September 23, 2017

Greetings My Friend,

Now that my blood pressure is under control due to a decrease in medication that was causing the problem, I find when I wake up, I am not sleepy. I am able to move through my morning quiet time in the Word then into checking out what is going on online. For several months now I have been up most mornings by 7:00, mostly earlier which was my dream time to be awake. As I struggled to find a way back to some sort of energy and health I kept asking God to help me wake up at a decent hour, get to sleep at night easier. Several years into this endeavor I am finally seeing my prayer being answered. Sometimes it seems like an answer to prayer seems to be "no" until a long while later I realize it is really "wait." God took me through many steps until I reached this plateau and now I am enjoying the fruits of trusting and obeying God through the process. When I visited my doctor recently she was pleased with the amount of exercise I am able to do in order to keep my Parkinson's symptoms at bay. As we talked I realized the long winding road of recovery I have been on. I have always been a walker, I find it to be a way to settle my thoughts, to exercise and enjoy the beauty around me. When I retired I had gotten to the point my usual walking routine was declining, I needed to take a nap instead of walking on my lunch hour. When we moved to Virginia, we had to walk down the road to get our mail and even that wore me out. The decision to walk or clean house was difficult....some days I could do neither. Nine years later, I have a diagnosis of Parkinson's, my doctor and I (with God's guidance) has helped me to discover other health issues such as GERDS, Asthma, gait issues and PD. With my health issues brought under control I am now able to sleep decently at night. The road has been long and winding with a few detours like being diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, apparently this is not a major problem in my life since MRI's have not been showing CM like was discovered when I blacked out rolled down a hill and broke my 1 vertebrae. I have learned to quiet myself down, to hear God's directions and today I feel fairly good compared to those days. I still wear out fairly easily although I am learning to manage my fatigue like taking an afternoon nap which gives me the energy to tackle more things including exercising. I would not be where I am today on my own, even with my doctor's help without God's guidance. He showed me how to get back into the housework routine, build from there with me adding in doing dishes again in the last month. It seems like I had to start from scratch relearning to do old things in new ways. When I retired I wanted to clean house in a few hours then go about life working part time, volunteering even traveling and doing short term mission trips. God had other plans for me so He allowed me to fall apart so He could remake me in the way He wanted me to do the work I do today, writing, being a friend to many online and even learning to pray more for others. Part of my prayers of late are for those I see on my news feed on Facebook etc. At the end of the day I admit I love where God has placed me, teaching me to do the work He had in mind for me. Junior and I have learned to slow down, to love the simple life. It is a wonderful life in a wonderful part of Virginia. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet