Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Arthritis

Just a quick blog before I post about our weeks in Indy. I have been asked about my arthritis and how it is going from a few people. I have been thinking about this challenge that God has put in my life a lot lately. It has really had me thinking about my faith. I am very outspoken about my diet and about the supplements. Explaining my reasoning behind these choices always brings up God as the source of the knowledge I have obtained. So, there is no denying that I freely give him all the glory for my improvements. Lately, though, i have dug a little deeper. I so easily talk about my diet and am so convicted about the success that it gives, so why can i not talk about Christ and the grace I have received just as easily. Sometimes we wonder why things happen in our lives. I wonder if this arthritis has happened to me to lead me down a path that convicts my life even more and makes me more open and bold about the peace and love that I have found in Christ. Maybe all of this is helping me realize the type of conviction i should have... Just tonight Sean Smith spoke at our Wednesday night service. His words pierced my heart. I don't want to be passive. I want to love Christ so much that I can't help but shout his name and be a light to others. What else is this life here on earth for? We were created to praise his name. He has blessed me with a wonderful Christ-driven husband and a beautiful son. I have wonderful parents who raised me to know Christ and i have a Christ-centered brother. My thorn is my arthritis. Yet, again, I have met so many people that i can give my testimony to.

So, an update. My progress has slowed, but there isn't much left to get better. The knuckles of my ring finger in my hands hurt less. It is still tender, but definitely less. My feet still hurt. I think the swelling is in the ankle and that is affecting the heel of my feet. That is really it. I have some tinges in my shoulders, but I really need to build some muscle there and that should go away. The positive is that these symptoms go away rather quickly in the morning. I was told that the faster the symptoms are relieved the less active the arthritis is. So, after a few steps to the bathroom in the morning and my feet are fine until I am sedentary for a long period of time. So, we are continuing to improve. I did slack a little in Indy and ate cake at my son's 1st birthday and I had a few pineapple whip cones which had a milk substitute in it. But all of this didn't seem to affect me too much. I was eating well otherwise. So, we will keep on going and hopefully one day I can say that the symptoms are gone. That will be a red-letter day. Until then I will pray for the miracle healing and know that God has a plan. I have so much to be thankful for.

2 comments:

~Erin said...

A beautiful testimony. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. How often do we all find it difficult to praise God and give Him glory. Only if I wouldn't do the 'think twice'.