How to Live an Anchored Life
How to Live an Anchored Life

Living with an undiagnosed disease means living with uncertainty. It feels like being untethered. I have so many questions, yet I rarely get answers.

The same word, “anchor,” used for firmly securing a ship to land is also the same word for pointing a ship into the wind during a storm. The omniscient character of God has grounded me time and time again when medical knowledge has failed me. The sovereignty and faithfulness of God keep me focused forward, towards eternity when my body will be healthy and whole, no longer surprising us with unexplainable brokenness. God as my anchor is my only hope.

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BlogNicole O'Mearaanchor, hope, rare disease, chronic diseaseComment
Book Reviews: Undone (a Memoir) and Relentless by Michele Cushatt
Book Reviews: Undone (a Memoir) and Relentless by Michele Cushatt

In Undone, Michele shares openly all the emotions and faith questions that she experienced through her cancer experience. In Relentless, Michele walks you through the next phase of her life when cancer returns, when the orphans they brought home become theirs for life, and when she grieves the loss of her Dad to his own battle with cancer. It is personal, gut-wrenching, and oh so relatable.

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Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'Mearacancer, faith, book review, Michele CushattComment
Feeling Numb: Signs, Symptoms and Help for Post Surgery Depression, the Common Side-effect Your Doctor Didn't Warn You About
Feeling Numb: Signs, Symptoms and Help for Post Surgery Depression, the Common Side-effect Your Doctor Didn't Warn You About

Being numb is helpful during and after a thoracotomy but permanent numbness isn’t good for anyone.
The physical numbness that comes with surgery can move into an emotional and spiritual numbness in your soul. Feeling numb can be helpful but being numb is not healthy. We need to feel.

What do you need to move from numb to feeling?

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BlogNicole O'Mearachronic disease, depression, scars, anxiety, Emotionally Healthy SpiritualityComment
Death of a Dogwood: Reflections on Grief One Year Later
Death of a Dogwood: Reflections on Grief One Year Later

The death of my tree was just the last in a string of losses, and there was no holding back the tears. Everything felt heavy, slow, and difficult. My daily rhythms of waking early for Bible study and prayer fell by the wayside. I functioned in survival mode. Still, I found ways to process those things in the safety of my relationship with Jesus. Despite my muddy brain and emotional overwhelm, I refused to give up what I have learned is my lifeline in times of despair: my ongoing conversation with my Savior.

… We learn to trust God because we have to trust God. We’ve got nothing left on our own.

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BlogNicole O'Mearagrief, Joyful Life Magazine, depression, pandemicComment