Endurance, perserverance for the race we have before us

What a fantastic year it has been!  2013 brought so many wonderful experiences and we made so many amazing memories!!  As many of you know I got married this past September.  It’s been a whirlwind.  God has truly blessed me…growing our family to five daughters, giving us the means to expand our home and add 3 additional bedrooms, listing and selling my townhome in just 5 weeks, and of course most importantly finding the most incredible man to spend the rest of my life with. 

It’s been 4 years since I was diagnosed with MS and my life has seen many changes.  Some, as you can see from above, have been more than I could ever have dreamed of and others quite frankly have been a nightmare.  The physical and cognitive changes that MS has made to my brain, therefore my body, can be quite discouraging at times.  The physical symptoms have relatively stayed the same; numbness in my limbs, spatial issues, balance difficulties, pain in my back that has been not so lovingly named the” MS hug” along with extreme fatigue.   Cognitively, I have a pretty bad scar on my brain somewhere that has caused great memory loss.  I have lost complete conversations.  I have missed appointments that I didn’t remember scheduling.  I have forgotten some of the “little things” that make up the special memories of time I have spent with loved ones.  While there has been many a dark moment for me physically, emotionally and cognitively I can truly say that I am blessed. 

Every day I get up and out of bed I am thankful.  Thankful for the ability to walk.  Thankful for the ability to see.  Thankful that that I have been given a new day.  Thankful that I have true JOY in my heart.  Thankful for my amazing husband.  Thankful for our five absolutely beautiful, inside and out, daughters.  And believe it or not, Thankful I was diagnosed with MS.

I believe we are all given different races to run.  I believe we all have a purpose. I believe God Almighty has a plan.  I believe his plan is for me to share my story with others.  To encourage, lift up and give hope to those who may not feel as if they have any and to be an example to my daughters of perseverance regardless of life’s challenges. To be a witness to the amazing things God has for all of us, for even when we are at our lowest, He is working miracles for us. 

I share all of this with you so that you may see the HOPE I have for my future.  The HOPE I have that as many come together as one we will find a CURE for this disease.  I am asking again this year for you to share your blessings with me.  I ask for your support as our MS Walk Team, the Village People, fundraise to find a CURE and to support those with MS.  I am asking for you to be by my side as I run the race set out before me. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” –Hebrews 12:1-2

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart

Jo

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