Reflections on the year 2022
Hi, friends, I cannot believe another year is over. As we all say goodbye to 2022, I wanted to share some of this past year’s highs and lows.
One of the biggest blessings is that I didn’t have one single hospitalization, ER visit, mito crash, or surgery in 2022 (my longest streak ever!)—all the glory and praise goes to the Lord, and I am truly grateful. So so thankful. 🥹🥹 His goodness and grace has been so evident this year. I thank God for this long break as hospital stays, ER visits, and the like are such heavy burdens. After working really hard every week with my physical therapist, another “high” is that I don’t have to use my wheelchair when going places sometimes—for example, I can now walk/shop in a grocery store (like Whole Foods) which makes me soo happy!
Some of the lows this year…. I previously posted how I have an eye disorder called Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia (in other words, eye muscle paralysis) associated with my mitochondrial disease. For many years, I slowly lost the ability for my eyeballs to look different directions, but my eyes were always able to look to the right. Well, I suddenly lost that ability which made me really sad.
Having this eye disease puts things in perspective and makes me so thankful that I still have eyesight and can move my neck/head to look around! Another low is that I got diagnosed with chronic intractable migraine with status migrainosus. According to my headache neurologist in Seattle, he noted these daily, severe migraines are due to “mitochondrial disease progression.” They are very disabling, but I’m currently trialing a combination of medications and supplements.
I could keep going on about all the good and bad things that happened in 2022, but it’s much too long to write about!
Each month, I saw and continue to see how God is faithful in the happy AND the hard. It’s easy to trust Him during the fun times…when things are going the way we want it to. But I was reminded this past year that I can also trust Him in the rough/hard times—He has a purpose for my pain. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Maybe you’re thinking, “How do we trust that His promises will come true?” Well, Randy Alcorn sums it up perfectly: “There is always much we can’t understand in life, but the better you know Jesus, the more you realize that He is trustworthy even when things don’t seem to make sense.” What a timely reminder that we all need: His character proves that He is faithful and trustworthy. And that’s what I’m clinging to as we start 2023. I don’t particularly like New Year’s Day because it’s always a little scary for me since I don’t know what’s around the corner or what new trials will come my way… But the Lord does, and I’m so thankful He knows what I can’t see. So, happy new year, friends. In 2023, may we all keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith!
