Life hurts. Sometimes terribly. Oh I know. Four years with chronic illness has taught me that. Things happen in life. Chronic illness is diagnosed. Physical and mental ability are majorly decreased. Pain and disability become a normal part of life. We can no longer do the things we loved. Jobs are lost. Relationships fall apart. [...]
Blog Tour Diamonds 2020: A Free Conference for Chronically Ill Christians
Last year I met a lot of people struggling with their health. As I began to recover myself, the Lord seemed to bring person after person like this across my path, and I began to realize that I was not alone as a chronically ill young person - many people around me and around the [...]
Book Review: He’s Making Diamonds & Special Announcement!!
He's Making Diamonds by Sara Willoughby, published 2018 by S.G. Willoughby. He's Making Diamonds is a non-fiction book written by a chronically ill teen for chronically ill teens, about wrestling with life and faith through chronic illness. People with chronic illness often feel alone and even lost, unsure of where to turn and what to [...]
When Christmas isn’t Merry
It took me a few years to realize this: Christmas isn't always merry. Not for everyone. When I faced my third Christmas with chronic illness (and second bed-bound), last December, I realized just how painful holidays can be when you are going through a devastating trial. This time last year, my illness had worsened. Chronic [...]
God’s Epic Rescue Love Story
Sometimes God sends the messages I need in the simplest packages. Recently one came in the wrapping of my little sister's Jesus Storybook Bible. I found the book laying on the dining table one morning and after breakfast picked it up and flicked through it. I ended up sitting/laying on the couch reading it for [...]
Chronic Illness Can’t Steal Your Hope
Extreme weakness. Debilitating fatigue. Severe pain. Multiple other symptoms. Every day. For years. Emotional grief and depression. Mental struggles. Spiritual struggles and warfare. Disappointments. Relationship tension and social isolation. Missing out. Crushed hopes and dreams. Uncertain future. These are some of the hard things I have faced and experienced while living with serious chronic illness. [...]
24 Reasons Why We Don’t Need to be Anxious or Afraid
Note: I had meant to post this ages ago as a follow up from the last post (see here), but I've been going through some especially hard weeks and it hasn't happened before now. But I still wanted to share it as one of the things I did to help myself speak truth into my [...]
When a Major Crisis Hits – Learning to Trust God in Scary Circumstances
Four weeks ago, a major crisis hit my family. I was laying awake, unable to sleep. At midnight I heard my Dad's voice outside my bedroom door - he was talking on the phone. Over the next half hour or so the phone rang several times, and I heard people moving about. Then I heard [...]
Hope When it Hurts: Book Review
Title: Hope When it Hurts Authors: Kristen Wetherell & Sarah Walton Publication Date: 2017 Number of Pages: 250 Suffering is real. We all feel it in some way or another. But how do we find meaning and hold on to hope in the midst of that suffering? How is it possible to say with the [...]
Encouragement for the Weary Heart
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the [...]