During your journey with chronic illness, financial stress or other chronic issues, you are likely to have life happen.  When it rains it pours.  Know that God is still in control.  He will always bring you through. Pray, even if you can’t see a way out.  Pray, even if you don’t see an answer.  Pray.

2014 has been an eventful year to put it in the positive vernacular.  On the days when I’m not so positive, I call it one of the worst years my family has had in recent memory. Not that God hasn’t seen us through, moved us forward or been with us, but in the sheer amount of STUFF we had to deal with and the stress it put on my family, our finances, our nerves and my body.  Here’s how it went down.  You might see similarities to a year in your recent history.

In January, my dh, son and I were involved in a roll over car accident near Chicago after finding our new home in Indiana we’d be moving to from ARIDzona.  This one’s a tri state baddie as my dh broke his back and I broke my hand–both of which have left some permanent damage.

In March we moved cross country during a blizzard.  It took us about three hours to get to get to and 20 minutes to actually FIND our new home.   We had been staying with relatives in Chicago and drove out to meet the movers. We caught them just in time before they were required to leave with all our stuff.  Upon arriving to our development, we had some trouble determining which white stuff was over the roadway and which was over our neighbor’s lawns.  Fortunately, we spotted the mailbox tops which guided us in.

In June, a lightning strike zapped and fried 15 electrical items in our house which all had to be replaced. And, yes, we only had coverage for the structure of the house and not our belongings. I think it cost us $1500 to replace it all.

In August, my very old printer decided it didn’t want to work and play well with my new computer. My new printer is lovely and has all the latest bells and whistles. Then my dh drove his car into a flash flood he thought was a small puddle during another thunderstorm. Yes, the insurance company was required to deem it a total loss under Indiana law and, at the time of this writing we are a one car family looking for a second car.  In addition, my son turned on his computer to a lightning strike of its own making which fried the power supply.  We’ve put off homeschool for a week or so.  The power supply is on order and should arrive tomorrow.  My dh should be able to fix it by this weekend–or by the time you read this last weekend.  And finally, my gallbladder started a civil war with plans to secede from my body.  The other parts voted to evict him instead.  My upcoming surgery will be scheduled this week.

Life sometimes gets in the way.  It doesn’t seem to care that you already have chronic life to deal with.  And when it strikes, it makes life stressful and, well, let’s just say not fun.  I’m not going to say I didn’t get upset or angry or frustrated.  I did.  I do.  But I always come back to the fact that God is still in control.  He has gotten me out of difficult situations before and I trust that He will again. So, I pray.  I pray with hope and faith, even if I can’t see a way out.  Even when I see our bank account dwindling, being sucked dry by the cruel weather.  I see God’s beauty.  The exquisite snowcapped view from my office window.  The green grass I never had to water.  I count my blessings that we are all safe and snug in our new home, even if I don’t feel great most of the time.  I trust that He will lead me to the right surgeon, the right dr for my chronic illness and the right opportunities.  I thank Him by being faithful to my mission He sent me on to uplift others who are struggling with the same things I am…or worse.  May you all be blessed.

Please share your story, feedback, comments here.  I’d love to hear from you.