Tag: health

A Needed Vacation and A New Cycle

The last month or so has had a lot of ups and downs.

We had a negative pregnancy test after our last cycle. It was difficult to take, as we had tried so hard to do everything we could with the many injections, other medications, and all of the ultrasounds and blood drawings. It just wasn’t God’s time.

But last week we were able to take a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia for our 7th Anniversary. It was a good time to relax, explore, and recuperate. We visited Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Shenandoah National Park – and enjoyed ourselves at each spot. We’re very grateful to God for this much needed vacation.

Now we’re home and adjusting to the norm again. It’s good to be back with our pets and in our regular environment.

We were going to take a break from from fertility testing this cycle and try to prepare for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) next cycle…but after thought and prayer we’re leaning toward trying two more IUI (IntraUterine Insemination) cycles first. These next two cycles are important, as the percentage rates for conceiving on the 7th and 8th cycles increase noticeably. We’ll see what happens!

Please pray with us that if we need the extra help of donated medications – as we did last cycle – that they will be available to us again.

With all that’s going on, I’m trying my best to remain grateful to God and hopeful for the future. There’s so much uncertainty in life – but thankfully it’s not uncertain to our all-knowing God!

Thank you for reading, and we hope that you are doing well. We’d love to hear what’s going on in your lives in the Comments section below. God bless you! ❤

The Featured Image was taken by me along Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Kitty Under the Christmas Tree

It’s been an interesting several weeks! I’ve started a new medicine and am waiting to see how I will respond to it. I’ve had some other health issues that have been annoying, but they are being taken care of, so I am thankful. And I can’t believe that the month of December is actually here. Christmas will arrive before we know it!

I want to really be mindful this holiday season. It’s so easy to get caught up in the presents and the decorating and even the family gatherings (none of which are bad things). But I want to focus in on Jesus and His birth this Christmas. I want to take the time to be still. To listen for once in a while, instead of talking. To use my ears instead of my mouth.

I hope to find some kind of advent idea for blog posts that will help me to be able to do this. But even with this desire for writing blog posts about advent, I could get caught up in the craziness. So I just want to be able to share–when I can–from my heart, about what God is teaching me. Hopefully as I share this it can be encouraging to someone else, as well!

To end this post I’d like to send greetings from my kitty, Misty, who loves to lounge under the Christmas tree. We haven’t even gotten the tree decorated yet, but she’s already found her spot underneath on the tree skirt, where she can blend in with several early Christmas presents that we have received.

I hope that each of you has a Blessed holiday season, and that the remembrance of Christ and what He has done for us will leave a lasting and an invigorating impression on our minds and hearts. ❤

12 Nuggets of Wisdom from My Experience with Mental Illness: Part 1

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Living with a mental illness for the past fifteen or so years has been a harrowing experience. I’ve had some up’s, but many down’s. Thankfully, however, God has enabled me to learn from my experiences and to develop a few tactics in order to live a more enriched and satisfying life. I would like to share these with you, with the hope that you can use these “nuggets of wisdom” in your own life.

  • Recovery is a process — it doesn’t happen overnight. I cannot count the number of times I have thought to myself or even said aloud, “I want to be better, NOW!” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.There are many aspects to a person’s recovery, and each need to be addressed over a period of time. Yes, I hate not knowing when I’m going to be “better”, but I have learned that each day is a new opportunity to learn and to grow and to improve.
  • It’s important to take responsibility for your own recovery. It’s one thing to want to get better because your spouse or your children or any other person/people desire(s) it, but it’s much more effective when you have the desire within yourself to overcome your areas of difficulty and to become the best person that you can be. This gives you motivation that you wouldn’t always have if you were attempting to heal for the sake of someone else.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s humbling and embarrassing at first to realize that you need outside help in order to work towards healing, but the sooner you admit this truth to yourself, the closer you will be to getting connected with the resources that can help you in your recovery.
  • Widen your support group. This was (and still is) a difficult endeavor for me. I rely greatly on a very few number of people with whom I am close, and have always had a hard time knowing how to reach out and get the extra support that I need. This support could be from a pastor, a church group, a counselor, a friend, a family member, a recovery program, or a group that meets to specifically discuss mental health issues. The goal is to have people around you on whom you can rely, as opposed to only having one person to reach out to. This is not healthy for yourself, or for the other person.
  • Don’t be ashamed of your mental illness. Unfortunately, there is still a large stigma related to mental illness. Many people just don’t understand, because they haven’t had this type of experience themselves. But having a battle with mental illness does not make you any less of a person, or any less “normal” than anyone else. Even though I have never felt “normal,” I am learning that everyone has areas in which they struggle; and although they may be different areas, we all share the common need to grow and improve and to overcome the obstacles in our lives.
  • Learn as much as you can about your mental illness. As is often said, knowledge is power. Do whatever it takes to grow in your understanding of your illness. Whether it be researching the nature and possible cause(s) of the illness, searching for available treatment options, or exploring different coping skills that you may be able to use to improve your quality of life, it is extremely important to educate yourself in all aspects of your illness.

I will continue with the last six “nuggets of wisdom” soon. Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope that what I have learned from my own struggles can be even a small tool to help you (or someone you know) in your (or their) journey.

Here is a link to 12 Nuggets of Wisdom from My Experience with Mental Illness: Part 2!