You may remember Moriah from her wonderful previous guest post on R535, but today I’m excited to share another guest post from her with you! The fourth in our ‘What 5 Christian Teens Have Learned Through Thier Long-Term Illness’ blog series. As you enjoy her precious words, I pray that you are blessed and encouraged. She is an amazing example to me!

I tilted my head and pushed back my aqua ballcap to gaze at the heavens.

It was a clear night. Star upon star shimmered in the late autumn sky. This beauty was a quiet reprieve in the midst of a difficult season.  God had given my sister, who has struggled fiercely with her health since last Christmas, a rare burst of energy.  Even as the breeze whipped through my clothes and my teeth chattered uncontrollably, I was thankful she felt up to this spontaneous walk on the beach.

We kept plodding ahead through sand, the crash of the waves nearby, despite the cold.
It was a brief walk, but it was beautiful. Afterward our lungs burned from the exhilarating cold and our hearts burned with the warmness of this new memory.

This was a rich gift right at the center of what had proved a trying season—a season of loneliness and sickness and uncertainty. At the end of October, half of us had to leave our home when we discovered a mold infestation. Being separated from the rest of our family as the remediation process began was hard, but God blessed us with this gorgeous place at the beach.

There is one lesson God has impressed on my heart again and again throughout these months away from home:

Anxiety about the future strangles the joy right out of our hearts. The Lord tells we don’t have to worry about tomorrow. He provides everything we need—all the sustainment we need—now. We don’t have to live our tomorrows today. (see Matt. 6:25-26)

But this lesson is not altogether a new one.

At twelve, I received a Lyme diagnosis soon after my mom and sister were tested. God taught me many lessons during those teen years whenever I chose to listen instead of kick and scream against the emotional and physical challenges.

Perhaps the most tremendous struggle has been fear and anxiety. I have found myself asking:

What if this symptom leads to a hospital visit or becomes permanent?

Now in my early twenties, I still find it hard to face my health struggles that are more than likely due to Lyme and mold toxicity.

When the days are difficult, when fear about alarming symptoms threatens to consume me, I remember that I just have to live today.

I can leave the future in God’s hands.

Moriah Simonowich is a 21-year-old who loves porch swings, wide open skies, lattes, lab puppies, and the crispness of October. It’s rare that she misses an opportunity to slip outside and quietly capture sunsets. Writing is like oxygen to her heart. In addition to fulfilling her role as staff writer at Top Christian Books, she writes for her column Hope for Weary Hearts at PURSUE Magazine. You can connect with Moriah on her blog, www.delightinginhim.com, Instagram, FB, and Twitter.