"And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away."
~Revelations 21:4~
Chronic
Illness is like Hidden Thorns! The ROSE is a beautiful and
delicate flower. If you just look and don't hold
it you would never know that it has thorns. It looks
perfectly "Normal".
Sort of like people who have Chronic Pain. We LOOKperfectly normal to
the eye. BUT we have our own thorns. They tend to keep
people away from
us. It may also be our protection or defense mechanism.
But without thorns
a Rose Bush wouldn't have the beautiful flowers.
Sort
of reminds me of the "PEARL". A pearl starts
from a grain of sand.
The "foreign" object is really an irritation or
annoyance. But the oyster
takes that otherwise objectionable item and makes
something
absolutely beautiful from it.
We
too can take the "THORNS" and "GRAINS
of SAND" in our life and
make it something beautiful. But we can ONLY do this if
we surrender our
whole life, the good and the bad to the Lord. He is the
potter and we are
the clay. Let Him mold and make you into something unique
and beautiful.
For
the Lord really does know what is BEST for us. You may
lose things or
people in your life that you think are important BUT the Lord will take
the
losses in your life and turn them around to more abundant
blessings then
you could ever imagine.
God's Grace is
Sufficient.... and "His strength is made perfect in
weakness".
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
that I
might learn thy statutes."
~Psalm 119:71~
Thoughts by Annie: The Lord knows all
the "stitches" and "colors" and
even the "knots" in our life. But even if we
lose a "stitch" or have to
"rip" out a few stitches, the Lord loves us and
cares about all the
details in our life. The Lord should be like the needle
that holds
the thread. The needle is needed to create the beautiful
design, but
it takes us using one stitch at a time to create the big
picture. So let
the Lord be the "needle". He is there with you
every "stitch" of the
way. Even if you don't see the "needle" when
all the necessary
supplies have been put away. You know what was needed to
create
your lovely unique design. For without the
"needle" to bring everything
together it would just be some colored thread and a piece
of fabric.
A Helpful Bible Verse: "And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me."
~2 Corinthians 12:9~
Thoughts about the Verse
from Annie: This
passage is about Paul describing his "thorn in the
flesh".
No one knows exactly what his severe affliction was.
Our
weakness is a perfect opportunity for us to be examples
of God's
divine power and strength that is manifest through and in
us.
Most
of the leaders in the Old Testament had some problem,
either
stuttering or depression just to name a few. But
the Lord used them. And
it was why the people could see that it had to be ONLY
the Lord
God who could do this.
This
also reminds me of the verse "with man this is
impossible, but with
God NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE" Matthew 19:26
I
know that I am able to have my pages and my Internet
Ministry only by
the GRACE of God because of all the I have been through.
There is no
other way that I could do what I do.
The
LORD does bless us "exceedingly" more and
"beyond" what we can ever imagine.
There are 24
References for the word "PAIN" in the Bible!
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
~Philippians 4:13~
"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
and through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest
through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee."
~Isaiah 43:1-2~
"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble;
and he knoweth them that trust in him."
~Nahum 1:7~
"And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the
LORD. And,
behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the
mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the
LORD
was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the
LORD was
not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the
LORD was
not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."
~1Kings 19:11-12~
When we have a
Chronic Illness or Pain we have to go through the Grief Process.
This is so that we can readjust and start to live again.
It won't be our old like we will have a different kind of life.
There are four stages of the grief
cycle:
One:
DENIAL (I can't believe) Two: DEPRESSION (I can't handle) Three: ANGER (I don't understand why) Four: ACCEPTANCE (I can now see)
Here
is an acronym for when you are STRESSED. Just
consider the following words and see if they help: HALTis an acronym for: H-ungry A-ngry L-onely T-ired
He's Always There
When there's no one else around He is there.
When your sick and all alone He is there.
If no one will listen to you as you cry out in
dispair,
believe me when I tell you He is there.
Give all your burdens to Him that's why He's there.
Don't carry that heavy load alone when He's
there.
When we share our burdens with Him He will ease the
hurt within,
Because He loves you He is always there.
Let Him hold you in His arms for He is there.
Let Him wipe those tears away for He is there.
The time is soon to come when we will look upon the
Son,
Just believe until that time He is there.
Yes! believe our Saviour Jesus Christ is there. ~This lovely poem was written and
given to me by Frances
Armstrong~
RSD is Reflex Sympathetic
Dystrophy I
have RSD! RSD or RSDS is a neurological problem and one
of the
symptoms is constant chronic burning pain. My own
personal experience
with RSD is a long story and one for another time.
Remission is very
uncommon but not unheard of. It does spread to other
parts of the body
and loss of hair and atrophy are very common. People with
RSD have good
days and bad days. The weather can make us pretty
uncomfortable -
dampness and cold are the worst. Normally it is
degenerative but it never
totally goes away. I still have symptoms and problems
with both my arms,
legs and left shoulder. Flare ups can be triggered by
stress or even the
weather. Stress does not cause it, it just makes it much
worse. Our "fight
flight" reactions are intensified and cause alot of
problems. The future is
pretty much unknown and each patient is different except
that it will
spread. The Lord knows our future and He has a plan even
for those that
are sick and can't do much. We can adapt how we use are
hands. I use a
lot of "copy and paste", I have my keyboard
slanted up high to the monitor
with a wrist thing. Then I put my mouse on a binder on my
lap. I put my
arm back so it is back to the back of the chair in a 45
degree angle and I
just use my pointer finger to do a lot of work that way.
I also have a step
stool under my feet. You have to do a lot of
"adapting" with RSD. Things
that might take someone else a short time to accomplish
may take me
longer or I may have to do it differently but people with
RSD or other
illnesses can ask the Lord to use them and He will. OK
enough about me.
Hope this helped one of you, because if the Lord can use
me then He can
use you too!! So have a willing heart and ask the Lord
how He wants to use
you and He will show you in His time and His way!!
Thank
you Lord!I am amazed and
humbled that the Lord can use me to
encourage others with my pages despite all my
circumstances. The GRACE of God is
Sufficient!!!!!!!!
Don't
have Dental Coverage? Don't Worry!!
Do you have old cavities and broken or lost teeth? Are
your teeth deteriorating from loss of calcium or other
health problems? The state of your mouth can cause your
health to deteriorate. You really shouldn't just let your
oral health go. So even if you can't afford to go to the
dentist then don't worry!! I found a site to hopefully
help you deal with it from now on.
Check out this link to get help with your teeth: Free Dental Guide
Support from Others Can
Makes ALL the Difference!!!!!!!!!!!! Support
and understanding for people with chronic pain/illness is
so important.
So often when we lose our health we lose our friends too.
We don't look sick
and people just forget we have challenges.
If
you have never had to go through your day having only one
arm to use it is
hard to describe. You need help from others but it is
hard to ask. We want to
be able to do it ourselves but even with adaptive devices
we still
may need assistance.
Our
independence is one of the first things and the hardest
things we have to
give up or adjust to. Today in the world and society
people are measured by
"WHAT WE DO". But I have had to learn that it
is not "WHAT WE DO" that
is important but "WHO WE ARE". And more
important it is not "WHO WE
ARE" but "WHO WE TRUST IN AND BELIEVE IN".
If you need some encouragement PLEASE visit my: Annie's
Email Encourager Page
Don't be afraid to reach out to others. God has often used Email
Encouragers who I
have never met to BLESS me in many ways and comfort me too.
Sometimes I think
"Who but the Lord?" could have known that I needed to
read a scripture
or word of encouragement right at that moment.
