7 Ideas for Coping with Travel Packing by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Summer is supposed to be a time of fun, right? And of trips and fun travels, correct?  But for those of us with chronic pain or other chronic conditions, planning for a trip  or even thinking about the trip can be stressful!

Lists are the friends of travelers, but for those with autoimmune issues, there is often an extra layer of lists just for medications and for over-the-counter medical stuff and supplements. There may be the five ice packs you bring along for your own inflamed joints and another family member's.  We're currently packing for a combo Camp JRA trip for our son and then later we'll have packing for our trip to Michigan where I have book signings and two library presentations. One thing I love about Pennsylvania's Camp JRA program is 1) they give you a complete list of  often-needed things for kids with juvenile arthritis and 2) your child is not the only one hauling all this stuff.

Deciding to even take a trip requires a lot of prayer. God, do you really want me doing this? Even knowing that I could have a flare up, or another family member could? What if I forget my medications? What if I need health care in a remote location? When you're out of state your insurance works a little differently, too.

For those of us already barely managing to do our daily activities of laundry, cooking, keeping up with bills, and some cleaning -- planning a trip adds an entire extra layer of requirements. There is usually some shopping to do. I mainly shop for groceries, every couple of weeks and that is pretty much it. So today, adding some shopping for cargo shorts added a little extra to our Sunday and, although I hate to admit it, taxed my already low stamina.  If you've never read about the spoons theory and autoimmune disease, here's a link (click here.)

Here are just a few tips I have besides first committing your travel to prayer and to the Lord:
1) Figure out your usual schedule and how often you are "down" from your ailment, on average. Take the "good" days or your best days and count those up and divide by the number of weeks. Let's say you find out you really only have 2 days a week that are "ok" days where you get your list done (for me it is a)laundry, b) meals, c) bills, and d) some kind of cleaning) then estimate how long it will take you to prepare for the trip. Take that time and divide it up over those good days.  You may find out it takes you over a month to have stamina to prepare for a one week trip.
2) IF possible, delegate and also enlist the help of others to help with the work.Sometimes just discussing the list with another adult can help. Be sure that person understands where you are going. For instance, in some rural areas of Michigan, where we often travel, there isn't going to be a Walmart to run to! And even if there is, they may be out of stuff that you didn't bring.
3) Be careful not to add too many activities to that period of time leading up to the travel. IF you do that, then you need to add more weeks to your expected packing time.
4) Personally, I've found it easiest to keep a travel bag of sample sizes ready for personal items. That normally takes me a ton of time to pack, so keeping a personal bag all stocked up saves me a lot of time.
5) If you're going someplace where you're wearing your normal everyday clothes, as you get closer to departure consider packing right from the dryer, instead of putting clothes away. Ask kids and spouse to use some of their less-worn items in the interim before the trip.
6) Don't compare yourself to others. You may need an entire suitcase filled with cold packs, special pillows, TENS unit, etc. and a special pillow.
7) The stuff you use at home to manage your illness often becomes taken for granted. As you get closer to the trip really pay attention to the stuff you use on a daily or even weekly basis.  For instance, I use a memory foam pillow when I sit for very long, so that has to come with me. Also, don't forget to pack medications that are only for your "worst" days, just in case.

GIVEAWAY: What about you? What do you need to pack for your vacation that you can't do without?

I'm VERY excited about the paperbacks of my new release Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter coming out on July 1st and I'll be packing a box to take up to my book signings!!! Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy!

Tracy Cooke Wainwright - Testimony of Overcoming

Tracy Cooke Wainwright

We all have challenges. There are certainly times in life when those challenges seem overwhelming. Looking back on the many I've faced, it's interesting how clearly God's hand is revealed.

When considering what to write about, the whole gamut ran through my mind. The eighteen month time period my parents got divorced, moved out of state separately, I graduated high school, started college, and then ran out of money, lost my place to live, got dumped by my fiancé, and couldn't find a job. Then there are the many times I've dealt with depression. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 31. Then there's my current situation: my family of six is living in the upstairs of my in-laws house.

As you can see, there are many trials I've experienced and been brought through by the grace of the Lord. However, the issue that surfaced and I feel led to share about is my chronic back pain.

I remember lower back pain as early as 16. I remember people always telling me I was too young for back pain. I generally replied that I wished they'd tell my back that. My father and I nailed down the initiating incident to when I hyperextended my knee about age 13. As the years continued, a handful of minor traffic accidents seemed to contribute to my discomfort. Then, when my children were little I pulled my back out for the first time. A couple years later, I did it again. And in December 2012 I pulled it out a third time. This is the one that really knocked me down.

I had some speaking commitments the week after. Plus, it happened three weeks before Christmas. That I had a busy schedule would be an understatement. (You know how that time of year can get!) It was the week before Christmas my mom and sister showed up and took over. This meant I was able to do what I should have been doing since day one - staying off my feet. The bigger problem was sitting didn't work. I had to lay down. All the time.

I struggled with both the pain and being basically incapacitated. I watched about as much Netflix as I could stand and still had lots of recovering to do. One day I randomly did a search for Galatians on YouTube. I came across some well-known believers reading the whole book at a conference. It was a blessing! Especially since it led me to listening to two new preachers I didn't know about before. 

I didn't want to be flat on my back the weeks before and week after Christmas. I'm not good at doing nothing. However, God used (and I'm thinking maybe even brought me to that place on purpose) that time to speak some powerful things into my life. It started a journey of digging even deeper into scripture. It proceeded some of the deepest growth in my relationship with the Lord that I've ever experienced.

I've never completely recovered. I still deal with back pain almost every day. While I never would have wished it, and would be very grateful for complete healing, God has used it to teach me more about Him. And He's used it to help my ability to have compassion on others. 

Hmm. So He's used my injuries and discomfort to teach me to love Him and others better.

In His grace and mercy, He not only upheld His promises and has been with me every step of my pain, but He's also used it to bless me. I'm so grateful I've learned not to dwell on what I don't want to deal with, but instead focus on what He's doing through my circumstances! God has truly used this and other situations to transform my thinking to be more intentional about focusing on Him regardless of what's going on in life.

About Tracy: Tracy Wainwright is a wife, mother of four, women’s ministry team leader, women’s conference director, speaker, and multi-published author. She loves sharing the lessons God teaches her with other women through Bible study, over coffee, at women’s events, and in her books. She’s written fiction, nonfiction, adult, young adult, and children’s books. Her latest book, A Transformed Mind: Changing Your Thoughts to Change Your Life, is the first of a twelve part series.

Giveaway: One of our commenters will receive an ebook copy of the first part of Tracy's new series.

Overcoming in the Desert Seasons by Tamera Alexander

Author Tamera Alexander

Overcoming in the Desert Seasons

by Tamera Alexander

Do you like deserts? Not desserts, mind you, those are much easier to love. But deserts. Specifically, the desert times of life. Those seasons in our earthly journey when our hearts feel dry and empty, purposeless. When our spirit can grow weary due, perhaps in part, to a prolonged illness or injury, to trials or troubled relationships, or maybe disappointment in a career. Those times when there seems to be no end in sight to the "soul drought."

I’ve experienced those seasons in my life. I think we all have. There’s a verse I came across years ago during one of these times, and since then, God has engraved it on my heart:

"When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, "If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness..."

                                                                                                            (Exodus 13:17-18a)

Did the same phrase jump out at you that jumped out at me that day? "God did not lead them along the main road…even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land."

Why on earth would God purposefully make the Israelites go the longer, harder route? Why would he keep his chosen people wandering in the desert? When we travel, don’t we typically opt for the shortest route? Why wouldn’t God do that too?

Because He knows something we don’t. About us. And about the journey.

In the past, when I’ve been in those desert seasons, I’ve asked God why I'm there. Rarely have I gotten an immediate response, mind you, if I get one at all. So I push on, just like you do, through the responsibilities and obligations of life, seeking God’s face, listening for his voice.

One such desert time for me was watching my mom suffer from metastatic gallbladder cancer. Her journey from diagnosis to stepping into Jesus’s arms was brief. Only six months. And traveling that road with her was one of the most agonizing––yet most precious and beautiful––times in my life. Odd how often the most beautiful experiences also involve moments of excruciating pain.

In writing A Beauty So Rare I drew upon many of my own desert seasons, specifically when writing about Eleanor Braddock and her relationship with her father. God showed me yet again (with the benefit of distance and perspective), how faithful He is. How intentional his love is. And how he always has our best at heart, even when our hearts are breaking.

I’ve learned we ought not let our circumstances teach us theology. God is faithful. He’s sovereign. Always. And if we’re in the desert, we’re there because he’s either allowed it, or designed it. It’s not pleasant, the desert. It’s prickly, irritatingly sandy, and it burns. But God has proven over and over to me that I’ll be better for the experience in the end. My own heart grows more pliant in those times, and I become more like clay in the Potter’s hands, which I so long to be on a daily basis.

So when you’re empty inside and feel your loneliest, remember you’re never alone. God sees you. He loves you. These desert seasons are training grounds. They’re heavenly-orchestrated detours intended for our eternal good. And even though it may not feel like it, God is still guiding each and every step, because we’re on our way to the Promised Land!

A Beauty So Rare trailer

The Inspiration Behind A Beauty So Rare

Continued Blessings!  Tamera

www.TameraAlexander.com

Thank you Tamera for sharing with us on OWG!  Readers we have lots of giveaways this week. We were all waiting so patiently for Tamera's new release and "A Beauty So Rare" was worth it! This lovely Christian historical romance will be on my best of 2014 reads.   

Giveaway: (This week, we have a paperback and ebook copy of A Beauty So Rare, a Starbucks $10 card, a pink surprise giveaway and Tamera is offering a signed copy, too!) Answer the Q--What has helped you during a season of soul drought? For extra entry entry "Like" Tamera's FB page and put FB on your comment. Leave your email address so we can contact you.

Overcoming Cancer Pain by Guest Suzie Johnson

Suzie Johnson

I cried myself to sleep the day I learned my mother had cancer. Would she suffer? Would she die? She'd already been through enough emotional trauma and heartache in the previous year, I couldn't bear the thought of my sweet mother suffering physical pain as well.

In the hospital, after surgery to remove a good portion of the affected organ, her pain was deep, severe, debilitating. My sister and I could only watch helplessly as she suffered. We sat by her bed and prayed through the long night.

The next day when her pain hadn't lessened, the overworked and exhausted nurses were unable to do anything to relieve her pain. The medications didn't help and her pain grew more severe. My sister and I felt more helpless than ever.

That afternoon my mom had a special visitor. The hospital chaplain came to visit and she just happened to be a Catholic nun. Though the circumstances were heavy with worry and fear, I was still delighted to meet her since I've always had a fascination with nuns.

Nuns, to me, epitomize the love of Jesus. Their selfless love for others, their lifetime of ministry - it's something I greatly admire. But, as I was about to find out, there was something more to this gentle servant of God.

Beginning at her feet the nun prayed over every inch of my mother with gentle hands that moved swiftly back and forth, hovering about two inches above my mother's body - never once physically touching her. She prayed for healing and grace, and for my mother's release from pain. Though I could feel the love in the room, I had no idea I was witnessing a miracle. Twenty-four hours after her cancer surgery, my mother had no need for anything stronger than a Tylenol.

Jesus used the nun to perform a miracle - a miracle that not only healed my mother's body, but also filled her with the faith and fortitude to get through some even rockier times that were in her future.

Suzie Johnson (writing as Susan Diane Johnson) and her husband are the parents of a son who lives much too far away. Suzie’s debut novel, No Substitute, a contemporary inspirational romance, will be released by White Rose Press on November 30, 2012. Suzie is a regular contributor at Inkwell Inspirations. You can visit her at the following places:

http://www.susandianejohnson.com

http://www.inkwellinspirations.com

http://www.facebook.com/suziejohnsonauthor