Thankful for Thorns

If there was ever a story more perfect for this blog, I sure don't know what it would be. Puts "thorns" in a whole new light! Please take a moment to follow this link...

Thankful for the Thorns

The whole story is beautiful, but line that really hit me was, "Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Wow!

Surviving

Bonnie Gray shared some great thoughts on Surving the In-Bwtween Times today over at (in)Courage. What really stood out to me was her thoughts on John 15:5.

"Abide in me and I in you and you will bear fruit." John 15:5

Abiding doesn’t sound impressive. I doubt it’d make a good marketing slogan or create much buzz in today’s speaking circuit. Kinda archaic compared to our self-made headlines.

Yet, it is the one action Jesus reveals in His secret to living a fruitful life. What does it actually mean? I wondered?

The Greek word for “abide” is Meno

1. to survive

2. to be held

3. to wait

I was stunned. Simply surviving makes a difference to God...

Traveling with "Baggage"

While I am in no condition to travel these days, I have dreams that someday I will be improved enough to consider leaving my own hometown for reasons other than medical needs once again. When living with chronic illness, these kinds of things have to be carefully planned and strategically plotted. You can't just "pack up and go" but need to think through so many things. I remember one cross-country trip several years ago where the airline mangled my wheelchair in their checked baggage handling, then would not cover the damage claiming it didn't qualify as checked baggage in the first place (though they didn't bother warning me before accepting it when we were preparing to board).

I know for some of us (physically or financially) travel is limited only to our dreams. But dream a little with me. Where would you go if you could travel anywhere? Why would you choose that destination? What preparations would you make to make this trip as do-able as you could?

The last fun trip I took was a little over a year ago with my family. We won a week's free RV rental and I learned that taking a "home" on wheels was a fairly workable solution for my travel/health needs. I blogged the entire trip Classic RV Adventures.

What are your best travel tips for navigating away-from-home with chronic health challenges? Do you know of helpful travel websites or resources? I stumbled upon one today called Disability Holidays Guide that prompted this post. Is there are tool or tip you don't leave home without? How do you manage medication, sleep schedules, special transportation needs? Please share!