My name is Parkinson and I'm here to stay Part -2

 A little over two years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and I was confronted with two choices: let the disease beat me or fight as humanly possible as I could to help halt its progression. Even though I give Michael J. Fox a lot of credit for his encouragement through his books, I will be eternally indebted to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without my faith in Him, it would have been impossible to walk the path that I'm now walking.

I had to make many changes to be where I am now. I don't feel the best, but I feel better and I owe it all to God almighty for providing good physicians and all the excellent resources that have come my way. One of them being this awesome anti inflammatory diet that my psychiatrist recommended. I thank God for her everyday because this diet has revolutionized the way I look at nutrition and moreover, it has made me understand that good food is good medicine for your body. I slowly started implementing the principles of this diet until I got to a level that was comfortable for me. I'm still learning new things and I incorporate them as I see fit.

Another change that I incorporated was an exercise routine that fit my life style and gave me the improvements I was looking for. Besides my regular Parkinson's exercises, I alternate weights and some type of cardio everyday of the week.

This brings me to the first point I want to expand on in today's blog, "the doing". It took effort, strength and commitment to start doing the things that were going to help me fight this disease which, in my opinion, I should have started doing long time ago. But, it took Parkinson's to make me see things from a different perspective and it also allowed me to have more control on the things I can really control. This reminds me of Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." It is obvious that God was going to be with Joshua wherever he went, but Joshua had to do something. He was to do the very things the Lord required of him. He was supposed to be strong, he was supposed to be courageous, he was supposed not to be frightened and he was supposed not to be dismayed. Wow, that's a pretty hefty command right there, isn't it? Notice the Lord starts the verse with "have I not  commanded you?" But, the Lord didn't say: "Do all that by yourself". The Lord did say: " While you do all that, I'll be right there with You". You see, many of us Christians think that we're supposed to be in an eternal waiting stage, waiting for the Lord to do something in our dire circumstances, but in reality, we have to "do" a lot to accomplish what we want in life and God will be right there with us backing us up if in fact our doing aligns with His will. ". Pastor Kevin DeYoung writes in his book "Just do something": "To often God's people tinker around with churches jobs, and relationships worrying that they haven't found God's perfect will for their lives.  Or even worse, they do absolutely nothing, stuck in a frustrated state of paralyzed  indecision, waiting... waiting... waiting for clear, direct, unmistakable direction. But God doesn't need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He's already revealed His plan for our lives to love Him with our whole hearts, to obey His Word and after that, to do what we like". Even though Pastor DeYoung is talking about God's will for your life, he's dead on on the thought that we must do something and we have to stop wasting our time waiting for God to make the first move. "We make the plans but God establishes our steps" Solomon says in Proverbs 16:9. In other words, we can make plans and that's very acceptable and biblical, but God can rearrange those plans anytime He pleases. 

So, I started doing these things and little by little, I started seeing the results of my tremendous efforts to make my disease better. Now, I can say that,  despite my struggle with Parkinson's, I am in the best shape of my life. I'm not saying everything is perfect but I'm in a lot better shape than I was two years ago when I was diagnosed. My depression has disappeared, my anxiety sometimes shows its ugly face, but I have learned to manage it with other approaches besides medication. Sleep has improved and I am no longer in heavy sleeping meds. I'm now managing it with a more natural approach. My left hand piano playing goes back to its original self when my parkinson's meds are at its peak. Never underestimate the power of good medicine! However, the most important thing of all is that the "Lord has returned to me the joy of His salvation" and I'm enjoying my family, my church, my friends and my desire to serve the Lord has taken a new level. I finally finished my master's degree in Church Leadership, I'm teaching a Spanish Bible class in my Church and I play in the worship team. It cannot get better than that! And if it does, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. The Lord is good to His people.

The second thing I want to talk about is "the being". In a recent visit with my psychiatrist, I told her all the things that I was "doing" and she applauded me for that, but she suggested that I would also consider "the being". This is not some mystical state of mind. It's simply saying that, when we get anxious, depressed or whatever you might be feeling, it is ok to have those feelings because we're all humans and expecting to feel good a hundred percent of the time is not realistic. Remember we live in a broken world and our sinful nature is still present in us so perfection is out of our range. Even though my flesh wants to pull me towards perfection, it's simply not attainable. We will always have ups and downs. That's just life and we need to learn to live with that in mind.

Parkinson's is still with me and even though sometimes I pray for a miracle for it to disappear, my resilience gets stronger as time goes by because I have a God who gives me strength. I pray the same for you! I pray for a miracle in your life! I pray for God to give you unexpected blessings! But if, in His sovereignty, He decides for you to live with a disease, please don't quit! Be strong and be courageous and do everything humanly possible to improve your situation and leave the rest to God. Our unchanging and eternal God will always be with you. He will embrace you like He has me and whisper in you ear: "I am your Shepherd; you shall not want. I will make you lie down in green pastures. I will lead you beside still waters. I will restore your soul. I will lead you in paths of righteousness for my name’s sake. Even though you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil, for I am with you; my rod and my staff, they will comfort you. I will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies; I will anoint your head with oil; your cup will overflow. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in My House  forever." (Psalm 23:1‭-‬6 ESV personalized). May the Lord bless you! Amén!