Health and Diabetes

This is where I will talk about life with type 1 diabetes. 
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June 13, 2012


Well, it's been awhile, but I wanted to update you on a new friend we've made-- all because of diabetes. Last month we finally met our newest little diabetic friend-- 20 month old, newly diagnosed, type 1 diabetic Saul!
Isn't he adorable? 

He is such a sweetie... and such a little boy! That blue "thing" hanging off his back is an insulin pump. He is so cute with his little pump and pacey. 


Through Facebook, I have become fairly close with his mommy, concerning all things diabetes. See, we didn't know each other before her son was diagnosed. My husband had her as a teacher in school, but never in his wildest dreams did he think we would have formed this bond with her and her son. All through FB and text messages, we have discussed the "highs" and "lows" of diabetes. Trying to give one another our input by answering questions  and discussing things like, "What causes blood sugar to spike in the middle of the night?" To, "What kinds of foods do you eat?" To, "Ahh, I hate diabetes!" 
This bond we have formed is very special. And we've only met once!!! But just like the bond I have with my diabetic husband- not everyone can relate to us. Not many people realize that a random high blood sugar in the middle of the night can cause us to get "sick" the next morning. (Yuk, huh?!) Or that some nights are spent lying in bed at 2am eating fruit snacks because you woke up low. See, there really isn't a moment in the day that a diabetic doesn't think about or feel diabetes. Ok, maybe 30 minutes will pass when I'm not thinking (or feeling) diabetes, but really, a diabetic is always aware. So when you find someone else who is also "aware" and is dealing with this same disease that you are quietly and daily dealing with, you become instant friends. A bond is formed.
And because of that bond, that relationship, God proves once again that He is good and that He always provides.


I believe God is good. Through all the hardships, He has never given us something to big that we couldn't handle. I have found that He uses His people, His love, His Word to encourage and He always provides someone or something to help. A quote that comes to mind, and is probably from my mom, encourages me to stay positive, and to look on the bright side and to use my struggles to help someone with the same issues. I can hear her now, "You never know who you're going to help, because there is always someone dealing with something worse than you."

Good perspective, huh?


Perhaps Matt and I have diabetes to help others with this same, silent, minute-by-minute disease? And maybe you have been given your "thorn" not to suffer, but to help someone else as well. We may be encouraging and helping answer some of Courtney's questions now, but one day when Matt and I decide to start a family, (and there is a 10% chance that our child will have diabetes) we may end up calling on Courtney asking her how to take care of a baby with diabetes. You just never know. See, God is Good- He knows what we need, when we need it, and He will always provide. 
So, what is your "thorn"? Have you talked openly about your issues lately? Think about it,  how many of us really tell people are biggest struggles? The issues we suffer from behind closed doors? 


Not many of us, I would guess. 


You go to work (or school, or the grocery store) and maybe you plaster on a smile to make everyone believe you're "okay." But are you? What if, like our friend Courtney, you openly express your burdens to one another who is in a similar situation? What will your life look like if you find a "confidant" that you can learn to trust?


Do you have that? 


Maybe you do in your husband, or your wife and maybe "YOU" are okay. But what about your friend at work? What about the lady down the street who you only see by herself? Have you talked to them? Are THEY okay? If we don't watch out, our world will become small. We will be so centered on ourselves that we forget to see this huge world God has so richly blessed us with. And if we let our worlds become small and consumed with ourselves, we may just end up "doing" life alone because we never truly asked one another how the other is doing. 

God is such a relational being that he wouldn't make us "do" life alone. And even if you are the only one on this planet with some rare illness, you still have HIM. He who says, "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5


Never.  



So maybe we need to start asking... and start listening. Because the problem you are dealing with may be the same problem the lady down the street is also dealing with. God created humans to "desire" a relationship. A relationship that is ultimately with HIM in which only He can fulfill. When you allow Him to fulfill that relationship in your life, He will bring you to people that can help you and encourage you, or that you can help and encourage.


This is community-- living not just for yourself, but for others. 


Freedom is found in Community. 


When you start living first for God and then for each other, His Freedom will be found.
As the word says, 

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment.³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

Matthew 22:36-39

In His Freedom,


Ashley

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April, 2012
I was diagnosed at age 4, and started on my first insulin pump when I was about 12. My husband, Matt, also has type 1 diabetes- coincidence that we ended up together? I think not :) He was diagnosed around age 12 and started his insulin pump when he was 19. ( We use Medtronic) Visit this website for more information: http://www.medtronicdiabetes.net/products?cmpid=mdt_site_products 


We met in college at the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) in 2008, we were engaged just 8 months later, and married just a year later on Fripp Island in July 2010. He is my soul mate. I can not imagine being married to anyone else. Staying healthy and controlling our blood sugars/numbers is our life. When you can share a Chronic disease like diabetes with someone who loves you unconditionally, life just works. Thankful everyday that Matt understands me. Like our vows stated, "through the 'highs' and 'lows' " :)