When Your Pain Has A Purpose

We’ve all had it. Pain. Whether it is physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual. Whether it is manageable, or severe, a quick moment or long term, we’ve all experienced some form of pain to some extent or another.

Most of us would never chose to go through the pain, through the hard stuff. But God had a purpose for my pain, He has a purpose in all of us.

Join me over at Finding Purpose in the Pain to hear how God used my pain.


By His Grace alone,

Corrine

Back, and better then ever!

Hi friends! So I realize it's been way to long since my last post, but I had to take a little bloggy break so that I could get all my health issue under control.

I'm sure if you've followed my blog in the past you would recall that I was having some health struggles, and after all sorts of tests and specialists appointments I finally have some answers as to what has been going on with my body! In my post here I wrote about some of the daily struggles I was having, life had gotten quite difficult, so I am very happy to report that I am doing much better now! As it turns out I have a neurological disorder that was causing seizures. I was having multiple seizures a day, (a lot of which were nocturnal) and I had NO idea! My "muscle spasms" weren't just regular muscle spasms, they were seizures... Thankfully after seeing a neurologist and having the right tests done they were able to correctly diagnose me and I was able to start on some medication.

Now I'm like a whole new women! I'm slowly getting my body, and my life back! It's been quite the journey! To any of you suffering with an unknown illness, and you feel like getting an answer is hopeless I just want to offer encouragement. I saw many doctors who had no idea what was wrong with me, and more or less gave up telling me to change my diet and exercise. Because of the way my symptoms were presenting, seeing a neurologist wasn't the first idea so there were many other specialists and emergency room visits before I had any answers. I can truly tell you that my relationship with God, and the support of my husband is what got me through such a difficult time. If you are suffering, remember to pray, pray, pray! Your relationship with God is SO valuable, He can truly get you through the darkest of times, like He did for me! I honestly don't know how I could have gotten through my days without my Saviour!

By His grace alone,

Corrine

Guest Post, come visit!

Hi friends!

Do you want to know what changes I've made to help my days as a wife, mom, homemaker, and homeschooler all while dealing with chronic pain? Come join me over at Finding Purpose in the Pain, where I've told my story! See you there!

Dealing with Chronic pain during the daily grind - my post

Have a blessed weekend everyone!!

Corrine

Finding MY sweet spot!

So... I have a birthday approaching near the end of this month. The 26th to be exact. My own birthday isn't really a big deal to me, I just like to be able to be with my family. Nothing fancy. I don't normally put a ton of thought into the day. But this year, as the day approaches where I turn 31 (AHHH!!!) I can't stop thinking about what I have (or have not) accomplished. Becoming a young wife and mother of 3 are huge accomplishments that I'm proud of. We began homeschooling our kids in the Fall which, although not even close to accomplished I'm proud that we made the choice and began the journey. But I feel like I'm being called by God to do more... I just don't know what? I'm content and very happy with my life, but I have this pull. This feeling that theres something more that I'm supposed to do. But what?

I began reading a book called "Cure for the Common Life - Living in your sweet spot" by Max Lucado. It talks about how God gave each and every one of us a unique talent or skill. On page 1 of the book Max says

"He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot."

So how do I find my sweet spot? The book does go on to help you figure out how to accomplish this with different sections to help you break it all down. It was very thought provoking for me, and (in my opinion) was a great book, worth the read!

So now I'm trying to sift through everything in me, to learn what unique talents and skills God gave me. It's a lot harder then I thought to separate myself from all the talents and skills that I would love to posses, and what God has actually given me. In the (resent) past I would look at family or friends that have talents or skills that I admire, and I would try those same things only to find I just didn't have what they had. I would wonder how they could make it look so effortless, but I was struggling to so the same thing? Those were talents that God gave them, not me. So as much as I may love or appreciate the work or project they can do, it was never meant for ME to do it! Hmmm... Interesting... Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that I am loved enough by an all powerful Father, that he took the time to knit in me all these special, and unique things that only I could have. That not one other person on this planet was given the exact same gifts, in the exact same way. God has something special for me, and all of you!

So, I am going to try and uncover what God has blessed me with, and use it to bring all the glory back to Him! All while living in my "sweet spot"!

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in it's various forms ~1 Peter 4:10

By His Grace alone,

Corrine


I'm linked up at Raising Mighty Arrows! Join in!

Just felt like sharing...

Oh I LOVE these boys! I get to wake up to these sweet faces every day! I feel so blessed!

A house full of boys, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Thanks for stopping by, and letting me share these pictures with you! :)

A Spirit full of Sunshine!

This is how I feel right now. A spirt full of God's love, feeling like warm sunshine bursting through me! It honestly doesn't matter how my body is feeling today (which for the record is quite bad).

In my last post, I wrote about some health struggles I've been experiencing, and how the symptoms lead me down a road of hopelessness, pity, and pain both physically and spiritually. It was a hard place to be, but with the help of my loving husband, and an Almighty God I was able to get out of such a bad place.

Going through all of this was so unwanted at the time, but God has a plan. I didn't think that anything positive could come out of what I was going through, but God has a plan! And guess what? I've even learned a few things!

The first thing I learned was who my real friends are. This was a hard lesson to learn in the beginning, because I was a little surprised at the outcome. But now I know. And it's quite refreshing!

The second thing I've learned is that I have very unreasonable expectations for myself. It is completely unreasonable to live the same life and schedule I was living before becoming sick. I'm such a control freak that I didn't want to change the way I cared for my home, the way I was homeschooling, or the time I went to bed. It all needed changing, but I went down with a fight. A fight that didn't need to be had, if only I could have recognized that I do NOT need to be the one in control.

And the third, and most important lesson I've learned is that God can't help me if I don't let Him. I felt like I trusted Him, but yet I continually fought every change in my life that was happening. Instead of leaning on the Lord to get me through, I was always looking to myself and my husband to get me through. Instead of reading scripture and spending more time in prayer, I was feeling sorry for myself. It wasn't until I truly and fully surrendered myself to God that I began to see the difference.

Like I said in my last post, I am still going through these medical problems, and dealing with the day to day of the symptoms. But I'm seeing it all with new eyes. Clear vision. God has a plan and THIS was all apart of it. Who am I to turn my nose up at a struggle that God is sure I can handle? Who am I to decide that because I'm going through a struggle it must mean something bad? God's gifts come in many different packages. And now that I'm seeing everything through new eyes, I'm seeing the gifts that are coming from the struggle. Like my husband praying for me. That is the sweetest gift of all, and God knew exactly the type of impact that would have on me!

So here I sit. Ready to take on anything the Lord has in store. Even the struggles. If I'm struggling, then God must be working on me. Clearly only He knows what I need. And I am praising Him all the more for knowing that I needed the struggle. Praising Him for knowing my heart! Praising Him for showing me that His amazing gifts come in many different packages.

By His Grace alone,
Corrine


I'm linked up over at

I'm not lost.... anymore

Well, it's been a very long time since I last wrote a blog. Too long I'm sure, because I've probably lost the few followers I had! ;) But, here I am!

It's been a rough couple of months. I wanted to write so many times, but I just didn't know what to write, and didn't know what to share. Or what not to share. So, I didn't write. Looking back, this was probably a very good thing. I was in a dark place for a little while, and I don't think I had anything worth sharing.

I've been sick for a while now. I've suffered with chronic pain for a few years, but starting back in November the pain began to intensify. By December the pain was accompanied by a slew of other symptoms, and by Christmas I felt like I could no longer function. My world seemed to come to a complete halt, and to say I handled it well would be a gross overstatement. I did not handle it well.

You see, I'm a bit of a control freak, and patience is NOT my forte. I'm a 'RIGHT NOW' kinda gal, so when I began seeing the doctor and wasn't getting any answers as to what was happening in my body I just couldn't take it.

My symptoms were worsening all the time. And to feel like I had no control over my own body was terrifying to say the least. The pain and fatigue took over, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Being a homemaker, wife, and mother is a tough job on the best of days. But with my "new" body it was more then tough. It felt impossible to do any of my jobs, and doing them well was, well it wasn't happening.

I truly began to loose who I am. I was in such a deep pit. And although I wanted desperately to pull myself out, I couldn't. I would wake up in the morning and tell myself that it was going to be a good day, and I would pray for God's strength to help me through. But come 11:00am my body would start to deteriorate. My pain would become unmanageable, the tremors that plague me would start to roll through my body, my speech would become a bit of a slur, and the headaches and eye pain would set in. How can I manage my home, take care of my 3 beautiful boys, and homeschool like this? By 2:00pm I would have all the kids in my room with me, school work in tow, or a movie so that I could be in bed in attempt to rest my body. By 6:00pm I could no longer function, the house and the kids were turned over to hubby, and I settled in knowing I was going to have at least 2-3 hours of muscle spasms before I would fall asleep. Of course only to be woken through the night in pain. And then it was time to get out of bed and start all over again in the morning. Too much, right? Well it was too much for me, thus the big, dark pit I was living in.

It's not easy to loose control, especially over your body. I couldn't do anything the way I used to. No more driving, no more taking the kids out of the house for a walk or play date, and no more enjoying life because it felt like the life was sucked out of me.

And then one day, I hit rock bottom. I could not take another second of this. Too many symptoms, too many appointments, and too little answers. I phoned hubby at work and broke down. I told him I couldn't go on, couldn't have all of this going on, and still be a wife and mother. I felt like I couldn't take care of myself, let alone our sweet, precious children. Hubby didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to help. He was already picking up the slack at home when he was here, and already missing so much work to help with appointments, he was at a loss of what to do or say. I could tell he was just as frustrated and sad as I was. Watching his wife suffer through illness was hard enough, watching me loose my mind was beyond what he knew how to handle.
Shortly after getting off the phone with him I heard my cell phone beep with a text message. It was my husband. My un-Saved hubby. The message said "I will pray for you". That message hit me like a ton of bricks. My un-saved hubby, who doesn't pray wants to pray for me. There was so much impact to those words - "I will pray for you" coming from him, that I just fell to my knees. God is SO good, and so much bigger then us all, and for some reason I forgot this. I mean, I knew these things, but while being in my dark pit I forgot to practice those things. Sure I was praying everyday, but I wasn't surrendering myself completely over to God. I was trying to control it all. And, as we all know life just doesn't work that way. I'm not in control. I've never been in control. There is only One who is in perfect control of all things.

So, my husband began to pray for me. And through him I saw that it was time to give myself back over to the Lord, the only one who could take me out of my dark pit. Back to His embrace, instead of the enemy's. I didn't even know I had fallen from my place with Him, thats how tricky this dark pit is.

My health problems haven't gone away. I'm still coping day by day. But I'm on the right track with specialists now, who have narrowed it down to a few conditions, and after some tests I have coming up I should have a diagnosis.

But in the meantime, things are easier. No, I'm still not back to my healthy self, and yes everyday is still a challenge. But the difference is now I have the power of a praying husband! And honestly I would go through every horrible, painful day all over again if it meant that it was bringing my husband one step closer to the Lord. Our Lord is all mighty, all powerful, holy holy holy! And prayer is so powerful, there is no denying that since hubby began to pray that I have improved. And it feels SOOO good to be back in the arms of my Father, I don't have to go through this alone. Thank you, Jesus!

So... I'm back! And spiritually feeling better then I have in a long time!

Does anyone relate? If any of you are suffering from a health condition and have any advice on how to successfully homeschool on the bad days, or tips on home management when the bad days hit leave me a comment! I could use all the advice I can get!

By His grace alone,

Corrine


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