Get Your Rain Boots and Umbrella! It’s THAT Kind of Day – Charlaine Martin

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Adventures with Chronic Illness

I have to say that not all of the adventures I’ve had with God are ones I would have chosen. Today is one of those days. Actually, this week has been THAT kind of a week, if you know what I mean. It’s a rainy, chilly summer day and I’m lazing in bed in the middle of the afternoon. I’ve got so much to do and can’t muster the energy to get even one thing done. We are trying to finish our house and pack to move our belongings into home sweet home, but it’s been a challenge. Only one day this week have I really ventured out very far. When I went out in my car that day, I almost rear-ended a truck in front of me. My blood pressure has been extremely low again after a long remission with fibro and MCVD. Not only have I felt faint-y causing a grayish haze in my vision, but my legs have been painfully fatigued when going upstairs with my feet saying, “Ditto,” as if bruised, but not really. My tendons have been sensitive, feeling too short and stiff to flex and point my feet. At first, when getting out of bed, I felt like a doll whose feet are fixed flat-footed, in a standing position. Middle of the night potty trips tested me, to say the least. Maybe I just need my rain boots and umbrella.

My health-related adventure began in 2002 while working in a YMCA, but this latter leg of the adventure started three or four years ago. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia back then. The first three years, I winced along in life. God enabled me to eventually do what many people with fibro would faint to think of doing like teaching water aerobics and swimming, doing personal training, and working out with kettlebells. I consider it a God-incidence. But even when it is raining pain and fatigue now, I have to remember that anything I can do now is a God-incidence. There is nothing I can do on my own but totally rely on God to do everything, whether sick or well.

Read: Acts 27

Focus Verse: Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Paul was a prisoner on a ship sailing to Italy with some of his companions and the guards entrusted to deliver them to their destination. Paul trusted God and His Word, regardless of the storm they faced. He told the centurion not to sail to Crete, but he listened to the ship’s captain rather than God’s man. Of course, they suffered significant loss because they worried about the storm using human wisdom rather than God’s. When they realized that Paul was right, they finally began to follow his advice, which came from God. They cut the ropes to the lifeboats that would have led to certain death weathering the storm and running aground. Keep in mind that Paul had suffered beatings, stonings, and more. His own health was not ideal. The landing was not smooth, but it was safe because they followed God’s lead. When we stop worrying about the tempest leaving it up to God, He will always take care of what concerns us. It may not always be as smooth as we would like.

I decided I should check my garden full of new plants and seedlings, even though the weather front brought with it rain outside in my garden and inside my painfully exhausted body. I put on my polka dot boots and grabbed my umbrella along with my shed key. It felt extra cold with the brisk, rainy breeze. Yuck! Only a day for ducks, I muttered. “Chip-chip-chirp!” I heard from the roof of our house. Indeed, that was not a duck, rather a robin whose nest was nestled in the nook of our downspout sheltered by the overhang. Tiny beaks opened begging for worms and bugs to fill their hungry bellies, unconcerned with the rain.

“Chip, chip, chip to you, Chippie!” I answered back. “How’s the family today?” I trudged through the wet grass to check everything out. Feeling mentally hazy already, I quickly finished making sure everything was growing well. It was then I realized that rain in our lives will always come. Do I have my rain boots of faith and the umbrella of God’s peace?

Do you have yours? You know, our boots of faith and umbrella of God’s peace are able to carry us through the storms we experience. Chippie was in the rain singing her heart out, and so are many others. Some will see it as a light sprinkle while others will see it as a storm. God has provided what we need, even when we feel like crawling back in bed where it is dry and warm, praying for a better day. When we trust God in the midst of our rainy storms, He calms our minds and hearts. Frustrated anxiety melts away, and we go faithfully where He leads.