chronic illness – Page 26 – Jesus is for the Wounded

Sometimes the night just passes unnoticed

Published on October 9, 2013October 9, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded4 Comments

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? ²My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

³He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. ⁶The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. ⁸The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

I’ve heard this called the bedtime psalm. Sure beats the one I grew up with:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

The childhood prayer above offers me no comfort during a night like last night. If the worst outcome of 15 or so total hours of noxious symptoms last evening and overnight were to repeat itself, I would need the truth of God’s word on my mind and in my heart. Some wishful rhyme uttered as a “prayer” has only the fleeting power of a feel-good sentiment. It wouldn’t refresh my husband enough either to feed me or carry me to the bathroom again. Only God’s word has the power to transform our fragile lives, and I know He will transform mine someday. I know he sustains my beloved with supernatural strength. Only God’s word provides sustaining grace for all who suffer, for when sleep will not come.

This afternoon I must somehow get to 2 medical appointments despite the lethargy, pain, sweats, stiffness, low grade neck headache, ringing in my ears, and so on.

Oh Lord, I do hope these trials end soon! Maybe I can nap later this afternoon? Yawn.

He holds me close

Published on October 1, 2013October 1, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.” (John 10)

So glad to have the love and care of the Lord this night.

So comforted to have the love and care of my beloved husband each day, each night.

So grateful to have the love and care of some dear friends and a few family members.

So humbled to have help here and there to carry me and my husband on this difficult path of recovery from a serious illness. We have health insurance, a warm home, nutritious food, and reliable transportation. We are blessed indeed.

So hopeful for some new treatment directions and a special medical appointment tomorrow; maybe my suffering will diminish soon, perhaps resolve one day?

So weak, sore, broken, pained, sad at times too. It’s all in the mix.

One thing is for sure as spoken by Jesus: he has me firmly in his grasp, regardless of how I feel, what I fear, my past experience, and so on. He is holding me close. And when I’m next to tears that is a great comfort indeed.

Ever need a hug like that? It’s there for you too Gentle Reader. In the great mystery of His infinite love, the Lord holds near to His heart all those that believe in Him. In these crazy times I can think of no better place to be. Think about it, won’t you?

You have made a difference!

Published on September 27, 2013August 5, 2014 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

I am grateful for the love, care, and support of some special folks who have helped me make it through nearly two years of serious illness. I am also sad for those who have left my life or misunderstood this time in my life. Hardship is not contagious folks!

First, the good stuff. The person nearest and dearest to my heart is my beloved husband, Steve. I am amazed when I gaze into his blue eyes at the sincerity of his love for me and for the Lord too. When he comes close and holds me through a tough episode, cradling my neck in his hands to comfort me and minimize the trauma of various noxious symptoms, I am humbled! There are not many people on the planet that would do this even for a loved one two years “down the road.” Many would become exasperated, angry, indifferent, or worse by now. Thank you Lord for this amazing man. Thank you for my “Jesus with skin on.”

The next group of folks closest to the fire, so to speak, who have helped me to survive are my Lyme Literate Medical Doctor and our local Lyme disease support group (who are largely his patients). You understand! You get it! And you believe me! When my Doc calls me on a Saturday with the name of a pharmacy where I can get a medication almost $100 USD cheaper, I am grateful! When it’s my turn to share at our monthly Lyme group meeting and my tummy is happy from the yummy snacks we bring that fit our special dietary restrictions, I feel loved! And then when we exchange text messages or Cindy, or Roberta or Diana offers help with a special task, I am humbled. Oh how I pray I may serve you too in your time of need.

A few dear friends and family members have witnessed and endured much of the past 10 years of this incredible journey of transformation. I love the kind of relationships that go on no matter what life brings, picking up when we meet again as if no time has passed. I hope my brother Mike, Brenda, Deb, Kinsey, Patrice, Mary, Judy, Maria, Tami, and a few others feel the same way? Now that my parents and grandparents have passed away, I appreciate even more my extended family including my Other Mom, Other Dad, Uncle Dave, Aunt Lori, Aunt Patty, and Aunt Shirley. I love you and thank you for investing in my life.

There’s a special place in my heart for the online community. Whether I met you on a Facebook Lyme forum, your blog or when you commented on my blog, I credit you with keeping me sane at the odd times of day when no one else cares! Thank you for your “likes,” for following this blog, for your comments and suggestions, for your time. The greatest gift from a friend is a gift of his or her time. When you reach out to me I know that I am not alone. While the internet can be a ruthless place, I am grateful for it’s goodness, especially when I am awake in the middle of the night. It’s pretty cool that my buds in the UK or West coast of the US are online when I am! Please let me know how I may return your kindness.

I’ll save the best for last. In the interim, I’ll briefly state my sorrow for those who have chosen to leave my life. He or she will not be reading this so I won’t waste much white space gushing this or that emotion. I am grateful that when I have endured hardship in the past, I learned the importance of letting go of the people, places, and things that leave my life at these times. Perhaps saying goodbye makes room to welcome the blessings that are to come? Thank you for all that you have taught me. Godspeed, dear ones. I’ll be here if you want to stop by for a chat or walk around the block in the future. As for the things, well they are just things. So long.

And now for the best: the One who knew me and my frame before I was born, fearfully and wonderfully made by Your guiding hand. (Psalm 139) I love you Lord and thank you for saving me from my path of destruction as a young woman. I praise you for crafting the incredible events of my life to bring me more blessing than I could have ever imagined in the middle of my journey on this earth. While I do not fully understand the sorrows that have come, I am convinced that You hold my tears in your hand, counting and caring for each drop, every pain. I have never felt alone. Thank you Jesus for bringing me to Your throne of grace where I may dwell in Your presence now and forevermore. Grow my trust in Your promises, Your plan for my life, Your will for me all that is around me in this world that is troublesome. Come soon my Lord!

So for all of you and you and you and you and You who have made a difference in my life, I give thanks. If I have screwed up somewhere, please let me know and consider forgiving me. I want to make it right if I can. And if any good comes from me, these blogs, or anything else, to God be the glory. He is worthy to be praised!

Sneak Peak: Hope Beyond Lyme: The First Year

Published on September 26, 2013September 26, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded1 Comment

Here’s an important peek into the eBook borne out of this online blog with updated material, bonuses, and references. Stay tuned for publication information, coming soon! Thanks a bunch, Just Julie

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Final Thoughts

August 24, 2013

“Life is like a box of chocolates. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re gonna get.”

Remember this famous line from the movie, Forrest Gump? (Paramount Pictures, 1994) Yeah, I “get” this message when the day begins with renewed hope and generally ends, well, somewhere else! Gratefully, the day is never without hope at some level.

Perhaps you have wondered what you would “get” when you were beginning to read this eBook. Maybe you downloaded it because of the words, “Lyme disease” in the title. I appreciate you wanting to learn more about it as it seems I too can never learn enough about this complex and almost sinister disease process that is so difficult to diagnose and treat successfully. If you would like more information on Lyme disease see the About Lyme Disease chapter at the beginning of this eBook. I also encourage you to go to the websites of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society and Mercola.com.

By now you realize that you have gotten something quite different from me than a Wikipedia description of this and other serious illnesses. I am hoping that as we close here, you have seen how there can be more to a journey colored by a chronic sickness than the illness itself.

Most importantly, I hope that you can see how much of a difference it can make to have a personal relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ, when enduring a serious illness. He has changed my perspective and transcended my experience over and over again in a way that continues to make a difference. I could not go on without Him! Life is just too difficult otherwise.

I hope that you have come to understand that you too can have this personal relationship with God by coming before the Father in prayer and supplication, in the name of Jesus Christ. As we each approach the “throne of grace,” we must first acknowledge that we are imperfect, live in an imperfect world, and have an imperfect life. The world is imperfect not because of our mistakes but because of its falleness and that is due to the presence of sin. Sin in turn affects us no matter who we are as a part of our human condition (Romans 3:23). We come to understand that we can overcome sin by admitting our brokenness, asking for forgiveness from the Giver of life, and accepting the gift of saving grace to wipe the slate clean: He then restores us to a right relationship with God. We are forgiven and free, now and forevermore. (John 3:16)

The faith needed to believe this truth and go forth comes from reading and hearing His inerrant Word, the Bible. (Romans 10:17) When we do make a decision to believe, we enter into a relationship with the God of the universe (and with fellow believers too) that can never be taken away unless we denounce that Jesus is Lord. We are saved from the guilt of our sin and our perspective in life changes. We are never, ever alone again as we receive the indwelling gift of His Holy Spirit: our Counselor, Our Guide. We also embark on an amazing journey that brings peace, love, joy, spiritual gifts, blessings, and promises that will take us through everything and anything that happens on this earth. We will not truly know what this is like until we make a decision for Christ.

And one day when our time on this earth is over, we will enter into His presence to live with Him forevermore. We cannot even fathom the infinite glory of heaven in our finite earthly minds. In heaven there will be no more suffering, no more tears. Wow. None!

If you have not already done so, and would like to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I encourage you to pray a prayer of repentance and submission right now. In doing so, you surely will receive: Hope Beyond Lyme. And if you do, would you send me an email and tell me about? I’d like to be among the first to welcome you into the family of Christ.

Take care, Gentle Reader. Just Julie

Blasting through the block

Published on September 22, 2013September 25, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded2 Comments

Just do it!

Carpe diem!

Go for it!

He who hesitates is lost!

What’s your excuse?

I don’t have a good excuse. It’s simply a case of a block in creativity. When I feel like crap-o-la-ski (there’s my Polish again) for days on end, I do not “create” new and exciting things very well. Even my writing gets a little bland and I start posting pictures of green frogs saying cute things! You saw that one, right?

So today I have a jewelry order due and I’m stymied by this block thang. So today I will employ the only strategy I have the energy for: a little cleaning, a little organizing, a little reviewing of records, and a little blogging. Then if I can get myself to turn around from the computer and linger over my home studio area, surely the creativity bug will start to buzz a bit . . .

Gratefully, the Lord placed some fresh ideas in my mind earlier today when I was laid up in bed recovering from some noxious symptoms. Receiving a gift of some new ideas without even trying to make them happen is a blessing indeed! I guess all that time spent wandering around Pinterest, a LinkedIn jewelry forum, and watching You Tube videos last month probably helped some too.

Yeah, that’s the ticket! If you can’t go forward, go sideways for awhile. Like dwelling in the grace of my Heavenly Father. Allowing His love to wash over me prepares me for all He has in store for me whether good, bad, or indifferent. Often these days there is no label for the hours that pass, they just pass as I lie on the bed recovering from this or that, looking out the window at the variegated dogwood bushes on a sunny day. Maybe I’ll just focus on the soft leaves waving to me in the wind and woosh of their “hello, how are ya?” I’m sure if they could talk, the crimson branches would say that to me. No one else is around so they wouldn’t be talking to anyone else, would they?

Oh no. Did you see what just happened? The creative juices started flowing again as I continued to write! Better turn around quick and find some pink hemp cord before the inspiration leaves again.

Let’s see, it was a Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet for my sister-in-law’s friend, right? Gotta go. Seeya later! :J

Author’s Addendum: 24 hours later, we have this fun wrap bracelet now available at Trinity Jewelry by Design. Feeling some better and love this new direction! :J