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Thoughts On “Sun Guilt” And How To Enjoy The Outdoors With Chronic Illness
Don’t worry, this isn’t a post pressuring you to go outside more or insisting you should get outside every day. With chronic illness and pain, sometimes this isn’t realistic. So let’s talk about ways to benefit from and enjoy being outdoors with chronic illness. For me, planning and pacing are key.
In fact, I’m giving myself permission to be outside less or not go outside at all, even on days when the weather is ideal. I’m trying to balance benefitting from nature with listening to my body.
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My Go To Natural Skin Care Products
I’m so excited to share this list of my favorite natural skin care products with you! It’s taken me many years to find lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc. that don’t flare up my health conditions. I’m really passionate about this topic because I think everyone should have the tools and information to avoid toxins and make healthier decisions in their everyday life.
I hope that all the products I’ve researched and tried will help you on your journey to better health.
What we put on our bodies matters, especially for those of us with chronic illness. These are the skincare products that don’t aggravate my asthma, fibromyalgia, and other chronic conditions.
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Why To Use Natural Skin Care Products If You Have A Chronic Illness
Why choose natural skin care products? I’m going to share a quick overview of some of the potential health impacts of chemicals that you’d think are safe—after all, they’re in everyday products like lotion, shampoo, deodorant, and soap. I hope this post is a useful resource for learning more about the ingredients in skin care products so you can choose healthier options, especially if you have a chronic illness.
If you’re already dealing with chronic illness or health issues (like I am—more on that below) it’s even more important to address irritants and triggers that could be contributing to underlying conditions—or just making overall health worse.
And even if you’re healthy, there are many reasons everyone should avoid harmful chemicals lurking in skin care products.
Here’s a quick look at chemicals to avoid, where you can find more research about those chemicals, and resources for finding healthier alternatives.
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Q&A with Carole Griffitts: “Our passion is to help people know they can thrive” with invisible disability
I’m excited to introduce you to author and blogger Carole Griffitts, who just coauthored a book about chronic illness and invisible disability with her husband Joe. Their book Sunbreaks in Unending Storms, based on their story and the stories of three other families, shares encouragement and information about living with invisible disabilities.
I so appreciate when sisters in Christ with more life experience than me are willing to share their hard-earned wisdom. Carole has lived with chronic health conditions for more than 40 years, and she and her husband have been married for (almost!) 55 years. “Connected Carole” also runs the blog Navigating the Storms for people living with invisible disability, their families, and their caregivers.
I hope you’re encouraged by this conversation with Carole on chronic illness, faith, and perseverance.
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December Wrap Up: Preparing For the New Year
Happy New Year! I’m sharing a wrap up post with highlights from my December, including what I made, what I found challenging, and festive photos. Looking back can help us move forward. So I’m reviewing the last month of 2020 before next year’s fresh start.
This post is inspired by A Chronic Voice’s linkup party, which is a way for bloggers to connect and write about similar themes. I’ve decided to write on three of the linkup themes: Beginning, Enduring, and Revealing. I’ve also decided to add two themes of my own: Creating and Celebrating.
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Practical Gift Ideas for Someone with Chronic Illness
I hope this list of practical gifts for chronic illness is a helpful guide, whether you’re looking for Christmas, birthday, or “just because” gift suggestions. I’m also sharing four tips for choosing practical gifts for chronic illness.
My health conditions include fibromyalgia, POTS (a form of dysautonomia), myalgic encephalomyelitis (aka chronic fatigue syndrome), and asthma. I know that it can be challenging to know what will be helpful for those of us dealing with limitations due to our health, especially those of us with a lot of allergies. I’m sharing some things I’ve found particularly helpful, things I’ve been gifted, and things on my wishlist. (You can read more about my health journey here.)
Before we dive into gift suggestions, here are helpful tips for gift giving to keep in mind when your recipient has chronic health conditions.
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Fruits of the Spirit Printables + Mini Devotional
I’m excited to share my free Fruits of the Spirit printables with you today! This subway art based on Galatians 5:22-23 is a great tool for Bible verse memorization and meditation on God’s Word. I’m also sharing a mini devotional on spiritual growth and ways to further study this wonderful verse:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)
I love the phrase “fruits of the Spirit” from scripture, and as someone who loves to garden, I always look forward to harvest time. As we continue into harvest season this year, there is so much rich truth in this verse to unpack! Here’s what I think this verse has to teach us.
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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.
