7 Scriptures to help with loneliness

Living with chronic illness can be lonely, heartbreakingly lonely.

At times our friends call less, our family struggles with acceptance and people who don't know us very well pass judgement.

I've struggled with loneliness all my life, but when you add "sickness" to the mix it takes on a whole different level of discouragement and sadness.

If anyone can relate to us, it's Jesus. He faced all of our struggles and feels all of our pain. When he was arrested in the olive grove right before his crucifixion, all his friends left him.

But he was never alone. 

And neither are we. Our God is always with us - at all times, in all circumstances - even when we can't feel his presence. Here are some scriptures to encourage and help you if you're struggling with this powerful emotion . . .

I hope you will write out the ones that spoke to you and carry them in your pocket when you need a little pick me up.
                                                                                      Be well, love well.

The God Who Sees Us

By Erika Rizkallah

...You are the God who sees me,  for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." Genesis 16:13

Do you ever feel like God's forgotten about you or afflicted you?

I have to admit that sometimes I do. When I wake up stiff, sore and utterly unrested, I groan and whine, "Why?"

Today was one of those mornings. I'm in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains attending a Christian writer's conference. The six hour drive was exhausting, even though my friend, Andy, drove me.
             
                        Now, as I write, it feels like I'm on fire, even though it's cold here.

Fire. In the Old Testament, God is often represented by fire, but really . . . I don't want to feel like the fire is on me.

In the scripture above, the "she" is Hagar. Hagar is the Egyptian maidservant of Sarai, the wife of Abram.  Sarai desperately wanted a family but she couldn't conceive. In those times, women were the chief family builders. Sarai was old and God hadn't given her any children, so she decided to build her family through Hagar. She gave Hagar to Abram as his new wife and told him to sleep with her. Abram doesn't argue (although he should have) and Hagar gets pregnant, and a little haughty.

Now, Sarai doesn't like this, so she blames Abram, complains to him and then physically abuses Hagar.
                                                     Poor Hagar.

She didn't ask to be in that terrible situation. She didn't ask to be a slave, pushed into a sexual union or be physically abused, so she ran away, into the desert. That's where God's angel finds her and speaks to her.
                                                     He says, "...the Lord has heard of your misery." (v.11)

Hagar responds, "You are the God who sees me. I have now seen the One who sees me."

It does us no good to question God and ask "Why?" He has a plan and the why may never be known to us on this side of Heaven. The one thing we can be sure of is that He's heard of our misery and He'll love us through it.

 I'm praying for us today. God had big plans for Hagar and he's got big plans for us too!

Reducing Inflammation and Pain

When it comes to living with chronic pain, one of the hardest things for me is changing my diet.

I have an incredible sweet tooth; it's a cake tooth really. I've been making cakes weekly since I was a teenager. Cake is my favorite food group.

I also don't have much of an appetite. . . except when it comes to cake.

So you see, I have a real problem. But there's no such thing as Cakeaholics Anonymous. I've had to invest in a few books and cookbooks so I can learn about healthy, gluten free living. However, seeing how I just remembered that I ate pancakes for breakfast, let me assure you that I'm still in the learning phase.

The thing most often repeated in these books is that pain is caused by inflammation. If you can get the inflammation down, there will be less pain (or so I've heard).

One of my favorite cookbooks for recipes as well as educational value, is Julie Daniluk's: Meals That Heal Inflammation.

It's great to have resources like this. Ones that encourage and help us persevere in our race to better health.

What about you? Do you have any resources that would encourage others? Please share!

Sunday Stories: Is it flare worthy?

On Sundays, this space is reserved for God stories. As one of the redeemed, I'd like to share just some of the many things he's done in my life. I hope you'll be encouraged by them!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story - those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Psalm 107:1-2

One of the things Fibromyalgia sufferers know well is the phrase:

                                                   Good days and bad days

Those "good days" are days to savor. I'm fully alive and like a glutton, I want to gulp as much goodness as I possibly can.

I believe we sufferers are more aware of what personally makes a day good or bad. We have to intentionally pace ourselves and think: Is this really worth it to me?

                    Is it flare worthy?

Good for you if you don't know what a flare is! Long story short, flare = agony. Most times we can accurately assess them, but there are days when plans go awry.

                                             And there are some days God dreams up for us.

I had one of those days last year, and if I knew at that time that I had a disease, I would never have done this...

                             On the outside I'm smiling, but inside I'm really praying they don't bite my face.

My husband, who planned this whole adventure, was in more pain than I was that day and I had to take his place in the water with our kids. I didn't want to.

                                   You see, I am terrified of large fish. Absolutely terrified.

Even seeing them in aquariums gives me the willies. In three of the snorkeling trips my hubby has thoughtfully planned for my daughters, I've had to take his place TWICE. On this trip, I wasn't even planning to go, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

It's never been my dream to swim with dolphins. I certainly never thought I'd stand on them.

It was incredible.

In these pics, I'm screaming, "Oh my God!" at the top of my lungs. I completely embarrassed my kids.

No doubt about it. This was flare worthy.

Do you have any flare worthy God stories to share? If so, I'd love to hear them.

                                                                                He is wonderful and faithful!

Sharing Saturdays: Creature Comforts

       "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." Psalm 119:50

Lately, I've been thinking about what comforts me and I've come up with some ordinary and unique things, so since today's Sharing Saturday, I'll share three of my comfort items with you!

This Christmas I asked for some soft Pajamas to soothe my painful skin and this is what I got...

Katya bought them for me but thought the pattern might be too much. I love them even though Dania and Sam said they were "embarrassing." All the more reason to wear them when their friends come over!

I love color. I love to color. I love colored pencils and to write the Psalms in color. Weird, I know, but somehow it soothes me.

And lastly, my favorite thing besides coffee and falafel....

Lily's chocolate. Lily's is made with Stevia (not sugar) so it's good for our bodies. If you're not already aware, sugar is an ingredient that can our bodies to produce an inflammatory response. Since we're learning that inflammation is a source of pain, this is a no no for those of us already suffering with it.

Fortunately, Lily's chocolate is a yes yes!

What's your favorite comfort item?

Illness and Family History - Find the missing link

The reason I write about the topics of chronic pain and family history can be summed up in one word:                                        Genetics.

Genetics is the fascinating study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics. Have you ever been told you have "good genes?" Have you ever heard, "You take after your father?" (that can be either good or bad.)

Have you noticed that at the doctor's office - and if you're a chronic pain sufferer, you're always at the doctor - they grill you about your family history? At a recent visit to establish care with a new physician, they asked about my grandparents! I could sort of tell him about my maternal side, but could give limited information about my paternal grandparents.

Especially since I just located my bio grandpa on Ancestry.com and he's deceased.

Obviously, there's a link to the variety of things passed down to us via the family line. My family members have passed down some great things:

A strong work ethic.

       Practical sensibility.

              Love of reading, gardening and old things.

                                              and...
Hypothyroidism

         Depression

                 Parkinson's Disease (yikes)

Talking about these things with your family and doctor is important. Let me repeat that:

                                              IMPORTANT!

                                                     MUY IMPORTANTE (Spanish)

                                                             TRES IMPORTANT (French)

Are there some questions you need to start asking? Don't wait! You'll learn a few things about your family members and may discover missing links in your own health history.