God's Grace: My Journey with a New Diagnosis

It shocks me to realize that I started this blog more than seven months ago. During this time, as I have shared my journey, I have faced health issues that have significantly changed the course of my life. For months, I endured unexplainable pain. As an athlete in the middle of track season, I was accustomed to pushing through discomfort. However, despite my passion for track, the pain progressively worsened.

I managed to finish my high school season, but the severity of the pain forced me to make the difficult decision not to continue with my club season. Even after taking three weeks off between the end of my high school season and the start of the club season, the pain did not improve. At that point, I knew something was seriously wrong. The pain drastically impacted my daily life, lingering for months and becoming progressively worse.

After many doctor appointments with various specialists, I finally received answers—answers that will lead to a complete change in the course of my life. As I have learned from my other health struggles, every person is impacted by a diagnosis differently. I became fearful of what my life could look like and whether I would be able to return to living the life I used to.

This experience has been unlike anything I had ever encountered. Being diagnosed with something I had never heard of and knowing no one else with it made me feel like I was on this journey alone. Living with a congenital condition, I don’t know what life is like without it; therefore, I have never experienced the grief of life before disability until now. As I am still in the early stages of figuring out life with this diagnosis, this has allowed me to have more empathy for those who have been in similar situations, whether becoming disabled later in life or being a parent receiving a diagnosis for their unborn baby.

How can you show more empathy in your life for someone in your life today?

I have been able to see God’s grace through my story, and that is what has gotten me through the last couple of weeks since the diagnosis. There has been a phrase that has been continuously whispered in the back of my head, even as early as the car ride home from the appointment the day I received this diagnosis:

“But God.”

"The battle is not yours, but God's." - 2 Chronicles 20:15

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” – Matthew 19:26

A new diagnosis can bring a wide range of emotions. There are days when it all feels too much and too overwhelming, and I grieve life before all of this pain. I was frustrated with God; it felt like too much. So much had been taken away from me. There have been many times when I grieved the life of a healthy teen, the ability to partake in sports, a summer not filled with appointments, and so much more.

What in your life do you feel you may take for granted?

How can you choose positivity in your life today?

I allowed myself to feel all of the emotions that came with this. I tried my best not to avoid any of the emotions but also not to let the negative ones linger. I made the decision the day of my diagnosis that I was not going to let this impact me living the life that I wanted. I am not going to allow it to make my world smaller.

I am still very early in my journey, and I have chosen to be thankful for every small thing from the day of the diagnosis. I don’t know what the future looks like, but I know God does, and I know He wouldn’t give me something I can’t handle. I don’t understand why this had to happen, but I know that there is a reason for it.

How can you see God's Grace in your life even if you aren't on the other side of the battle yet?

How can you put your trust in God's plan for you today?