I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2014!
I know this may be a very difficult season for many of you who are sick with Lyme disease. It's such a busy time of year.....shopping, baking, hosting, cooking, visiting.....and some of you are just not able to do it. The fatigue of Lyme can be crushing.....I do remember! So, let others do the work for you, and do what you can to find some enjoyment in the season, and in visiting with others. It's good for the soul to be with others.
Perhaps friends could visit in short spurts over the holidays. Maybe they could bring a meal that you can all share together. When I was sick, one of my friends brought a lasagna meal, and we all ate together. I sat at the table with a blanket around me because I was so cold, and I enjoyed the stories told. I felt so horrible, physically, but the companionship was wonderful.
Watch some Christmas movies as a family, and even though you are sick, try to cultivate that family togetherness that your children are craving at this time of year especially.....even if all you can do is lie on the couch. Invite your little ones to snuggle up with you; after all, it's you they want, not things.
Try very hard to not worry about how all of this is affecting your young family. Children are so resilient, and they adapt to new situations. My kids have seen it all in their young lives.....believe me.....from Daddy in the hospital with no hair and 50 staples in his scalp, to Mommy and Daddy both being carted off in an ambulance while police babysat them until Grandma and Grandpa could arrive.....to Mommy being unable to cook, clean, or care for them in the usual ways. (You can read our whole story here.)
With my husband and I both seriously ill at various times for 10 years, one might think that the children would be scarred for life. This is not true. If anything, it has made them empathetic and sensitive. It has shown them the importance of service to others in difficult times, for we certainly had our share of help over the years. It has shown them the meaning of family when their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins came to help in our times of need. It has shown them how God cares for us and carries us through the valleys of our lives. Our kids have continued to thrive, do well in school, and be well-adjusted kids, all in all.
Just continue to do what you can to show love to your children! Snuggle, read them a book, watch a movie with them. Even though you are not feeling well, just give them that reassurance that they are loved, and use this situation as a learning opportunity to prepare them for the inevitable valleys they will walk through in life.
I would like to finish off here by sharing a beautiful song with you by award-winning Christian artist Natalie Grant. Oh my! This song has touched my heart so much in the past few weeks and I hope it will touch yours. It reminds us that as Christians, we have HOPE, and this hope endures even through dark times. And this hope is not just an optimism, but it is the hope of knowing Christ, and knowing that He promises to be with us throughout our lives, in good times and bad. He gives us the strength to endure.
I pray that you will know Christ and His hope this Christmas and throughout the rest of your life.
