To Be Healthy

January 3, 2013: The day my entire life shifted.  The first time I went to the ER.  I spent the two month prior getting sick almost every day from eating.  This trip to the hospital was the first of many. I was sent home with a doctors appointment and medication that kept me in bed all day.  I would be so tired from a Sunday at church that I would go to bed at 6 and wake up at 8 the next morning. I did tho every day for four months.  My medications kept me from driving and from being myself.  I spent the first three months in bed, only leaving my house for the doctor or to work the weekends at church.  Christie shuttled me to many appointments and Maryann found new creative ways for me to eat the non-solid food diet I had been on for months.  My job in the internship was graceful and I did half days for a while and then had to force myself into full days.  I needed my normal life back. In April I was still on a very limited diet.  I  travelled to the city because no one in small town Eureka could help me.  I was miserable.
One day I decided not to refill my medications.  I was sick of no results and taking them just to put me in a comatose at 6 every night, just so I wouldn't feel sick any more.  I was struggling to keep afloat as an intern and still trying to process that I was becoming a missionary.  I lost contact with so many friends and was trying to regain my energy just to hang out with them.
I was never formally diagnosed with anything.  Though after many conversations with the Hrdina/Kencke clan, I self-diagnosed it as stress related.  My doctor accepted it and I asked for prayer.  After praying for peace, slowly I was able to do more and more. Finally, after 4 months of struggling I was getting better; I was eating solid foods!  I felt like a newborn, growing capable of doing more every day. I did more than lay in bed and watch Netflix all day (not like I was capable of doing much else) and I was able to spend time with my friends and family.  I survived missions training, only getting sick once, and I was on my way to perfect health.
I'm not going to lie, it has been a difficult year.  I battled this illness (or whatever it really was) for a solid 6 months.  And although, in the scheme of life, it isn't long, I spent 6 miserable months just praying for a good day.  When they finally came, all I could do was cry and thank God for good health.  I still get sick every once in a while, which I guess is to be expected, but I am free to live my life as if it never happened.  So, even though I made some life altering decisions this past year, what I will be thankful and grateful for the most is my health.  2013 was half spent in sickness and half spent taking advantage of the good health I now have.  Thank you to everyone who continued to pray for me and support me through my desperate blog posts.  I am alive and well, and that is all I could ask for.