Something was wrong with me. I just knew it. I was in my early twenties, freshly graduated from university and starting work at my first full-time job. Flushed with my own success, I threw myself into work, embracing everything it threw back at me. The world was my oyster. Except this oyster was woefully sick. […]
lupus
Happy Birthday, Book Baby!
‘I live with lupus,’ the lady said, ‘and when I saw in your author bio that you live with lupus too, I told myself I simply had to meet you!’ ‘I’m so thrilled to meet a fellow lupie!’ I laughed. Lupus is a rare condition and I often feel a bit alone and lost in […]
My Weird Testimony
‘I’ll pray for your healing,’ smiled the young woman. ‘Actually,’ I smiled back, ‘I think God has told me he’s not going to heal me.’ The woman frowned. ‘That’s not the God I know. My God would never deny me healing.’ ‘OK, let me tell you my weird testimony…’ In the not-too-distant past, I was […]
Beyond Yoga
Last weekend I participated in a first-time Indie Author Book Festival in Adelaide. I had so much fun talking to customers and chatting to fellow authors all day—the conversations were nearly non-stop! Lots of people stopped by my table to talk about chronic illness. One thing that came up again and again was how often […]
Too Young
‘You’re too young to have arthritis!’ the doctor remarked. I took a breath before responding. Age amongst the chronically ill can be a sensitive topic, and many young people with chronic pain and disease experience minimising and dismissal from doctors on account of their youth. This, naturally, is not OK—yet many doctors still comment on […]
Survival Skills: Grace in the Flames
Three years ago I became disabled by illness. I don’t know whether it was lupus or not; the illness was never diagnosed. But it was a doozy of a flare-up and I was off work for about six months. During that time, I was virtually house-bound, going out only for medical appointments. I had to […]
Survival Skills: It’s Not Fair!
There are times when I get super jealous of able-bodied people. There, I said it. As much as envy is not exactly a fruit of the Spirit, this try-hard Christian experiences jealousy on a semi-regular basis. I feel it watching other people climb stairs without a problem. I experience it when friends regale me with […]
Survival Skills: Scriptures for Illness
‘Doubled up with pain, I call to God All the day long. No answer. Nothing. I keep at it all night, tossing and turning… I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled, Every joint in my body has been pulled apart. My heart is a blob Of melted wax in my gut. I’m dry as a […]
Survival Skills: The God Who Allows Pain
‘Why does God allow suffering?’ is a common catch-cry in our society. Christians and non-Christians alike struggle with the concept of a God who either doesn’t seem to care about our pain, or who cares but appears powerless to intervene. For a Christian who believes God is all-powerful as well as all-caring, it’s a conundrum. […]
Survival Skills: Find Your Illness Tribe
‘Find your tribe,’ they say. But how do you find your illness tribe—especially when your illness is rare? My particular brand of illness, known as lupus, apparently affects approximately 0.06% of the population and five million people worldwide.[i] So it’s not like I’m going to find many fellow ‘lupies’ at my workplace or local church. […]