Finding Nuggets of Gratitude When Life Happens in Fibromyalgia Flares

    
Did you know that a fibromyalgia flare can mimic a symptomatic severe case of the flu with total body pain void of fever, leaving an uncertainty loomed whether the real thing or not? Now, couple that with a few days of unrelenting bouts of lower spine/back pain impeding walking or everyday movement, where getting out of the bed unless absolutely necessary found its way to the bottom of the options for today list. A skirmish in life, indeed, was and is happening! 
Okay so, this early morning I mulled over names of folk, including my son, to call upon to bring me a huge pot of soup. The thought hit me that I have enough fixin’s in my pantry, fridge and freezer to brew up that big savory homemade concoction myself. Sooo, let us see what happens when fresh cabbage, spinach and onions, assorted cans of vegetables, a chicken drumstick/thigh quarter, leftover homemade turkey broth, Worcestershire sauce, instant whole wheat brown rice, seasoned to taste with thyme, cumin, sea salt, basil, oregano, and garlic powder are co-mingled with a totally blessed sufficiency of grace to get-up-and-go is employed at whatever snail-paced forward motion to get’er done. By my faith, I saw the end product before it was actually done. 

Voilà! After persistent and consistent effort with committed determination for a longer-than-normal time preparation and cooking time, SUCCESS!

    
Over a gallon of tasty-morsel fusions of scrumptiously delectable composites to satisfy the dulcet cravings was found as the nugget of gratitude for this weakened yet Christ-strengthened gal. I do realize that the prior sentence may have sounded like a mishmash of a compromised choice of choreographed words. However, the following needs no interpretation… 

Did the same person ‘who moved my cheese’, move my whole wheat crackers?

Week 2 – Finding Nuggets of Gratitude When Life Happens

At the end of this day, my gratitude emerges in the midst of or despite the record-setting cold North Central Texas temperatures. Fibromyalgia and cold just do not gel no how, no way in this body! As eluded to in the post of yesterday, my recent move from a home with a rather large backyard to an apartment with a 5’x10′ patio poses a real challenge after being reunited with my very loving Border Collie/Cocker Spaniel mix dog. No more simply opening the door to let him take care of business as he frolics in the yard. The choice to walk him at my leisure has been eliminated, as he requests an early morning, midday and late night stroll at the minimum.

So this morning magically transformed into re-prioritizing this day as well as for those subsequent frigid ones ahead. Necessary kickstart decisions were made: 1) snap to it; 2) move from a place of dread; and 3) get on up out of my warm cozy bed…all with the mindset of loving the family pet whose name is Skowt. Now while the extra time in extreme bundling up from head to toe to brave the abnormal wintry chill is transpiring, a smile came to my face each time as Skowt’s ears perked up and his tail wagged in anxious anticipation of the pending roaming to the great outdoors. He just was not phased by my very obvious apprehension, nor the shivery of his human.

The gratitude came in the joy Skowt exuded each time we journeyed beyond our four walls. And then the totally unexpected comments complimenting his beauty I experience in the attention he attracted from other dog lovers strolling their pets on the complex property cracked a smile on this ‘cold’ face. Despite my objection to shivering and hesitance at braving the elements, that early morning decision to deny self actually effected an increased sphere of influence. So electrify your ambit, bounds of impact, in a realization that Fibromyalgia and cold can gel in a release of denial to self with a resolve to a grateful heart.

Be sure to once again check back next week to see what nugget find of gratitude has been unearthed. And do not forget to leave a comment and ❤️ my blog site. Hopefully, you will then follow my blog, invite others to view and do the same. A blessed day to you because I know #Iamblessed and enjoy #givingyouhope!

That Person In Line Could Be You

For those of you joining this blog from my facebook post, give me a few lines to give the back story… Well it looks like it was actually more than just a few minutes, seeing that it is now the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

As a rule when walking through matters that challenge me healthwise, I choose to limit my words in talking about the illness  and majorly speak mounds of words of life in glorifying the Lord for His continued faithfulness.  So I have not been outright forthcoming to request specific prayer for an intense mystery health battle in which I have been engaged for almost 3 weeks. The Lord reminded me of His watchful eye thru a phone call from someone my son Aaron jokingly left me in their ‘care’ in line for the general session of Ambit Energy’s Ambition2013 national convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Just yesterday I said to my associate pastor, Scott Athey,  that I probably should widen the sphere of prayer support and share this specific request. Well, my phone rang around 10am this morning.  The voice at the other end identified herself with these words, “I do not know if you remember me. My name is Dee Rankin. Your son left you in our charge while he went to take care of some things for you…” Oh my! I had TOTAL RECALL!  That is really awesome in and of itself because memories sometimes are not so readily prepared to release events, people, places, things, etc. 

Well, Dee, went on to share with me that I have been on her mind for about 3 weeks. From time to time her husband would ask if she had called me. Then Sunday I was on her mind again pretty heavily, but she did not call and then again yesterday and this morning. So she decided to pick up the phone today when she came across my business card. Dee then sweetly said, “There must be a reason that you am on my mind so much.” I responded, “Well, I do not know if you are a praying woman or not…”, interrupted by her saying, “I sure am!” Wowee Zowee!!!! As you read further, please take not of the timeline parallels! God is so very awesome!!!!

I then began to detail back to how her timelines  paralleled dates and times of my last three weeks. December 26 (3 weeks ago) I suddenly became very ill with what was symptomatic of the flu, only escalating the next few days. I have learned that one of the ways fibromyalgia manifests itself is with severe flu-like symptoms. Now couple that with with the muscle and nerve pain of fibromyalgia…well let’s just say, I have said often that I would take labor pain over this anytime! Since I have been thru this particular type of fibro flare several times since the 2009 diagnosis, as I stand steadfast for manifested healing, I do not rush to the doctor because I know it will subside. Also with knowledge that God’s grace and mercy will carry me thru as well as the prayers of those who have committed to pray/intercede for me. So a visit to the doctor is not a priority for me upon a flare because this all usually subsides in 3-5 days.

Well, after a week and a half and the heightened concern of my two adult children began to create a burn in their overworked faith muscles. So a doctor appointment was placed on my calendar for an office visit. “Say what?! High what?! Cannot be!” were exclamations as yet another diagnosis proceeded from the doctor’s lips in addition to the fibro flare, as tears streamed down my face. I thank the Lord for my doctor whose compassionate chair-side manner brought calm, allowing me to re-focus to gain my faith-filled footing once again. So this diagnosis is another opportunity for me to stand firm in the report of the Lord and watch His faithfulness rise to the occasion as the heat to the furnace is turned up another notch. I shall not bend, bow or burn!

So now let us fast forward to the Sunday parallel… Got up Sunday morning to be dressed and ready for the prearranged pickup time by a friend for church. Moments after leaving my home, the friend posed this question to me, “On a scale of 1-10, how do you feel? “6 1/2”,  was my hesitant reply. Determined to be in church since I had missed the prior Sunday and Wednesday, I wanted to be in the wonderful atmosphere of fellowship and love, anointed worship in song and the spoken word and a whole lotta hugs. Soon after arrival at church, it became apparent that the scale in my physical body was starting to go up.

Have you ever found yourself in this predicament? Should I faith it out? Then assess, would the staying be faith, foolishness or presumption? As desperately as I wanted to faith it out, I knew I really needed to get home. Okay now, I know some or many of you have been in that quandary before, whether you willingly admit it out loud or not. Are you aware that application of wisdom and common sense does not nullify faith? The more this chickadee attempted to respond attentively in dialogue and strong in faith, the body was getting weaker escalating upward on the pain-odometer. I knew it would not only be foolish for me to presume to stay, but selfish as well. Sooo thanks to sweet friend, Rhonda Wilson, I was back at home 65 minutes after Sunday church arrival. Pain soaring at the level 10, where it remained for about 13 hours!

With an 8 1/2 pain level Monday morning, I phoned my doctor and made an 11am appointment for Tuesday. In my search for a ride for that appointment, a precious sister Angel McGoogan, got in touch with me to let me know she could take me TODAY Monday. Called doctor and was able to reschedule for that very day! Thank you Lord! Tested negative for the flu to the absolute elation of my kiddos and also negative for mono! Halleluia! However, I was left yet again in the mystery category. And yes I do know, although it is a mystery to medical science, it is NO MYSTERY to Almighty God. Since it mimics various conditions, it says to me…all out onslaught of an attack to dismantle my unflinching grip on my faith in my faithful God! Time for me to militia in prayer intercessors who are willing to be warriors to stand strong with me. And today Tuesday, 7 1/2 pain level, I am asking the Lord for wisdom in calling on the troops.

To think the Lord’s love placed me again, that person in line, on Dee’s heart this Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday! Even though my case is a mystery to the medical eye right now, it is and never has been that to the Lord! He knows exactly what is going on! Therefore my faith is still in tact and unrelentingly being applied ‘…because my God has never failed me yet, so why do I have to fret…’ ‘Letting my prayers and supplications be made known to the Lord’. Speaking life to and over myself. Encouraging myself in the Lord

I say thank you to Dee for picking up the phone Monday morning to let me know you had been thinking about me. I hope you, my readers, followed the vital parallel timelines…3weeks ago, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I hope you will make it your rule that when a specific someone or situation suddenly is heavy on your heart, in your thoughts or mind, please take a moment to assess the matter in prayer. And if at all possible… pick up the phone, send a text, email, facebook inbox message or some form of communication OR even stop by if locale allows. You could be the same blessing to someone out there that Dee was to me. If someone knows this Pennsylvania Dee and her husband Bill, please thank her for the obedience she displayed in the sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. By the way, she also committed to say a prayer and be in prayer for me. Oh, yes! My faith is still in tact! Just decided to allow you in to let you know that I, too, do walk t-h-r-o-u-g-h…by the grace and mercy of God and the prayers of family and friends.

Thought for this post… you just may need to take note of that person in line could be you…