zach n kali

Most of the time I find myself so thankful to be where I'm at. I love being a stay-at-home foster mom and feel so blessed that God has called us to minister in this way. I catch myself watching my little boy when I'm supposed to be doing something else and finding myself so deeply in love. He's not doing anything particularly amazing or meeting any new milestones. He may be looking at his books or lying on his back talking to himself. But I cannot believe how much I love him and how blessed I am to have him in my life. And then there are days like today when I am very aware of how my life turned down this road. Days when I feel trapped in my own home because I lack to strength to go down a flight of stairs. Days when I pray that Baby M won't drop his bottle because bending over hurts so much. Days when I wonder why in the world God decided to use the pain of fibromyalgia to turn my face towards him. His ways are not our ways, that's for sure! Lord, coul...

After years of talking about it, Zach and I finally got to go to Zion National Park last weekend! Anyone who has ever been camping before knows how much planning is involved, and for those of us with a chronic pain disorder, this includes planning as to how you are going to pace yourself and keep your pain levels from increasing. Unfortunately, this did not make my to-do list. We had a fabulous time eating, camping, and hiking with our good friends. But 12 hours in a car, sleeping on the ground, and hours and hours of hiking takes a toll on your body, and for me this resulted in several days of excruciating pain. The hard part is that sometimes the effects aren't immediate and while you think you're fine, you may be in a world of hurt later. After the first day home of sucking it up and letting my pride and can-do attitude stand in the way of asking for help, my wonderful family came around me and gave me a day of rest. Just as important as the actual day of rest, how...