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How To Stay Connected From A Distance-Holiday Edition
The holiday season is coming, and I want to share some fun and creative ways to stay connected even from a distance. It can be challenging to stay connected while apart. Chronic illness can limit our ability to travel or visit, and risk due to the pandemic adds another layer of restrictions.
Thankfully, technology provides a lot of ways to keep in touch so we’re not isolated. I’m going to share ideas for virtual Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas parties.
I’ve been thankful to be able to meet up with a few friends outdoors in the last month or so for socially distanced get-togethers. Now the weather is getting colder (too cold for this asthmatic to be outdoors here in Washington). So I’m thinking about ways to make virtual get-together’s into holiday parties.
I hope these ideas inspire many fun celebrations!
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Q&A on chronic illness: “Opening up to friends about my health problems was scary but so worth it.”
What I love most about this invisible illness interview is how it illustrates that when chronic illness takes something away from us, God can still provide new and amazing opportunities.
Cam is a 20-something with chronic pelvic pain, PCOS, Scoliosis, and other conditions. She shares how an unexpected and painful diagnosis led her and her husband to pursue a ministry they hadn’t previously considered—becoming foster parents to kids and teens.
Did you know pelvic floor disorders affect about 1 in 4 women in the US? (x) And 1 in 10 women have polycystic ovarian syndrome, aka PCOS. (x) Unfortunately it’s often considered taboo to talk about health issues that only impact women, but, as Cam points out, they’re more common than many people realize.
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Ariel as a Pirate – Altered Coloring Book Art #4
Time for new altered coloring book art! I’m reimaging a new coloring book page. Today I’m sharing how I changed the look of the heroine of my favorite Disney movie: The Little Mermaid. (Find my other makeovers of Disney Princesses here.)
I decided this was a good week for a lighthearted post. If you’ve been following what’s going on on the West Coast, we’ve been having unprecedented wildfires. I’ve never heard of so many brushfires and wildfires so close by, and a large one in Washington is in a neighboring city. I have several friends and family who are waiting to hear if they need to evacuate. We’re praying for everyone affected and fighting the fires, and I appreciate your prayers for the West Coast as well!
We could all use some stress-relieving coloring…
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Easy Popsicle Cards
Summer is my favorite season, and I’m quick to point out that it lasts until September 21. So there’s still plenty of time to send summery greeting cards! This design for a popsicle card is quick, easy, and so cheerful.
I love thinking up new ways to be creative in spite of my health issues and fatigue. Cards are a great craft project that doesn’t use too much energy.
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The Helpful Chart My Doctor Recommended I Create
Do you ever discover a useful resource for your health that just makes you want to share it? That’s the way I felt when my doctor recommended I create this chart. This is a helpful way to prepare for a doctor’s visit. It led to a lot of light bulb moments as I considered the future direction of my treatment plan, especially when it comes to medication and supplements.
This chart will help you streamline appointments by having more information at your fingertips, whether you’re meeting with your doctor in person or doing televisits. (I’ve actually found televisits practical because I use up less energy and can pull up documents about my health history on my computer…or ask my mom to run into the next room to check the dosage on my supplements, LOL! What do you guys think of them?)
I feel I’ve hit a dead end with my health and haven’t been seeing improvement (so I’ve been trying to focus on the little things I can do).
That’s why I recently saw my naturopathic oncologist to get a new perspective. I hadn’t seen him in awhile—I had thyroid cancer three years ago and have other chronic health conditions including dysautonomia, fibromyalgia, an autoimmune disease, and asthma.
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Longing for Light: An Example of Mythology Pointing to Jesus
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved reading mythology. The epic stories, heroic deeds, and imaginative worlds captured my imagination and solidified my love for fantasy books. But even better is when you can tell there is a beautiful truth underlying myths. I want to explore an example of mythology pointing to Jesus and how every human heart longs for light to vanquish darkness—a timeless theme of good overcoming evil.
I love when mythology points out a universal theme. In dark times, we ache for the arrival of dawn.
This seems especially relevant right now, as we’re all longing for a little more light in the world. Things have been pretty dark lately, what with the pandemic, racial injustice, divisiveness and more. So where can we turn as we’re looking for light?
Tricky Characters and Myths about Light
The examples from mythology I want to look at all tell the story of rebel gods stealing fire or light to bring it down to earth.
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Q&A with Olivia Wolfertz: “I would encourage someone going through a chronic illness to see themselves as valuable and brave even despite their limits.”
Olivia Wolfertz runs the blog Unpolished Ponderings, where she shares her love of Jesus and creativity, plus a hopeful outlook on life with chronic illness. I feel so blessed that this Invisible Illness, Visible Worth interview project continues to let me connect with kindred spirits who love stories, creating, and writing!
Olivia created her blogging platform a few years ago as a way to document and cope with her illnesses, including Lyme disease. It’s grown into an outlet where she loves to share what she’s been making lately and what’s encouraging her.
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Q&A with Beth Madison: “You are more than your disease. You can be defined by your disease or you can be defined by trusting God with your disease.”
Beth Madison teaches biology at Union University and is a patient advocate through Global Healthy Living Foundation. Over the last eight years, her health journey has included rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as well as other chronic illness.
I love the story Beth shares in this interview about friends who are wonderful examples of what it looks like to faithfully support someone with invisible illness, as well as her examples of how God proves Himself trustworthy over and over again.
I hope you’re encouraged by this conversation with Beth on chronic illness, faith, and perseverance.
