The Miracle of Today!

God reminded me today of how far I have come this year. For those of you who don’t know, four years ago I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. It is called Myasthenia Gravis and affects my muscles and weakens them. It is not life-threatening necessarily, but life altering. When I first got sick I was bedridden for three months. Since it made my muscles weak; I had trouble walking, talking, swallowing food, lifting my arms, seeing and even smiling. It was very difficult for awhile especially with two young boys ages 4 and 5. My husband was amazing taking care of me and the boys in the midst of it all. After awhile the doctor got it under control with medicine and it became manageable. It seemed to go into a remission of sorts until last year.

In the last year, the disease flared up violently and nothing seemed to work to get it under control. We changed and adjusted medicines, we even did special treatments to boost my immune system yet I only grew worse. At the beginning of this year, I felt as if I was at deaths door. I continued to lose weight drastically as all my previous symptoms came back. I felt as though each day I was walking backwards instead of forwards. Life seemed to grow difficult and weary day by day. I felt as though I was at the end of my rope and there was no hope except for God and His touch to save me.

 A few months later, I got a new doctor and he told me and I believe it was God speaking through him saying “your life is about to change and it’s going to get better”. From then on I’ve only grown better and in a weeks time I felt better than I had for the whole previous year. I’m still on the mend, but so thankful for God’s amazing touch!

Today as I reflected on God’s miracle a few things came to mind that I’m thankful for:

~I can talk (my voice was practically a whisper for the first three months of this year)
~I can walk with out wearing out
~I can do things without getting worn down (I could only do one big event a week ie: church, grocery store, visiting friends etc… or it would wipe me out)
~I can see clearly (I had double vision for 3 months of this year)
~I can drive a car
~I can eat what I want to
~I am strong enough to stand at church on Sundays and...
~I am able to teach a Sunday School Class…. AMAZING!

Sometimes I forget how far God has brought me until someone who saw me at my darkest hour comes up to me and reminds me of the miracle of today. My life is a living reminder of God’s faithfulness! It has changed my perspective and helps me to try to be more purposeful about each day and how I spend it.

My theme verse for when I was sick was Philippians 4:13. It meant a lot to me because without God’s strength in my spirit and BODY, I could literally no nothing.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

What would you do if some unforeseen circumstances messed up the plan you had for your life? What would really become important to you at that moment? Would it be work, dishes, laundry, the perfect car, the ideal home, or a full bank account?

James 4:14 says...

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone." (NLT)

You have a chance today to choose to value what should important to you now…

Who will you show love to today?
Who will you speak kind words to today?

Don’t with hold anything you may regret tomorrow if the opportunity is lost. Live today with no regrets! We aren’t promised tomorrow so make the most of your today!

Living to leave a legacy!
Julie