My lovely husband, Derry, and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this past Friday. I thought I felt old when we had our 10th, but now I’m feeling seriously broken in on the marriage front.
Each anniversary, Derry and I have a “State of the Union” conversation about our struggles and triumphs over the past year. This year, the conversation was particularly easy. It was a very busy year, and an emotional roller coaster – but our marriage was solid and strong throughout. There have been many years that we have not been able to say that. Somehow, God has brought us to a place of calm and stability despite the insanity of life that whirls around us. (more…)
I was diagnosed with asthma in college. No surprises there since my father has adult on-set asthma and I live in an area known as “The Allergy Capital of the World.” My symptoms have been mild and well- controlled for a number of years, until recently when my level of medication and number of wheezy days began to creep higher and higher. This past Easter I was able to sing but felt quite short of breath a lot of the time. I came down with a bronchial infection not long after and went off to the doctor for short-course steroids and antibiotics (I’m maxed out on the other asthma meds already). Three weeks later and I began gasping at the tops of flights of stairs. Now I can no longer sing. My voice cracks and fuzzes out, and I have this gagging cough that doesn’t seem to accomplish anything but raise my blood pressure and frustrate the tar out of me. (more…)
