Welcome, Rachel! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you serve the chronic illness community?
Hi Sara! It’s great to be here with you! I have been reading your blog for a few years now, and I have been so encouraged by your perseverance, your love for the Lord, and your love for people. Thanks for having me here to chat today!
I am a wife and mom. I enjoy good books, crocheting, tea parties, and visits with friends. I currently live in Minnesota, but I have lived all over the United States. My husband, Will, and I met in Bible college in Alaska back in 2000, and we have now been married for 20 years. We have four children, ranging in ages from 2 to 17. I often say that every toddler should come with a teenager! I love having older kids and younger kids at the same time. It is a lot of fun!
I have been chronically ill since I was a young teenager. I was first diagnosed with dysautonomia at the age of 15, though I had symptoms starting around the age of 12. Other diagnoses have come over the years, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Gastroparesis, and ME/CFS.
I love serving the chronic illness community in any way I am able. Most of my energy in recent years has gone to my two little ones, but when I have enough leftover energy, I enjoy blogging at cranberryteatime.com. Cranberry Tea Time is my personal blog where I share about my life with a chronic illness and proclaim the hope and joy found in Christ. In the past few years, I have also had opportunities to speak at four of the Diamonds Conferences, which has been a delight. But on the average day, my primary way of serving the chronic illness community is very quiet, and in the background, as I take time to encourage and pray for the chronically ill friends God has placed in my life.
That prayer and encouragement are vital — even for those who might publically serve the chronic illness community, I think that most of that happens in private. That’s been my experience in my life. I’d love to hear some about what God teaching you in your spiritual journey and health journey right now!
God is teaching me trust, patience, and perseverance. Those are lessons that I have been learning for many years, and yet it seems that I always have to keep learning them! As new challenges come in life, God develops in me a stronger trust in Him. He develops in me more patience and perseverance. It is a hard, but very good, process.
Now that I am in my 40s I have reached the point in my health journey that not only am I dealing with chronic illness, but I am also starting to feel the effects of aging, too. It is a reminder to me that this body is not going to last forever. It helps me to not become too content with this body and this life, and it gives me even more reason to look forward to Heaven and my resurrection body one day!
And what a wonderful hope that is! Your daily faithfulness is such an example to me, Rachel. What is one thing you wish you had known as a mom who battles chronic illness?
I wish I had known that the little years would get easier as I had more children. Every person’s body is different, so it took time to figure out exactly what worked well for me and what didn’t. After having four children, I know my body better, and I know my limitations better. I know how various sleeping and feeding methods help or hurt me. I know how different medications and treatments are either helpful or harmful. I wish I could have had all of that knowledge back when I had my first baby, but the cumulative knowledge I have gained has made things easier with my young children now.
I’m sure that is encouraging to moms who might expect things to get harder, not easier. What is the most encouraging thing anyone has told you about motherhood when you’re chronically ill?
The most encouraging words have come from older women who raised their children while they were chronically ill, and now have adult children who are married and have children of their own. Hearing stories from these godly mothers and grandmothers has been an encouragement to me. When they tell me about their children who are now thriving as adults and parents, it gives me hope that it is indeed possible to raise a family well while dealing with significant health challenges.
I love that, and thank you for sharing parts of your motherhood story with us today. Parent-child isn’t the only relationship affected by chronic illness, though. Are there any resources that have helped you and your husband navigate marriage in tandem with chronic illness?
It sounds cliché, but the Bible is what has helped us the most. Growing closer to the Lord through reading and studying His word has been hugely important in our marriage. Applying biblical principles to the challenges we face in marriage has been very helpful. Most of the Christian marriage books we have read assume two healthy spouses. They give advice and apply Scripture as if both husband and wife are healthy and able to fill traditional gender roles. However, this has never been the case in our marriage. We have had to look to biblical principles to help us navigate daily life in a marriage that looks different than the supposed “ideal” Christian marriage that often shows up in marriage books.
In recent years I have been so grateful to find a couple of books that are especially helpful for those who are chronically ill. These books have been very encouraging to me. One is “Joni and Ken” by Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada. The other is “Together Through the Storms” by Jeff and Sarah Walton. I highly recommend both of these!
I know many readers relate to that tension and the lack of resources on marriage with chronic illness in the picture. Thank you for those resources, and thank you for this interview, Rachel! What a treasure this has been.
Today, Rachel and I swapping blogs, so if you want to read her interview of me, head over to Cranberry Tea Time!
Rachel Lundy
Guest
Rachel Lundy is a blogger, a wife, and a stay at home mom. She is happily married to Will, and they have four children. Rachel lives with dysautonomia, a condition that leaves her tired, weak, and mostly homebound. She is learning to rely on God’s strength, rest in His grace, and cling to hope. Rachel writes at cranberryteatime.com where she shares about her life with dysautonomia and proclaims the hope and joy found in Christ.