Legacy of Caring

I was recently in NYC for a blogging/social media conference.  Johnson and Johnson was there and requested some bloggers to make videos describing something that they care about.  Naturally, those living with chronic illness are frequently on my heart {although I had to quickly decide to talk about that OR foster care OR human trafficking OR the bazillion other things that I care about and pierce my heart}.

I chose to speak about how living WELL with chronic illness is something I am passionate about. It is easy to get depressed and caught up in the negative aspects of illness.  I much prefer to focus on the blessings{and I think it is ultimately better for my health that way}.

Here is the clip of my interview:

What is an issue you care deeply about?  I would love to know so please leave me a comment!

Random Musings

First of all, I am honored to have been nominated for a CEO (Chief Executive Organizer) SocialLuxe blog award (sponspored by Avery) for my organizing blog!  I am so excited and would be ever so grateful if you would click here to vote for me (once daily) through July 12th. 

Next, July is a crazy month for us.  Jason is on a break from school (which makes my days quite a juggling act), we are going out of town for the 4th of July weekend, Mike and I are celebrating our 13th anniversary on the 6th, we are taking our first day trip as an entire family (all three boys) in three years the following weekend, Jared is then leaving for a week of mission camp, then we all go to Florida to visit my family and leave my boys there for two weeks. 

In addition, I am super busy getting ready to launch CWA TV, going to physical therapy for a flare-up, hosting a radio show, running a ministry at church- you know- the everyday stuff =)  Not to mention, I am taking online classes,  I have a local site to manage and an organizing blog and some other stuff I can’t even mention on here.

What is my point?  Posting here at Multi-Tasking Mama may be a little scarce (even though this is my favorite place to write) for the month of July because this multi-tasking mama is little busy!

See you, much more frequently, in August!

Listening to the still, small voice

I have been having some (not so fun) issues with my left leg in the last few weeks.  My doctor(s) attributed it to my MS and put me on a steroid dose pack.  While that reduced the swelling on the MRI, it did not resolve the problem.  What is the problem? Muscle atrophy.

Atrophy (according to Wikipedia) is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body (in this case my left leg).

God has a whole post about atrophy in His body (the church) swirling around in my brain.  But, that will come at another time.

This post is about how God speaks to us.  He didn’t just speak to people in Bible times and then stop.  His Holy Spirit lives in us and guides us- if we listen.

Yesterday, returning from the doctor I was not in a happy place.  Trying to digest the fact that my muscle is atrophy-ing (no idea if that is a word) and they don’t know why and they don’t know how to stop it was overwhelming.  Making the appointments for all the tests they want to do to figure out the cause of the problem was overwhelming.  Trying to figure out how to discuss all this with my husband without him panicking was overwhelming.  Letting myself think of how unfair it is to have MS, Lupus and now- something else causing this issue- was overwhelming.

I had brought my Bible along for the ride (cause I can’t drive right now) but couldn’t bring myself to open it.  I did, however, turn on the radio and one of my favorite songs that we sing at church came on.  The song is “I will Rise” by Chris Tomlin.  There are many words that instantly touched my heart but here is the line that grabbed my soul:

There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

Overwhelmed?  How about the fact that Jesus overwhelmed the grave?  That is overwhelming, not my temporary, temporal circumstances.

Feeling still a tad angry, I said to God “help me”.  And three words came to my mind (and I know that I know that I know God put them there)

Check your medications.

Clear as day and something that none of my doctor’s had bothered to do.  As soon as I got home I googled muscle wasting and the names of my medications.  Second med I typed in had a big warning about this problem.  Not trusting myself, I called my pharmacy.  My pharmacist researched it, called me back and said “Call your doctor right now.  You need to have some blood work done”.

Yes, I have called my doctor and yes, they are on top of it.

But, isn’t God awesome?  And, what if I had continued in my overwhelming pity party and not reached out to Him?  Would I have heard that still, small voice?

Hearing God is a finer thing!

Flowers fade

I am not a gardener.

I am pretty sure both my thumbs are black.

When we downsized and moved in December, I didn’t pay much attention the landscaping on our new home’s lot.

I was so pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago when pretty pink bushes bloomed out front.  A luscious purple bush in the back, with a perfect view from the screened in porch. And then, my favorite, the bluish purple flowers that are weaving their way up our lamp post in the front yard.

I am not a gardener.

I don’t know a chrysanthemum from a forsynthia but I do know pretty when I see it.

I appreciate the beauty of the flowers and at the same time I realize that under my lethal eye, those plants probably won’t last long.

My flower has faded these past few days.  Withered in pain and fatigue from an illness that is sneaky and demanding.

And, the gift of today is knowing that no matter what flower fades in my life, my God and His Word are the same.  Yesterday. Today. Forever.

What a gift.

  Join us in unwrapping our gifts here today.

Healthy Family, Healthy Meals

Ever since my diagnosis of MS in January 2008, our family has been on a journey toward healthier living.  That journey got a jumpstart last week when I watched a movie called Food Inc.  I have since shown it to my hubby and the boys and they are on board with revamping the food we eat- I, at least, want to know where that food comes from!

We were already eating whole grains, had cut back drastically on sugar and cut back on red meat.  After watching that movie and doing some research of my own, we have decided to go organic and buy our meat and veggies from local farmers. 

We are concerned with how this will affect our food budget.  As most of my readers know I pride myself on feeding our family with a $350/month food budget.  That is accomplished by a lot of couponing, shopping sales and menu planning.  I will still be employing all three of those strategies but it is much more difficult to find coupons for organic items.

Here are some tips I have learned so far:

• Stock up when organic meat and dairy are on sale. Organic milk has a longer shelf life than regular milk and milk can be frozen for up to three months.  I will be watching for sales and coupons and stocking up when milk is on sale.
• One site recommended buying your veggies at a farmers market towards the end of the day.  Many farmers will decrease their prices to reduce the amount of inventory they have to take home with them.
• A great site for information about buying safe food is www.foodnews.org
• When you are buying beef look for the seal of the American Grassfed Association and for poultry look for the word “pastured”.

There is a list called the dirty dozen.  This is produce that contains the most pesticides and is the most harmful to the consumer.  Those are:

1. peaches
2. celery
3. cherries
4. grapes
5. apples
6. nectarines
7. kale
8. carrots
9. green bell peppers
10. strawberries
11. lettuce
12. peas

It is worth your money to buy those twelve items organic or from a farmer’s market.

There are some veggies/fruits that are okay to buy from the grocery store (this will be a way to save money).  They are:

• onions
• cabbage
• pineapples
• broccoli
• avocadoes
• eggplant
• watermelon
• asparagus
• sweet potatoes
• kiwis
• papayas
• mangoes
• tomatoes

I am learning so much about how our food is produced, what is healthy and how the food industry can be very misleading to the average consumer. 

I would love for you to enlighten me about anything you know about going organic that I may not have learned yet,  especially about how you buy organic on a budget.  I will be sure to keep you posted about our journey as well.  You can read our menu plans on my organizing blog.

Sleep is a beautiful thing

For the last three weeks I have been planning an event (God gave me the idea, never mentioned the scope) that benefitted an organization very important to me- Young Lives.  Last night we held the event at our local mall, in conjunction with the National Mom’s Nite Out.  The culmination of hard work, excitement and a VERY successful event left me- in ONE word- exhausted!

The good kind of exhausted but exhausted none the less. 

And, the best thing about today, the finer thing, is that I slept until 11am.  My kids got themselves off to school and even snuck in and turned off my alarm so I didn’t wake up.  (one of the benefits of having adolescents and a hubby who gives them great ideas).

With chronic illness I can’t afford to stay exhausted. So today, I am so grateful for an understand family and a comfortable bed!

Steps toward a natural lifestyle

I haven’t liked getting my hands dirty since I was a little girl.  Gardening? Yuck!  I even mix meatloaf with a spoon.  Up until recently, I didn’t like to get anything under my french manicured nails (did you know all the chemicals in acrylic nails?  I do now and haven’t had them on in four months).

In 2008 things changed.  I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and nearly lost my life to a pulmonary embolism (that turned out to be related to a clotting disorder and systemic lupus).

I started looking at life and health a lot differently.  I discovered that I was deficient in several (important) vitamins and minerals.  In order to live my best life and insure that I am around to watch my kids grow up, I needed to change the way I viewed the world.

I started reading books on alternative medicine, diet and natural living.

And we started making changes as a family.  In the last two years we have switched to whole grains, gotten rid of artificial sweeteners, drastically reduced our red meat intake, and started paying attention to the ingredients on the foods and other products we buy.  We use natural cleaning products.  Many times I clean my kitchen with a simple vinegar and water mixture.

I take vitamin D, vitamin b12 injections, I have visited acupuncturists, I exercise, I drink lots of water and everyday I take more baby steps towards a natural, healthy lifestyle.

The hubby and I are even planting a small produce garden this year (I have pretty pink gardening gloves, in case you were wondering).

I know that taking control of my health and our quality of life is achievable.  And it is companies like Seed that inspire me to keep moving forward.  One baby step at a time, towards the best life possible.

This post is my entry to the Seed BlogHer ’10 sponsorship contest and is posted at Hip As I Wanna Be.

Fatigue, Frustration and Faith

I am tired.

The kind of tired that you feel in your bone marrow.  The kind of tired that no one understands if they do not have chronic illness.  The kind of tired that isn’t phased by a three hour nap.

I have a tendency to push myself.  Goes back to the whole recovering Type A, over achieving, perfection seeking sinner that I am in the flesh.  Frustration creeps in, its sneaky, sticky fingers wrapping around my thoughts.

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.  My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes. {Psalm 38:9-10}

Hot tears of irritation burn my eyes.  I don’t want to be so tired. I don’t want to be sick.  I don’t want to live like this.

Not because I feel like I deserve better. Not because I think it’s unfair. But because I could do and accomplish and help so much more if…

And, I come full circle in this cycle of fatigue, frustration and faith.

For here is the truth:

My desire to “do” for God is unnecessary.  A burden I place on myself.  For what God wants is me.  And, time and time again I prove that the only way to reach me is to slow me down.  So He does.  And, eventually I yield to His desire for me to just be.

Not do.  Not accomplish.  Not help.

Just be.

Be still and know that I am God. {Psalm 46:10}

Today, I am unwrapping the gift that is multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.  The gift of chronic fatigue that forces allows me moments to just be with my God.

This post is linked here.

Invisible Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Tune into MomTV today(Wednesday) at 1pm EST for the latest episode of The Invisibles.

Today’s show will focus on Optimism and Chronic Illness.

Here are some links I mention in the show, in case you weren’t able to catch them and the outline of what we will be discussing.

The Power of Attitude:

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Assoc.

Great book: Living Well with Autoimmune Disease

How to have a positive attitude:

• Educate yourself
• Take care of yourself
• Manage fatigue
• Enjoy yourself
• Maintain healthy relationships
• Mind over matter
• Expect bumps (fmaware.org)
• Stockpile fun distractions (fmaware.org)
• Find a hobby (helium)

Are you an optimist or pessimist quiz?  Lifescript

Remember that if you miss the live show, it is available for replay anytime!

Thankful through Trials

People are often taken aback when I say that I am thankful for my illness.  There are many reasons that I feel that my MS diagnosis has been a blessing for me and my family.  I would have probably never slowed down and lived for the moment if not for MS.  I would not have been forced to deal with the deep-seated emotional issues I had spent my whole life holding in.  I would not have learned to let go of the small stuff and be (a tad) less controlling.

In the grand scheme of things our time on this earth is not about us.  It is about how we live our lives for God’s glory.  I spent a week or two really upset last month when I found out I also have systemic lupus. “It’s not fair” and “why me” came out of my mouth and my heart.  I was feeling very sorry for myself And then I remembered:  my trials and issues are really insignificant.  When you are able to step out of your pity party and look at the world around you, it is easy to see that I don’t have it so bad.  I have learned about the plight of chronically ill people in third world countries- hello?  How can I complain when they have no access to healthcare at all?  There are orphans in Eastern Europe that are institutionalized for life (just put in cribs at the age of four) simply because they have Down Syndrome.  Babies that are suffocated at birth because of deformities.

I think of how much this type of atrocity must pain our Lord.  How He must yearn for us to get out of our own little self absorbed box and find ways to help those that are less fortunate and more oppressed than we could ever imagine being.

What would the world be like if we all took an interest in other people’s problems rather than our own?  If we focused on loving everyone we come in contact with instead of trying to leverage situations for our own benefit?

I have been just as guilty as the rest of allowing myself to wallow in my trials.  But, the Lord is speaking to my heart so loudly lately, particularly through a passage in Isaiah 58:6-12

Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break over every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say:  Here am I.

If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sunscorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Now, I don’t know about you but I am interested in feeling like a well watered garden and am thankful the Lord provides the guidelines for doing so.

And, in the midst of a season of thankfulness I pray that none of us lose sight of the true reason for the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Page »