What does Jesus say to a D-Mom?

Most of the time I hear from others, and feel myself,  2 things from living with diabetes: 


#1 exhaustion 
#2 weariness ..... that it is NEVER ENDING and 24/7 and the learning curve never goes away because things are always changing.


Would you say that about sums it up? 


Sure, there are other serious issues too- but all of the other issues, like bad lows, persistent highs, people not understanding, sites failing, all of these tend to add to the 2 big never ending issues: 


exhaustion
weariness


So, I was thinking about this the other night as I got up for the third round of 30 minute intervals to see if we had conquered the darn low... 


and I thought...


exhaustion and weariness....


What does Jesus say about that?


He says:


'Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.'


Jesus knows all about how hard life can be. 


He does not say- ''Hey, whats wrong with you people? Why are you so exhausted and burdened? Why don't you just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get it together? "


No-


Jesus even knows exactly how tired and burdened I personally am- and for anyone reading this- 


He knows your exact burdens too.


He knows and remembers how many times you got up last night.


He knows about sending your child to school , wondering if they will remember to use their cell phone.


He knows about all the extra work with carb counting... I'm guessing that if Jesus knows every hair on your head, He also knows exactly how many grams of carbs you eat! every time.


He knows about every time you wake up on your own and try to decide if you should just go do an extra check since you are awake anyway.


He knows how your heart feels when your child's eyes meet yours in a situation where diabetes is getting in the way. 


Jesus knows how you feel each and every morning when you look in your child's bedroom to see if they are OK.


And He knows, He cares, that we do this EVERY SINGLE DAY.


And He offers a solution- really, there IS a solution! 


He says:


Come to ME! 
All you D-Moms that are tired from being up at night  and heavy-laden with the responsibility of being your child's pancreas, come to Me,


and


I will give you rest.


It is that simple, and that profound at the same time.


I know that I need to be reminded of it over and over.


Rest = peace, calm, being still. and Jesus gives it.


How? How do I find this rest when I have all of these worries swirling around in my head? And they are not false worries about things that will never happen! This stuff is real! These numbers are bad and this is not the flu or even cancer... it is never going to go away! How do I find rest in THIS???!!


Ever been there?


Well, Jesus' next words tell me how-


Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, 
for I am gentle and humble in heart.


A yoke is a farm tool that an animal wears, usually an ox, when it is plowing the field. The yoke usually holds 2 animals and they have to work together in tandem, making the same moves, in order to plow the field.


Taking Jesus' yoke means getting in the yoke with Him, it is His yoke, so He is the lead 'animal,' and we-


we are to follow
to submit


to plow whatever field we find ourselves in (like the living with diabetes field)


the way Jesus would do it
surrendered to Him, AND in the strength of His Spirit


Here is an interesting fact: 


An animal that resists the yoke develops blisters 
and the  yoke becomes painful.


But when the animal willingly submits:
the yoke doesn't hurt.


Having a child with diabetes is a very hard thing to accept willingly. 


But until I accept it, that yoke is going to hurt.


Once I get up from just being a heap of despair on the ground and say, 'OK, Lord, lets do this'


then, the healing can begin. Then God can even work through me to bless my child, to bless others, to give me joy and abundant life.


Sure there are days I stumble on a stone  in the field and I'm just a little heap again.


But Jesus is so gentle- He has the same words for me every time:


Come to Me, (again!) all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.


Our physical bodies may still be worn out and need a good nap- but our souls- deep down -can truly find rest and peace in Jesus.  Life can be crazy and hard work, but we know it will all be OK.  We know Who is in control. When we submit to His Holy Spirit within us, we are able to endure and continue in His strength, His hope, His faithfulness, His joy.


This may sound cliche to some... but it is really true. 


There are so many things in life that we have to put in God's hands, trust Him. 
A child with diabetes is one of the harder ones, one of the more daily ones... but it is still the same answer...


Anyone feeling  weary and heavy-laden? 
 Come to Jesus!


I could NOT do it without Him!


Matthew 11: 28-30

What do these 2 things have in common? Diabetes and Homeschool

If you homeschool- have you ever noticed that diabetes and homeschooling have quite a few things in common?

I was contemplating this the other day and surprised myself by how many things really are similar.


#1 People ask the same exact questions all the time:

'What about socialization?"

"Is she on a special diet?"


#2    I have 3 or 4 versions of my answer- and I use the exact same words each time!
I feel like I have a 'we homeschool' track and also a 'she has diabetes' track.

When my kids hear someone ask me one of these typical questions I can feel them roll their eyes and walk away. They don't want to hear me recite my answers.

I don't know why I always say it the same way... I guess I'm boring. With homeschooling, my girls joke that they can and have given 'my speeches' for me, down to the curriculum I usually recommend. They have role played this for me and it was pretty funny... but I digress... diabetes is the same-

I have my short version response: 'She has diabetes. She's fine.' (I know she isn't 'fine, but this is my 'I don't really feel like talking to you answer)

Then I have my more usual long answer.

I'm not sure the girls have these memorized yet...

#3 Community

Homeschool Community = very important ! We have been part of a homeschool co-op for 9 years and have such dear friends there. People in the homeschool community are close, we encourage each other, share with each other, learn from each other. We have to seek out community.

Diabetes Community = very important! Need I say more? We have learned so much here with the whole  DOC.

In both cases, community has been a huge part of finding answers and support!

#4 Temptation to compare

This is the one that got me thinking about how homeschooling and living with diabetes are similar. Along with community, there is a temptation to compare myself to others.

In homeschooling, I'm totally familiar with thoughts of comparison and I know how to ward them off.

I'm a little newer to the whole diabetes community and the feelings of inadequacy that catch in my throat from comparing took me by surprise. The nice thing was the weapons to fight it are the same-

-every family is different
-my child's needs can be different from another child's
-my children have their own individual strengths and weaknesses
-  God chose me to be the Mom to my children, He knows what He is doing!

These truths have helped me combat comparisons in homeschooling and so I pulled them out to squash comparing myself to other D-Moms and families too.


#5  People outside of it tend to 'not get it.' They usually don't know a lot about it or have misinformation.  It makes us sort of.... different, not the norm

I think this is why the community is so important.

And, you know what?
Maybe, for those of us who do homeschool,  maybe God has used  homeschooling to prepare us, in a way, for the challenges we would face in living with diabetes.

Just a thought.

#6 People feel a need to tell you of anyone else they know in the same boat:

'Oh, my sister homeschools, maybe you know her.'

'Oh, my uncle's brother's son has diabetes.'

Both of these situations always make me laugh!

There have got to be more similarities... can you think of any more? 

Diabetes... a little bit of Jesus...

A common theme in our house when we talk about diabetes is how hard it is that other people just don't 'get it.' It truly is one of the most difficult aspects of the disease.

All of the crazy comments people make
The well meaning, but inappropriate advice
The thinking it is 'not a big deal'
Just plain ol misinformation

Well, I got to thinking about it... and how living in the loneliness of no one (outside the DOC) 'getting it,' - it reminded me of Jesus.

Jesus lived His whole life with very few people 'getting it.'
Even His own disciples asked Him 'when will you come into your kingdom?' (they thought a politcal, physical kingdom/rule was imminent. They didn't get it.)

There were many times that  Jesus had to deal with:


All of the crazy comments people make ( why aren't you fasting? why do you heal on the Sabbath, how can I come out of my mother's womb again?)
The well meaning, but inappropriate advice ( should we call down fire on them!?)
Just plain ol misinformation ( thinking he was healing by the power of Beelzebub)

In fact, when I look at all Jesus dealt with as far as being alone and His best friends not even really understanding, being accused of things He didn't do... diabetes starts to pale a little in comparison.

But my main point is this... not only does Jesus know what this feels like- whenever we feel alone or misunderstood, we can know that we are sharing a suffering that Christ suffered.

As Christians, our goal is to be more like Christ, right? And knowing, experiencing, what He experienced is to be more like Him.

So, the next time some one looks at me like I'm are a super over protective weirdo- mom...
because they just don't get it

Or-
the next time someone asks if Jess 'can eat that??"  "Is it on your diet?"

I'm going to say a silent prayer and thank God that He KNOWS and He CARES. And I'll ask Him to fill me once again with His Holy Spirit that I can walk out this journey knowing Him more - in any way that He chooses for me to know Him- suffering and all.

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.


Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
Philippians 3:10-12

Nothing to say... turns out is something after all

So,
I'm sitting here on my second night as a 'blogger,' wondering what I should write... and I've been thinking:
Gee, I have barely thought about diabetes at all today.

I don't think Jess even told me her morning number, and then we rushed off to co-op for the whole day. I did spy her once during play practice casually pull out her pump while she munched on a cookie- but that was about it. We'll still have our usual bedtime conference of: 'how are you doing? So, we need to check later/don't need to check later' decision making....but all day it didn't really cross my mind.
No deep thoughts or quirky vignettes.

And so, I was thinking- 2nd post and I'm a failure at this!

And then it occurred to me-

maybe my NOT thinking about diabetes all day is something to say after all- something to say to all of you Moms that have to think about it all day every day because your children are little.

Someday you won't think about it either. 
You'll have confidence that your teen can handle it. 

Now- I know that means your child will have to do all the work instead of you, and maybe that makes you sad... maybe you are thinking-

'You mean heartless mom! I would never be happy not to think about it and it breaks my heart to think of not being my child's pancreas and I'll never be GLAD when he does it all himself. I would happily do it for the rest of his life!'

But, you know and I know that you can't. For our kids, learning to take care of their diabetes is an important part of growing up- just like learning to drive and getting their first job. Of course, just like other areas of growing up- deciding when they are ready for these responsibilities is different for every parent and every child.

So, because my not thinking about it means that Jess is- I AM happy! Happy that she is responsible and today she took it all in stride. :)

And sure, not every day is like this. But plenty are.

So- stand fast and have hope! Your child WILL learn to do this all herself! And you WILL learn to trust her.  It is going to happen.


Now- teaching them to drive.... that's a whole 'nother story!

So, I hope my 'nothing to report on diabetes' encourages your heart in everything about diabetes.

Joyfully in Jesus,
Susie

Thank you D-Mom Bloggers!

Hello !
My name is Susie and I have just created this blog and my first post will be WHY.

#1 Yes, I have a child with type 1 diabetes and I want a place to chronicle our ups and downs, our life, our joys and sorrows.

#2 Yes, I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and more than anything I want all I say and do to give HIM glory- all the credit for all that is good- and I most definitely want to share how God has shown Himself faithful and present in all the stuff- diabetes and otherwise.

BUT most of all-
#3 I created this blog because..... I have a confession to make. I have been a DOC lurker for a full year. I have been following several D mom blogs for a while- I'm just drawn to them when I'm bored or frustrated or just feel alone. Often I laugh; sometimes I cry.  And every time I read them- I don't feel alone anymore.
You D-Moms don't even know it, but you have been such wonderful friends to me- and to Jess.

I didn't want to start a blog, even though I had those first 2 great reasons. I thought it would take up too much time, I had better things to do.... but I am so grateful for what all of YOU have shared that  now I feel obligated to give back a little... and maybe your example has finally gotten through my thick head that this might be good for me.

OK- so not wanting to risk giving Jessica more material for make fun of my long posts (ie: the diagnosis story) I will end here.

Thank you D-Moms: Sherry, Tracy, Meri, Misty,  and Jennifer ! You have been such an encouragement to me- thank you for blogging!

I will try my best to do this blog thing... I still need a profile and all kinds of things.. but for now- I'm going to bed.

Joyfully in Jesus,
Susie