Have you heard or seen the hashtag #spoonies around social media? It’s a helpful label for those living with chronic illness and has an interesting history. But I’m not in love with it. I’ll tell you why.
Trusting in God’s sufficiency means looking for ways to glorify him within the circumstances we live in. It means not worrying about how many spoons we have, but focusing on the one most important spoon.
Read MoreAuthor Abby McDonald wrote Shift: Changing Our Focus to See the Presence of God for those of us who could use some help to see where and how God is working in our lives. Abby tells stories of how God has worked behind the scenes, sometimes years in advance, to bless friends in unexpected ways. She also tells stories of how God’s word shifted her perspective of her own life, showing her how deeply he loves her even when, or especially when, it appears no one else notices her presence or her work.
Abby weaves stories from the Bible into little lessons that inch us closer to the perspective God has when he looks at our lives. Each chapter ends with a few questions to ponder alone or in a small group. Those questions would make this book an excellent choice for a book club or small group Bible study.
Read MoreIsolation is a common feeling among survivor/fighters of rare disease. To choose to stay home during cold and flu season brings further isolation. But it is a choice I am free to make because the power of God living in me enables me to say No to the selfish desires of my heart and Yes, to his best plan for me.
Surrendering your desire is the hardest choice you can make. With God, it is possible.
Read MoreBecoming Mrs. Lewis, written by Patti Callahan, is a well-researched historical fiction story of the life of Joy Davidman, the woman who married C.S. Lewis. Much of the correspondence between Lewis and Davidman has been lost but thanks to a newly discovered treasure trove of sonnets written by Joy during her friendship with Jack, as his friends called him, Miss Callahan has given us a very good picture of the woman who captured Jack’s heart.
The day I finished Becoming Mrs. Lewis, I booked it over to the library (see what I did there?) to grab a copy of A Grief Observed, written by C.S. Lewis. This book is C.S. Lewis’ journal, verbatim, of his journey through grief. It is filled with emotional turmoil and spiritual doubt. It is honest and gut-wrenching and, for me, extremely relatable.
Read MoreAs a survivor/fighter of an undiagnosed disease, making New Year’s resolutions raises apprehension in my soul. To make a resolution feels risky. Any goal taken seriously enough to write down in ink is just another thing that I may have to grieve later. But flipping the perspective from goal-setting to goal-contemplating… well, that I can do.
Here are five questions (based on Donald Whitney's 10 Questions) to ask in the new year, specifically for those fighting rare, undiagnosed, and chronic diseases.
Read MoreWe are all waiting with anticipation for Christmas to arrive. “I can’t wait for Christmas,” might sound cute during the Christmas season, but what if you are in a more difficult season and your “can’t wait” sounds like this: “I can’t do this! I can’t stand it one more day. Not one more day of this”?
I wonder if Mary felt that way too during this season 2000 years ago. Like a very pregnant Mary, we must all endure the wait for Christmas.
What are you enduring in this season? In the Bible, the word “endure” is always linked to the One with the power to endure. We are able to endure so much more than we think we can because God will give us the power to endure.
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