• Part III: Revelation, Submission, and Healing

    White punctate matter. When you don’t know medical jargon on an MRI report, you screwgle yourself trying to make sense of it. Those tiny white dots that had shown up on my scan were signs of vessel disease that increase my risk for stroke, heart attack, dementia, and depression. Or… it could be a product of chronic migraines. The night of my hospital discharge was my only known experience with such, so I chose to believe what was behind door number one. It made the most sense. I wish I could say that since the start of this health storm, my everyday prayers for healing delivered me into the arms…

  • Part I: Mayday

    My body was not my own. Heart rate spikes, nausea, facial tingling, light-headedness, chest discomfort, limb pain. I tried to figure out every logical cause for these random physical maladies that had struck me on the eve of my entire family skipping town, leaving me with a gloriously quiet house. This particular week was supposed to be a highlight of my summer: space to breathe and recharge. Instead, I found myself crouched on my closet floor, crying from these physical symptoms that were holding me hostage. Not wanting Brent to cancel his trip with the kids to visit family, I dropped them off at the airport the following day and…

  • THE Almond Butter

    This year, I’ve really tried focusing on how I fuel my body. So I don’t blow it and become frustrated, I don’t get rid of everything bad in my diet at once. I simply replace bad things I love gradually with better options. Granted, I’ve never been a peanut butter fanatic, but I did occasionally dip some apple slices (never a huge fan here, either) in some sweet, salty goodness from time to time. I’ve heard of almond butter, but I’ve never tried it. Aside from the high price tag, it just sounded like one of those health things that wasn’t going to taste as good as its cousin. One…