Photo Friday!

You are welcome to download and use this photo with my watermark.  Share it on Facebook, Pinterest, or use it as a screensaver. (photos are not to be sold, or used for advertising, please link back to my shop when using photos online)  If you would like to purchase a print without the watermark, visit my shop on Etsy.  Discount prices for Friday Photos!

Creative Wave Studios - 1 Peter 5:7 - SALE!!!

Have a great weekend!!!


 

Art – De-Stress

I’m an artist.  I grew up drawing, painting and taking every single art class I could.  We even had a bus pull up to my elementary school that taught wood crafts and other fun things.

This is my very first oil painting from when I was in the 3^rd grade.  California Poppies.

I just love to create.  In fact, I feel it is a big part of my gifting from God.  After working as a graphic artist, I decided to go back to school for art.  My biggest problem was that I loved ALL types of art and it was really hard to pick what to study!  God has given me different types of art to do at different times in my life.  Currently, because I have a toddler and it’s really difficult to get paint out, or spend time in a ceramic’s studio, I am focusing on photography.

My husband gave me my first DSLR camera for Christmas when our 3^rd son was just a few months old.  It is one of the best gifts he has ever given me.  I LOVE it.  (Rings & a Kindle Fire are also up pretty high on the list)  I didn’t know then how much it would help me to have photography in my life, especially having fibromyalgia.  I had taken a few film photography classes in school, and I had a background in digital art, so I was comfortable making the switch to digital photography.  The first year I had the camera I spent lots of time learning, reading and practicing, but THEN I found an awesome web site.

www.365project.org

It is a place where photographers take and post a photo a day for a year.  I was in awe of the great photography on the site and it was something I wanted to learn how to do better, so I signed up!  It’s free.  January 1, 2011 I posted my first photo.  And I’m still posting!  I have had such a blast doing this project.  I take pictures of my kids, God’s creation around me and experiment with things I’ve never tried (like water drops and fizzy fruit!)  I am so grateful for the inspiration and encouragement the other photographers have given me.  The best part is, anyone can do this!  There are lots of people on the site that use regular ‘point and shoot’ cameras or smart phones.  It’s a great way to document your life, your pain, your joy, be creative every day, and help reduce stress from your life.

Not only do I post photos daily, but I have started selling my work.  I joined a local art group where I was able to put some of my photographs in local businesses for sale, I also set up a booth in my towns Art Walk once a month.  And I started an Etsy shop to sell online.

Creative Wave Studios

If you are a creative person, you NEED to find a way to use your creativity.  Find a hobby that you just love and make time for it!  If you love to write, journal, if you love to draw, doodle!  If you love to garden, or bake, do it!  I know what you are thinking, “this is just a waste of precious energy,” well no!  When you do something that you enjoy, something that stimulates your ‘right brain’, you will feel more energized and even be able to relax and think clearer.

Is there something that you used to do that brought you joy?  Or is there something that you have always wanted to try?  Why not start this week!  I pray it will make a difference in your stress and overall joy like it has for me.

Rest – Required

Last night I took a nice hot bath, soothed my aching muscles with the heat after a busy weekend getting ready for the first day of school.  It’s something I don’t do very often.
(I forget why?)  I threw in some lovely aroma therapy oils, kept the room dark and just relaxed.  That is until a happy little 2 year old skipped into my room and decided to hop in with me (oh yeah, that’s why).  Not so relaxing when you end up with grapes floating around in the water and get splashed in the face.  I wouldn’t have changed a thing though, I know these moments will soon be memories.

 

I must admit, I have always had to take extra rest, even before I developed fibro.  I’m an introvert and it always has made me very tired to go out and do anything, including being with other people (yes even people I love).  I need to have some peace and quiet and alone time to feel restored.  Having this syndrome has made me much more aware of this and from what I hear from others, it is necessary for us to recuperate after even simple everyday activities like grocery shopping or going to a lunch meeting.  Problems arise when we don’t take this time to rest.  Pain, more fatigue and brain fog are quick to creep up on us when we push too far.  The longer the activity, or more energy exerted, the more rest we need.

There are different types of rest described for us in the Scriptures.

Sabbath rest

Future rest in God

Rest/peace for the soul

We as humans need them all!  But I’d like to focus on a few verses that speak about rest/peace for our souls.  These are the verses we can cling to when we know we need rest and can be encouraged that God will provide it for us!

Jesus speaks right to us in Matthew, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:28-29.

He promises rest and peace from anxiety, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

Sometimes we don’t even know we need rest and God provides opportunities for us.  (Oh how He loves us!)  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” 

Psalm 23:1-3.

I love love love Psalm 23 and encourage you to read and study the entire Psalm and find your rest in God today!

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.”

Psalm 62:5

Symptoms - What's My Problem?

One of the first things I did when my Dr. suggested that I had fibromyalgia was to read.  (Really we all need to stay away from webmd don’t we, but it’s where I started.)  Other than a few commercials, and being familiar with a couple of people that lived with it, I didn’t know much.   From what I knew at the time, it didn’t sound like what I had.  Muscle pain was what kept coming up, and I didn’t THINK I had much muscle pain.  Aches and pains sure, but not the excruciating muscle pain that I had heard about.  The pain that was bothering me the most was joint pain in my legs, feet, knees and hips.  I found a list of symptoms and I couldn’t believe how much fit me!  Things I hadn’t even thought about as a problem, or things that didn’t seem to fit together, became clearer. 

From webmd:

Common symptoms of fibromyalgia -- also known as fibromyalgia syndrome or FMS -- may include:

Pain - yup

Anxiety - oh yes

Concentration and memory problems -- known as "fibro fog" – the worst!

Depression - yes

Fatigue – oh so much

Headaches  - sometimes

Irritable bowel syndrome - maybe

Morning stiffness – oh yes!

Painful menstrual cramps – getting worse by the month

Sleep problems - yes

Numbness, and tingling in hands, arms, feet, and legs - yes

Tender points – ouch!

Urinary symptoms, such as pain or frequency – no

After reading that I was sure the Dr. was right.  THIS is what my problem was.  There are more extensive lists out there which only confirmed for me what was going on.

Here is a long list at healingwell.com.

Take this Quiz to help you determine if this syndrome could fit you.

Just seeing lists like this helped me.   I wasn’t crazy, this was actually happening to me!  Then came the next step.  What do I do about it?

Introduction - Living in a Fog

We all have difficult things that we face in our lives.  Broken relationships, illness, death, poverty.  I have not had to walk a very hard path most of my life, but I have had struggles.  I have faced tough times and been brought through a few fires.  I have relied on my God to bring me through these things.  His grace is unmatched.  I would love to share my story with you and give a voice to what daily life is like living with fibromyalgia and fighting it!

My journey with fibromyalgia began in November of 2011.  After living with severe pain in my legs & feet for over a year, getting worse as time went on, my husband convinced me to see a Dr. and figure out what could be wrong.  I was tired all the time and felt like I was living in a fog.  Whatever was going on was really interfering with my life & my ability to be a parent & keeper of my home.

At the time, I was 33 and stay at home mom of a 13, 10 and 2 year old.  Every day I would wake up and feel like I’d been hit by a truck.  Everything hurt.  I felt swollen and achy from my feet to my fingertips, up to my neck, jaw and top it off with a headache some days.  My joints were the worst.  I could tell what kind of day it was going to be by how much it hurt to walk down the stairs.  On the bad days I felt like my bones would snap as I took one step at a time gripping the railing for dear life.  I would get kids off to school and then sit on the couch and try to wake up for around 2 hours, or go back to bed for a few hours depending on how late my 2 year old would sleep.  Once I actually felt awake around lunch time, I could usually get ONE thing done during the day.  One errand, clean One area of the house, One playdate.  It wasn’t good if I tried to do more.  I often pushed myself though.  Just get one more thing done, or run in the store really quick.  That always led straight to a crash.  I was always forgetting meetings, or phone calls to make, appointments, or some other household tasks, or cancelling plans because I just couldn’t leave the house.  I tried to play and engage with my 2 year old, but more often than not, I couldn’t do much.  I couldn’t even take him to the park.   Just the thought of that made me tired.

For me, when I say I feel “tired” that usually means that my entire body is SCREAMING at me to “Stop Stop Stop!!!  Sit down!  Rest!  You can’t go on!”  It’s an all-consuming feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted.  My mind would fog over & I was done.  Out.

I don’t know how I made it through dinner time most days.  Usually around 4pm I would start to head downhill.  Just in time for the older kids to come home and need help with homework (that I couldn’t do because I couldn’t even think) or be driven to some activity. The pain in my legs was more than I could bear by that time of day.  My husband would come home from work and watch me as I literally cried just standing up & walking some nights.  Forget cleaning up dinner.  I would park myself on the couch after eating and there I would stay until bed time where I would become so stiff and sore it hurt to move.  I was exhausted, yet I would dread going to sleep because I knew how bad I was going to feel when I woke up.

This is how I lived for a year.  Feeling like a failure at life.  Ineffective for ministry.  Wondering if this was just “getting older.”   I was ready for answers.  I was ready to have my life back.  I had hope.  I know that God can heal.  I myself have experienced a miracle in emotional healing.  I just didn’t know how long my journey with this would be.  Would you like to walk out of the fog with me?