Little Friends

Adelaide is my special little friend.  She is happy and affectionate, and she loves to be with me. She doesn’t understand yet that I am sick. I’m just her mommy, and she loves me.

Adelaide’s new favorite thing to do with me is come snuggle in bed.  She likes to talk to me about anything that comes to mind.  She likes my fuzzy blanket and soft mattress. She likes to snuggle down under the covers and pretend to take a nap with me.  She thinks it’s a game. Little does she know, I am in bed because I have to be. I sometimes play with her here because I don’t have the option of playing with her in the living room.

There are many times that I am too weak and tired to let Adelaide come into the bedroom to say hello to me while I am resting. When Will comes in to bring me food or to check on me, I hear Adelaide at the door, begging to come in. It breaks my heart when I hear her crying out, “Mommy!” I can tell by the sound of her voice that tears are pouring down her face. She just wants to be with me, and she doesn’t understand that I’m too sick to play.

It won’t be much longer, and she will start to understand.  I very clearly remember a conversation with William when he was 2 ½ years old.  I was stuck in bed, and Will brought William in to see me.  My son asked me, “Fell well, Mommy?” in a sad voice while shaking his head no.  (Translation: “Do you not feel well, Mommy?”)

I said, “No, I don’t feel well.”

William asked his daddy, “Feel well, Daddy?” in a happy voice while shaking his head yes. (Translation: “Do you feel well, Daddy?”)

Will said, “Yes, I feel well.”

I asked William how he felt, and he replied with a big smile, “I happy. So happy!”

William was young when he began to notice that I was sick and tired when no one else was.  He liked to snuggle me in bed and just be with me (and he still does, which makes me happy).

Now I also have Adelaide to come and be my little snuggle bug.  She likes to join me not only in my bed but also in my recliner.  Quite often now if I am resting in my recliner, Adelaide will climb up with me and just play on my lap.  I absolutely love having her with me.  I know it won’t be much longer and she’ll be too big and heavy to sit on my lap and play for half an hour, so I’m soaking it all up now!

My homebound days are made much easier by these precious children.  They provide endless entertainment, smiles, hugs, and kisses.  I thank the Lord for the blessing of these little friends.

Bad Day Turned Happy Day

I'm so blessed to have these three in my life.

A couple of weeks ago I had a particularly bad day physically.  I was weak and exhausted and needed to stay in bed all day.  Bedridden days certainly aren’t my favorite, but my family worked to make it a happy day for me anyway.

I woke up around 11:30am, and soon after that Adelaide wanted to come in for a visit.  I said that she could.  She snuggled me in bed, we talked, and we put on chapstick (one of Adelaide’s favorite things to do when she comes into my room).  After a few minutes I was too tired to keep visiting, so I told her that I was going to need to rest again soon.  Without any prompting, Adelaide sang her favorite lullaby to me and quietly left and closed the bedroom door.  What a special gift she gave me as she took care of me in the way she knew best.

In the afternoon William asked to come in and snuggle me.  I was glad to have him come in and keep me company.  And snuggling?  How could I turn that down?  He won’t be young much longer, so I want to soak up as many snuggles as I can.  Snuggling quickly turned into pulling out my laptop and looking at all the cool frogs and bugs to buy on insectlore.com.  And that quickly turned into watching YouTube videos about Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, tarantulas, and other such nasty things.  It grossed me out, but I learned a lot, and I got to spend quality time with my boy.  It was totally worth it.

Will took care of me all day by cooking delicious food, taking care of the children, doing laundry, and coming to check on me throughout the day.  He also spent time with me in the evening after the children were in bed.

Will, William, and Adelaide turned a stuck-in-bed day into a happy day.  I am so very blessed to have a loving husband and caring children.

A Hope that Is Sure

New Normal has been hard to get used to. It was months before I even wrote on my blog about New Normal because I kept hoping that my health would still improve some, but it never did. Then a few weeks after I wrote New Normal I actually had a good week! I had more good days in a row than I had had in a long time. For a week I didn’t feel like I was constantly on my last drop of energy or finishing up the last lap in a long race. Resting in bed was comfortable again.  My muscles didn’t burn and ache when I used them. My legs felt like they could hold me up.

I enjoyed the good week playing with my children, spending time with my husband, visiting with others, and feeling better than I had in months. I hoped that I was improving again. I hoped that New Normal would change. I hoped that I could begin to do more on a regular basis. I hoped that some minor tweaks in medications and supplements would help me to continue to see those improvements. I hoped that God was giving me a little more energy again.

However, the changes haven’t been permanent. They were only some good days, now followed again by what is indeed New Normal. It is easier to have bad days when all days are bad days, but when I get a taste of a little bit of energy again? That’s when the bad days and normal days become much harder to take.

On good days it is easy to hope for more. It is easy to hope that I will always have that much energy, but then the normal days and bad days come again. My energy leaves me. I eat healthy food, but my muscles still feel like they have no energy. I get adequate sleep, but still feel sleepy all day long. I have to lie in bed, and I miss my family. The hope of better days is taken away.

But my true hope has not been taken away, and it never can be.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 

      “For your sake we face death all day long;   

      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39, NIV).

My hope is sure. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NIV).

What earthly hopes do you have that have been taken away? I encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus. Accept Him as your Savior and follow Him. Jesus offers hope that can never be taken away.

Photo Credit: K.Hurley

Cranberry Tea

One of my favorite drinks is cranberry tea. My friend, Dorina, and I used to make this together when I lived in Alaska. We would pick a gallon or two of wild low bush cranberries every fall.  We then froze the cranberries and used them throughout the year to make Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies and a lots of Cranberry Tea.

The girls in the dorm would often get together and drink cranberry tea. It was our girl time, our time to talk about anything and everything. It was our Cranberry Tea Time.

My Cranberry Tea Time has now expanded to include many in-real-life friends as well as internet friends. You are my Cranberry Tea Time friends! I wish I could have you all over for Cranberry Tea, but for now a recipe will have to do. You can make Cranberry Tea at home and join me virtually for teatime. :)

Cranberry Tea

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries                           

4 cups water

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup honey or sugar (more or less to taste)

Put cranberries, water, and cinnamon sticks in a large pot. Boil uncovered for 20-30 minutes. After all of the cranberries have burst, pour the juice through a strainer and into a new pot.  If desired, also strain through a cheese cloth to remove the fine pulp.

Put juice back into pot and boil for about 5 more minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add honey or sugar and mix well.

You now have cranberry juice concentrate.  This can be stored in the refrigerator or canned for later use.

To serve: Boil water and pour into teacups or mugs.  Add cranberry juice concentrate to taste (about 3/4 hot water and 1/4 cranberry juice concentrate).


I'm linking this post up with Raising Homemakers and Women Living Well.

Thank You, Friends!

Thank you, sweet friends, for all of the comments that you left for me for National Delurking Day! Your words were like a bright and cheery bouquet, and they put a smile on my face all weekend long. I loved hearing from all of you, both new friends and old friends.

I enjoyed learning more about you, where you are from, and what you like. I appreciated reading stories of how you found me and why you keep on reading here. I had no idea that several people with dysautonomia and other chronic illnesses were reading my blog regularly. It was such a blessing to me to know that you have been encouraged here and that you feel less alone with your illness now. Even though we are spread out all across the world, we don't have to be alone in our illness. It's so neat that the internet can connect us so that we can walk this road together.

You all have truly blessed me with your kind messages. I appreciate your friendship, prayers, comments, and support. Thank you, Cranberry Tea Time friends!

National Delurking Day

Hello Friends,

I just found out that it is National Delurking Day!  It's a day to stop lurking on the blogs you read, and leave comments.  Come on out of the shadows!

I would love to know more about my readers.  I can tell by my stats that I have a lot more regular readers than my comment box would suggest.  I would love to know who you are and a little bit about you.  If you are a lurker, or even if you are a long time reader and commenter, will you answer some questions for me please?  It would be a wonderful gift to me to get to know you a little better.

I'll even let you just fill in the blanks:

My name is _______________ (you can use just your first name or even a screen name)
I am a ______________ (student, wife, mom, fellow person with dysautonomia, etc.)
I enjoy ______________ and _________________.
My favorite Bible verse or quote is ______________________.

I know it can be awkward to leave a comment on a blog for the first time, but if you are comfortable giving it a try, I invite you to delurk today!  I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Blessings,
Rachel

Gatorade Tea

One of my favorite drinks in the winter is Gatorade Tea.  Because of my POTS and dysautonomia I am supposed to drink Gatorade every day; it helps to keep my blood volume up.  A few years ago I started making Gatorade Tea, which is basically Russian Tea made with Gatorade instead of Tang.  It's a great way to have a hot drink while still consuming the electrolytes I need.  I want to share the recipe for those of you with dysautonomia who may also benefit from this drink in the winter.

Gatorade Tea

2 Cups Gatorade

1 Cup instant black tea

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

Mix ingredients well and store in airtight container.

Put 2-3 heaping spoonsful into a cup of  hot water.  Stir and enjoy.