A New Year ~ Overwhelmed by God's Grace

Hey folks! I have been mulling over this post for awhile. I am going to give you a short update, and then I will get onto the purpose of this blog. I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! Brian was home for 11 days, and it was wonderful to be able to spend some time with him. He of course made a list (he loves to do that) and was really productive. He deep cleaned the entire house (all we have left is the kitchen), and I am praising the Lord that I felt well enough to help him some. My husband is a rock star! :)

Now, onto the exciting news! Today marks week 5 of being off antibiotics. Actually, it is week 7, but at the beginning of December I went back on antibiotics for a week, so the count kind of started over. That's why I am still looking at it as week 5, but what a great accomplishment! I haven't really noticed any decline. I have a little bit of pain in my feet and shins, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say it's a 1. So, it's barely noticeable, and I can definitely live with it. That is such a praise! We know this is the right road for me. In fact, I am actually feeling so much better off of the drugs. We have decided to do acupuncture twice a week. I feel the best when I do that, and it's really helping. Another praise is that I am completely off the drug Lyrica, and my autonomic nervous system hasn't freaked out. Yay! We are praising God for these miracles! We are also starting to attempt to work on regulating my hormones since I have PCOS. This is going to take awhile. We will use acupuncture along with some natural supplements and herbs. It's exciting to be able to take these steps.

Week 6 is big for us! That is when I started crashing the last time; however, we feel strongly that I will be fine. We can see God working, and we are trusting that he is going to heal me without the use of those drugs. We go to San Francisco next week on Thursday. My appointment with my Lyme doctor is on Friday. I am really excited to go. I am excited to tell him all that's happening and share with him what God has done. We have some things we want to discuss with him, so please be praying that he will be accepting of our current decision in regards to treatment, and that he will be able to give us some guidance.

Now, I want to get to the reason for this post. For a couple of years now, I have consistently read a number of blogs written by Lyme Disease patients. Many of these patients post videos that they have found of those suffering from Lyme Disease. To be honest, I haven't really watched a ton of them because it's a little difficult emotionally. However, I believe with my whole heart that God led me to watch the video at the bottom of this blog post. It is one hour and 14 minutes long which is more time than I usually spend on these things; however I was drawn to it.

I have to say that in that hour and 14 minutes this amazing Christian couple's testimony impacted me in so many ways. It literally turned my life upside down. It is a video assembled by her husband for her birthday. Her name is Christa, and for years she has suffered from a chronic illness that causes her excruciating unimaginable pain. She actually tested positive for Lyme Disease and other co-infections and went through treatment. This amazing Godly couple has handled her condition with a faith in God that absolutely astounded me. I will be honest with you and tell you that the video is extremely difficult to watch at times. They made a decision to document both the good and bad times, and I have never in my life seen such suffering. They have been to so many doctors and clinics and have gone through the agony of getting no answers. You visibly see the pain that Justin goes through as he walks the halls at night praying while his wife is screaming from the bedroom. This is not a video you will want to watch in the presence of young children.

You might be asking why I would want to share something that is so difficult to watch. I want to share it with you because as you watch their journey, their faith and perseverance will touch your heart. They never have once questioned God. Scriptures carried them through the darkest of times. Justin talks about his wife's faith and how this has only brought her closer to the Lord. Whenever she had a break in the pain, she studied her Bible. She never once asked why. Their goal as a couple has always been to give God glory in ALL circumstances even through pain and suffering. I was so overwhelmed by what an example of Christ Justin is to His wife. Their life has been extremely difficult as shortly after they got married Christa became deathly ill, but he never once stopped loving and serving. He is a true example of how Christ loves the church. As he cared for his wife, I was reminded constantly of how Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He loved us that much!

Even as I write this, I feel like I am not explaining adequately how incredible this video is. I know it's long, but I promise you, it will change your outlook on life. It taught me what true faith and surrender is. It showed me how we should serve one another. Above all, it showed me how God can be glorified even in the darkest of circumstances.

For those of you who will struggle to get through to the end (have a box of Kleenex ready), the ending is filled with hope. She is doing much better now. She still has healing to do, but her pain is decreasing every day, and they have been able to do things like a normal couple. Please be praying for Justin and Christa! They are an amazing couple, and I have a strong feeling that God is going to use them in incredible ways.

The video is below. You will have to push pause on my music player at the bottom of my blog so it doesn't interfere. (More writing below the video)



I want to take this time to thank my husband. I know that I have said it before on this blog, but there are some who know what people like Justin and my husband go through as their wive's struggle through an isolating and sometimes debilitating illness. Yes, they have to carry the load of being a full-time care giver and provider; however, they do much more than you can ever imagine. Although, I do not have horrible pain, my chemical sensitivities and horrendous allergies have made our journey very difficult. One of these days, I want to write out our story from start to finish. There are things that would make your jaw drop like driving home from the Mayo Clinic in the middle of the night because I couldn't drink the water in Minnesota and was severely dehydrated. We froze for 7 hours in 20 degree temps because we couldn't use the heater as it would let too much exhaust into our car and I would have an asthma attack from the chemicals. We had to stop half-way home in a small town to get IV fluids in the emergency room because I almost passed out in the car.

There is the time when we were moving to Arizona because I was too sick to live in Nebraska anymore. We couldn't find a hotel to stay in that I didn't react to in Colorado. We drove around for 6 hours and checked out over 20 hotels. We were exhausted, stressed and knew that I was so sick, but had no answers. I remember standing in the middle of the hotel room balling my eyes out. All I could eat was chicken and drink a specific kind water. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't even sit on the bed without having an allergic reaction. Brian was at a loss at what he could do to help us. I remember he just held me and we cried together. We were taking a huge risk moving to Arizona not even knowing if I would be able to live in my new environment. We felt like we had hit rock bottom; however, God carried us through.

It's time like these that I am so thankful for God and his provision and protection. I am thankful for the husband who has been my rock through it all. Brian's life has and is not normal, but he has never complained. He loves me like Christ loves the church, and our marriage is as strong as it's ever been. God doesn't owe us anything, but his blessings abound. Our journey has taught us to cherish the little things, and for that, I am forever grateful.

I can truly say, I am overwhelmed by God's grace...