Hi everyone!
If you have ever taken a look over at my sidebar, you might have noticed a link for a yahoo group, HomeSweetKids. I started this group a few years back, after one of my children was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. HomeSweetKids is a small group of ladies who pray for each other and for our kids, and also hopefully offer encouragement to one another because of what we have in common. You will never understand what kinds of ups and downs a family with diabetes has to deal with, literally "highs and lows," unless you are dealing with it.
Unless you have walked a mile in our shoes, you can't imagine.
Several of the ladies in our group also have children with the added problem of celiac disease. Talk about adding insult to injury! The combination of these two diseases is more than I could bear.......but I know several Mothers who are walking this difficult and lonely walk.
We share prayers and knowledge, experience and grief. We share hope and dispair. And we all share in the knowledge that without the Lord, this would be unbearable. As hard as it is WITH the Lord, I can't imagine trying to make it through a day without Him.
This last week one of our members shared some research on a "new" technology of glucose-monitoring contact lenses. There seems to always be something new on the horizon to hopefully help those who deal with diabetes on a minute by minute basis, to make things a bit easier. Someone is always seeking a way to take the sting out, the unpredictability out, to make life seem "normal" again. There are people always seeking the CURE. We have seen some advances in pancreatic transplants, research into inhaled insulin, patches, new pump technology, and continuous glucose monitoring. All of it is invasive, but invasive is what diabetes is.
Part of this blog is a recent post to our group. I hope this might give you some things to ponder, and help you to understand a little more of what people with diabetes go through.
And I pray, dear friend, that you never have to deal with this on a personal level.
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"It is amazing what medical technology can do for us! Even aside from being thankful for the medical care we received when our child was diagnosed, we would have never made it this far--my first two kids were c-sections! First born being an emergency, and well, we praised God for the surgery even though it definitely wasn't our first choice! We wouldn't be a family today without those modern miracles.
I have been thinking about you all so much lately. We have had many up and down days with this diabetes journey we are on. We learn new things every day, and some of them are not pleasant! We have discovered lately that the "signs" and behaviors due to lows and highs are not always consistent. It is always a new guessing game we have to play. God in His mercy, helps us to deal with each new twist and turn in the road.
There are days when we "coast" and there are days when we wish we could just bail out. If it wasn't for friends who understand, we would certainly be in a sorry boat! I thank God for each one of you, and I also grieve for our circumstances. Perspective, perspective, perspective! I don't want to look at someone else who is in worse shape, and be thankful, but sometimes we do that. And we must do that in reverse. Look at how good we have it......and be thankful. It is definitely a good month to focus on giving thanks in all things!
We are coming up to another crazy holiday season, where the food choices are going to be tough on us. Family gatherings abound, and many times our extended families just don't get it when it comes to what to feed our children with either diabetes, or celiac disease. I have a dear friend who always gives us many sweet treats she makes.....sure, they are lovely, but we try so hard to stick to the program. A little sugar is OK, but we have to keep the temptations at a minimum. Especially since Mom herself has no willpower!
How do you tell your family and friends "no thank-you?" It sounds easy, but there are always those dynamics in every family situation that rear their ugly heads. Do we retreat and live in a bubble? No. Do we announce it to the world? No, especially not in front of our children. You can do more damage to the certain children who have these diseases, by making public announcements. I have found that out the hard way. It has to be a prayerful "need to know" basis when discussing your child's diabetes. They just want to be "normal kids." I know, normal kids have diabetes, but not all kids have it. I discovered too late that my son doesn't want everyone to know he has diabetes, not everyone needs to see his pump, and he doesn't want to have only friends with diabetes! *
We have been blessed with a few fantastic families for support, who DO have this same thing in common. It can be good. But we need to not put them in a box. We don't want to be in one either, do we? Reach out to others, who aren't necessarily in your same family, neighborhood, church, social group or what have you. Jesus is our example, and He talked to anyone!
I am so thankful for each Mom who has come here to get support and encouragement. My heart is with yours, and I know that the Lord also weeps for us, and with us. But He also is our strength, our resolve, our tenderness in understanding the emotional turmoil this can put our kids in. I recently read an article about how anger is an outgrowth of depression. If your kids show anger, it is because they don't know how to explain how they are feeling, and it comes out in all the wrong ways. Depression is common in kids with diabetes. And I know Mom's are not immune to that also. Let's keep lifting one another up to the Lord, make it your mission to pray for one another!
Since since it is getting so close to the Thanksgiving Holiday, I propose that we should all try to post one verse that means something special to us. What gem (or gems) out of God's Word speaks volumes to you? What can you share with us that might give us some strength and encouragement today?
I would like to start us out with this one:
Romans: 8:17-18, 26, 28
For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
(26, 28) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but he Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
I shouldn't even stop there. All these things are happening in our lives, and the lives of our children for that one purpose, to be conformed to the likeness of His son, Jesus Christ. That is the highest goal, and one we can never reach in our own power. Our trials, and how we react to them, are what make us, or break us."
God Bless you all!
Nancy
HomeSweetKids
©Nancy K. Baetz Homeschooling Is Life! 2006 | 
