Chronic Jesus Freak

In our world of cell phones, texting, and instant communication, the idea, and familiar tone, of a busy signal is becoming a distant memory; however, do you ever feel as though God's phone line must be busy whenever you try to reach Him? I have been wrestling with this idea a lot lately. When I was younger, I remember having the concept of prayer explained to me like calling God on the phone and talking to Him. I am not opposed to this analogy of prayer as a conversation with God, but I am not sure the phone metaphor is working for me. This topic has been on my mind in the last few weeks, and in a moment (or actually, many moments) of frustration last night at my bible study, I asked, "does anyone else feel like the line must have been busy when you prayed to God?". I expressed this thought in frustration, anger, and a sense of overwhelm at the struggles that I, and others, have faced, and continue to face, in life. My thought process was that if God loves us, wants to ...

Today, everyone is looking for ways to make life easier and more efficient. When navigating life with chronic illness, these tips can make or break your day. Some of the life hacks I have discovered have meant the difference between accomplishing my to-do list and falling asleep the minute I get home from work or having excruciating symptoms all day.  I want to share just a few of my favorite "life hacks" that help me the most with my day to day life with chronic illnesses.  These helpful tips and hacks help with everything from work, cleaning, cooking, and just feeling "normal".  Shannon's Top 5 Chronic Illness Life Hacks: 1. Nuun hydration tabs! These are my all-time favorite. These are high-salt, electrolyte tabs that come in several great flavors (strawberry lemonade is my favorite), dissolve in water, and help me stay hydrated. I also keep the tabs, which come in an awesome container that fits in a purse, car, or pocket, and in the event of ba...

God is there!  No hot water for a shower this morning. First day back with students from break. My service dog took forever to use the bathroom on his walk. I spilled my coffee in my car. The internet and phone were not working at work... AND ALL THIS BEFORE 8AM! When all goes wrong, and it will, I have had to learn that God is there and that if I just hang in, keep my cool, and say a prayer- I can get through it. I may not be happy about it, in fact I was not happy at all this morning, and that is okay. God does not ask me to be happy, He simply asks me to surrender. So when all was going wrong this morning, I took a deep breath (after nearly hyperventilating in stress), closed by eyes for a moment and said, "Lord, please step in right now". In a perfect world, that would have solved all the mayhem from the morning, but this is not a perfect world, and it didn't. What it did do for me though was give me pause, a pause to breathe, think, and then decide how to proceed...

As a teacher, I am all about learning new things- after all, it is part of my job! While I have been in many, many classrooms with wonderful teachers and professors (even some graduate neuroscience classes), some of the most important lessons in my life though did not come from a classroom. Some of the most important lessons I have learned came from being diagnosed with several chronic illnesses. Prior to being diagnosed, I was an athlete, and this was a primary way I defined myself and created my identity. I was a softball player and a competitive runner. My life revolved around these sports! Running and being competitive made me feel powerful, successful, and focused. These aspects of my life came to a crashing halt when I started experiencing debilitating migraines, seizures, and other unexplained symptoms. I found myself too sick to run or compete in sports anymore. At first (and admittedly, still at times), I was devastated and felt I was without a purpose. I did not know how...

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my Chronic Jesus Freak blog. I am excited to share this new adventure with all of you.  It seems only fitting that the first post to the blog is an "About Me" post, so with that said, here is a bit of my story. I am 27 years old, and I live my life in the company of several life-altering, chronic illnesses. I have been diagnosed with POTS, Epilepsy, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Migraines. In short this means that I am dizzy or pass out a lot, have seizures, and live with chronic pain on a daily basis.  Due to the limitations these illnesses have imposed on my life, I have a wonderful Service Dog (Ronnie) who is trained to mitigate the challenges I face in my daily life from multiple symptoms. I also have learned a lot of "Life Hacks" which help in the day to day as well, and I want to share those with you all as well. View the Chronic Illness FAQ page to learn more about these chronic illnesses.  More importantly in this about me s...