Praising God Even With Diabetes

Today I am thinking of how I can use my diabetes to praise the Lord. I want to know why God made our bodies so we could get this disease! It's not easy.  it's a chronic illness.  It never leaves me, not for one second or one hour or even a day. I never get a break from it.  Ever.  When I'm hungry, I can't eat just anything anymore.  I have to think how many carbs it has, how much sugar, whether it affects my blood sugar really bad or just a little bit.  Or sometimes I just don't even think about it at all and let the chips (pun intended) fall where they may.  I suffer the consequences later, when those little pin and needle twinges hit me. Nerve damage. Oh great.  So far I don't use insulin.  But the longer I have diabetes the more probability exists that I will have to begin to use it. Praise the Lord for pain?  I'm working on it.  slowly.

My sweet tooth is not just a little bitty thing in my mouth, it IS my mouth.  I praise the Lord for chocolate.  I praise the Lord for cake, and pie, and cookies and candy, and for the Girl Scouts who sell those cookies RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS when I am determined to get my A1C (average of blood glucose in the last 3 months) back below 7. I praise the Lord that I have to control my sweet tooth/mouth a little more now.  But "sugar free" just doesn't taste the same.  I'm told dark chocolate is best to eat, but I want MILK chocolate.  Praise the Lord for alternatives?  I'm working on it.  Slowly.

I still haven't started exercising yet.  I know it's supposed to help keep the blood sugar down and get the weight off.  I don't really need to lose weight.  I actually need to gain a few pounds so my face doesn't look so caved in anymore.  But I still need to exercise to gain muscle strength, and stamina.  I thought about Yoga.  But do you know what Yoga really stands for?  You're Only Gonna Ache!  But I will give it a try because I really don't feel like bouncing around doing aerobics. Praise the Lord for even  more pain?  I'm working on it.  Slowly.

One thing I intensely dislike about diabetes is having to check my blood sugar. I have a glucose meter with test strips to collect the blood after I use these little lancet things on my fingers.  Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn't.  Depends on which fingers I use.  If I hit a nerve that's when it hurts.  So I try to stick on the side of my finger so it won't hurt.  I have had a bad fear of needles since I was really small.  It took me 3 days to get up the courage just to stick myself for blood sugar readings after I was diagnosed.  Seven years later I still don't like it.  The future insulin will be a nightmare for me to overcome probably. I don't even look when I get my blood drawn for checking my A1C.  Praise the Lord for advanced knowledge, medicine, and testing skills? You betcha I'm working on it.  Slowly.

There's nothing really good about diabetes.  Not one single stinking thing.  It messes up your life in more ways than you can even imagine.  If you have a history of diabetes in your family, get tested now for prediabetes.  You don't want it.  If you are overweight and your doctor tells you that you are in danger of getting diabetes, get the weight off now.  Your diabetes will never leave you, even though some people say that they don't have diabetes anymore after losing weight, etc.  I don't believe that for a minute. It's just more controlled.  You have to watch what you eat, take care of yourself,  get exercise, pay attention to the signals of your body every day.  The low sugar episodes are no fun, going high can be scary.  It's a constant monitoring.  In some ways diabetes is like our spiritual lives.  With constant monitoring, we can stay in control, keep away from sin and the bad stuff that causes us to get out of control and have a great relationship with God.  Praise the Lord for diabetes?  I'm working on it.  Slowly.