm Him in the garden overshadow the beauty He trusted would come. A beauty that only God can bring from the hard.
The same way God wants to transform our hard.
We all know how God turned the pain of Jesus’ journey into joy for each of us. And it all started with an action… not just of Jesus saying yes, but of Jesus giving thanks.
And so, as I lay in the quiet with my own pain, feeling the natural inclination to be overwhelmed, I take action as He did. I give thanks for the gifts that come from pain. I give thanks for the people and the moments and the experiences. I give thanks to a Savior who was willing to go through the pain so that the hard I live through could also be redeemed."
Please read more of Sara's post at (in)courage. / Written by Sara Frankl, visit her personal blog at Gitzen Girl.
3 comments:
my mom just recently reminded me of that very thing... how Christ bore all the things we have to bare, so he understands and cares for us, because he knows. and he is near to the broken-hearted. i have been broken-hearted over a couple things lately, so that was a comfort to me.
i hope things are on the up swing for you very soon. i know there is so much out of your control right now. i pray that you will be able to get through it and come to know a deeper sense of trust and reliance on God because of it.
praying for you.
The most frustrating thing about the health care debate so far is that, as far as I’ve been able to research, no one has actually studied the actual facts behind the two different POVs. Our policy shouldn’t be driven by such diverse “opinions” when one or the other could probably be established as closer to reality. (How many people in the US have what is classified as a “chronic illness”? Of those, what percentages have illnesses that have strong/weak/no/unknown ties to behavior choices? For an otherwise healthy baby/young adult/65-year-old/etc., what are the chances of them developing a chronic condition no matter what lifestyle choices they make? And how much of health care costs go to such things, as compared to one-time random accidents (like car crashes) or to routine care that everyone should expect (like vaccinations and cholesterol checks)?) If anyone could point out such studies to me, I would appreciate it; hopefully they will help me argue more intelligently with my mother the next time we start talking politics.
Hello, I am new to your blog. Found you on rest ministries. I too have fibromyalgia and at times feel overwhelmed. You can see some of my thoughts on this on my blog. I am going to put you on my blogroll. It's nice to know others understand what I am going through.
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