Monday, February 24, 2014

let's help my girls heal




Lindsey and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We can hardly believe we’ve already had the privilege of a full decade of life together. I can honestly say we are more in love now than ever and are growing closer every day. Lindsey is my best friend. I would truly rather be with her doing nothing than be with anyone else doing anything! God has blessed Lindsey and I with our 6 year old daughter, Eliana who is the most precious little thing on the planet.


Each and every day I find myself marveling at the pure grace of God displayed in Lindsey’s life. Lindsey is the epitome of compassion. Lindsey cares for and truly loves others in ways that can only be explained as “Christ like.” The crazy part is that Lindsey is in constant pain and exhaustion as her body is plagued by Lyme disease and multiple co-infections. This invisible sickness is brutal. Lindsey has arthritic like pain that migrates throughout her entire body. She has shooting pains followed by numbness. On top of that Lyme disease prevents her from getting restful sleep. The discomfort keeps her awake and even if she sleeps for 10 hours she still wakes up feeling like she just pulled an all-nighter in college.  I have no idea how but despite the agony Lindsey doesn’t complain or whine...she just hopes. She has been to 5 different doctors and hasn't given up.  I don't know how she does it.  Despite feeling trapped in a tortured body, Lindsey is so kind to Eliana and me. Lindsey is the best Momma - constantly pushing through the pain to engage in playful connectivity with Eliana.


As many of you know our precious daughter Eliana battles an internal emotional war called “trauma.”  If you’ve ever met E then you know her little heart is so sweet and kind and gentle (and she's hilarious). In the midst of her tenderness, Eliana is very fragile. Eliana lives in near constant fear of the rapid paced world around her. To say that she battles anxiety feels like a gross understatement. Making it through each day of Kindergarten is a major triumph for our baby girl! I am happy to report though that for the first time in her life Eliana is now sleeping at night! For the first 5 1/2 years of life, Eliana’s trauma kept her awake until crazy late every night. There were many all-nighters when the hurt in her heart robbed her of any rest at all. Now for the past 3 months she has actually been falling asleep and sleeping through the night. We are breathlessly thankful each and every time we see her drift off into slumber.


As you might imagine providing care for Lindsey and Eliana takes everything we’ve got! Though we pretty much feel overwhelmed every night, we are committed to walking down the road toward healing for both Lindsey and Eliana no matter how long or costly it may be. Though I am a speaker, lately I have really tried to limit the number of additional speaking engagements I take on so that I can be home and available to care for my family! That being said, we really need help financially. Every single treatment that Lindsey undergoes is not covered by insurance and the same goes for Eliana's therapy.


We decided to create another Give Forward page to invite folks to join us in our journey. We know we’re not alone. God has always provided for our every need through people just like you. We are inviting you to be a part of God’s answer to our prayers! Thank you for being willing to step up and help. We are so incredibly thankful to all of the many folks who have supported us along this path! I wait in hopeful expectation for the day when both of my girls are healthy and whole!

Grace and Peace,
Chris Wheeler
(Lyme husband and trauma dad)!

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