In the Chaos.... and In the Calm

Sometimes life is more than complicated- it's staggering . It's tangled and muddled, raveled into a turbulent mire. Caregivers can find themselves deluged as special needs or medical issues bring much more than we can handle. Beth Moore writes : "I am so glad God did not limit his Holy Writ to high and lofty subjects. " No, he gets down and dirty with the best of us, reaching for us in the midst of the messiest, most desperate times. " So that we don't lose heart or hope, He graciously made sure we'd know... abnormal is more normal than normal ." (Believing God: Week 4, Day 5)  Still, there are secret shames that haunt our paths. Pressures and broken places, shards littering the path to greater wellness. Some of the stumbling places are losses or wounds. Others are diagnoses. The ones we don't talk about. The ones that come with a stigma. Diabetes is generally accepted, but what of depression or anxiety? When families flounder through menta...

It was one of those days. One of those weeks, really. One of those homeschooling, lucky-if-I-get-five-minutes-to-myself-between-doctor-visits kinds of weeks. Busy is an understatement. That evening my youngest had a school event where I'd see friends and neighbors and I was feeling thrown together, and not really keen on the world seeing me in this condition.  I have one child in public school and am homeschooling the other. Both have some specific medical issues requiring this tactic. This leads to an interesting, and mostly manageable dynamic, but leaves little time for self care-- and a great need for recovery. All week I'd been grabbing lightening quick showers... but it was beyond hair washing day, ya'll. Way beyond. My ultra-fine-straight-as-a-board hair needed more TLC than I had time to give. My focus had been on basic hygiene: soap, deodorant, and toothpaste. (I've postponed more than one hot date with the curlers this month.)  I'd also had the drea...