In Part I, Edith Friesen wrote of how her life was flipped upside down after being diagnosed with Lupus. Here is Part II of her compelling story.
The diagnosis was hardest on my parents. How could their baby girl be sick? How was it possible for me to have a disease my family had never even heard of? Why was this happening? I had to switch from full-time work to part-time, and God blessed me with a manager who works with me and has never once complained about my many requests for schedule changes.
Now I am 18 and will head off to college in the fall. My heart is in music and writing, but I will also try to get my Medical Office Assistant certificate.
So what has Lupus taught me? I guess there is no better time to write about what I’ve learned than right now, because today I had my first breakdown. Today was the first time I cried and the first time I questioned God about the diagnosis. I guess that is one thing I’ve learned: it’s OK to cry. I don’t have to be so tough all the time. In Ecclesiastes it says there is a time for everything.
But I’ve also learned that God makes no mistakes. I’ve learned that he always gives me strength for the moment, and he always provides. He has taught me to view Lupus as a challenge and something to glorify him with. It is something I work through, not around.
See, it is easy to give up when we go through struggles. It is tempting to view difficult times as obstacles, rather than challenges. Oftentimes we allow things like disease to completely stop us.
Today I challenge you with the same challenge I received shortly after my diagnosis: live in the light of eternity. The thing is, the bodies we have now are temporary. The lives we live now are temporary. Don’t allow yourself to live as though this is your permanent state. You won’t always be sick. As a matter of fact, you will only be sick for the blink of an eye, which is the length of our life here on earth when compared to the lives we will live in all eternity. So what are you going to do with it? Are you going to let a disease stop you? Maybe all you can do is lie in bed and pray. Then pray. Pray like you’ve never prayed before. Re-evaluate your life, your attitude, your motives and your relationship with God. It is hard. But know that you are never alone, and that life is simply the dress rehearsal for the main production: heaven.
Having said that, I’d like to pray a quick prayer for you.
Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for every single person reading this. Thank you for being with them and for knowing exactly what they are going through. I pray that you will give them strength and encourage them. Bring people into their lives that will understand and lift them up. And may their focus never be shifted off of you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
By Edith Friesen
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