**Saying bye to friends at the airport :(**

Aloha and Happy Spring!

Our family recently went through some major changes so I thought I’d share what's going on, as I'm sure some of you can relate!

We just moved our family from the greater Seattle area to the beautiful island of Maui 3 weeks ago. My husband retired from the fire service after 22 years and is now entering into full time ministry at one of the local churches here, where we have close friends and relatives nearby.

Our boys were born and raised their whole 10- and 12-year-old lives in Washington. My husband is a Seattle native who never moved away until now. Though I’m originally from Oahu, I’ve now lived in WA longer than I’ve lived in Hawaii. All this to say, this was a big move for us… we had SO much we were leaving behind… our 25-year-old daughter who’s focusing on her career, my husband’s entire family, his career, our incredible church family, friends, neighbors, homeschool community, all of our vetted health providers, safe eating establishments for our dietary needs, and so much more. We were pretty comfortable and established where we were.

As many of you know, prepping for a major life change (and move!) can be taxing on so many levels. Surprisingly, I came down with major gut pain (never experienced before) for a few weeks leading up to our move. HOW CONVENIENT! Having to navigate dietary changes, debilitating pain, and seeking medical attention all while homeschooling (as much as I was able to) during this time was a major added stressor to our move... and downer, if I'm being completely honest! Anytime I ate, and even just drinking water at times, led to horrific gut pain.

As humans, we do so much around food to celebrate and gather that I had to grieve the fact that I was likely going to miss out on being able to do this with our loved ones in WA before we left and upon our arrival with friends on Maui. I dreaded either having to refrain from eating at these gatherings just so I could visit with people or not being able to attend from being in so much pain. This was NOT how I wanted to leave my home of 25 years and start our new chapter on Maui! I LOVE food!!!

When one is dealing with a major health issue, it’s often times not crystal clear as to what it is or what's causing it. This can be incredibly frustrating. Trying to figure this out takes work, and it can take time digging for root causes of symptoms and dysfunction. It’s never convenient and it can certainly wear on one’s patience, attitude, and wellbeing, especially if they’ve already been seeking answers for a while. Can any of you relate? Generally speaking, if you know what’s going on or have a diagnosis for what you’re experiencing, you have a much greater chance of being able to resolve it, or at least manage it. If you don’t, it’s a major guessing game with a lot of confusion, frustration, and often times pain and/or fatigue along the way (not to mention expenses with all the doctor’s visits, tests, medications, supplements, etc.).

I’ve had my fair share of this in my health journey and will say that one of the biggest life lessons I've learned through all of my health struggles is to SURRENDER. This is not the same as giving up, quitting, or not trying. Let me explain. Much of my autoimmunity was triggered by stress and my need to feel in control over my circumstances by doing whatever it took to make things happen. As it pertained to health, I went to any and all appointments with doctors and specialists, I got certified in various areas of health to better understand how I could put my autoimmune disease into remission, help my son’s gut issues, and balance my hormones, I killed it on elimination diets and was super disciplined about all the things I needed to do with my lifestyle with the hope of getting my illness behind me. I was afraid if I didn’t do protocols perfectly, they wouldn’t work so I became hyper focused on doing things to a tee. Talk about living in high stress. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated area of my life... I was like this in other areas of my life, too. Do things perfectly, figure out the answers, do, do, do, take charge and get it done.

The harder I tried, the less I felt I was able to get to where I wanted to be. I’d plateau in my progress and only get so far. Now don’t get me wrong, learning all that I learned wasn’t wrong or for nothing, but for me, it wasn’t until I would let go, surrender, and rest that I’d get moments of clarity. This is when I’d get fresh new insights, and this is also where my faith and community would really come in to serve me in the healing process.

You see, when it comes to health and wellness, success and healing doesn’t just come from following a protocol, no matter how well you follow it or how good it is. There are things beyond ourselves and the physical world that’s bigger than us that we need to call on and depend on for help, healing, and guidance.

We can’t go through these challenges alone. Allowing others to know about my situation allowed me to see that others cared about my wellbeing, wanted to help any way they could, and also prayed for my healing. I was checked-in on a regular basis and got to experience community and connection even though I was physically isolated and in pain. Having this added support does so much for the heart and soul that powerfully affects health, as well. Caring for the whole person, rather than just the specific areas of health, is what holistic care is all about.

When I was experiencing this debilitating gut pain, I was reminded of my story and how a common theme kept reoccurring with my health. When I’m lying on my back in a hospital bed, or at home, physically unable to be up and about is when I hear God most clearly. It’s like God’s holding my attention captive and uses these moments to slow me down, and honestly, save me from myself. To be physically incapable of doing anything is quite humbling and sobering, and always wakes me up, because I realize that I pushed myself to this point. Each of these instances got me to make drastic changes in the way I was living my life. I knew that if I didn’t do something about this, the next time I have a health scare would be worse, and that scared me.

You see, our bodies were designed to communicate to us through our symptoms when something is not right. We can choose to either listen and do something about it, or not listen and suffer the consequences.

Thankfully, it didn’t take me as long to listen to my body this time around. “Simply” surrendering to the issue at hand and letting myself rest rather than trying to figure things out on my own and push through the pain was actually quite pleasant and relieving. I mean, who knew rest could feel so good?! (Catch the sarcasm???) I reached out for help sooner and let my doctor and one of my nutrition instructors take the reins since I was so out of it (even doctors need a doctor and nutritionists need a nutritionist). I also made sure to ask God what he was wanting to teach me and grow me in through this experience (while also praying for healing). When I surrendered, which for someone like me is NOT easy, I was actually able to start tolerating more food(s) without pain soon after this. Go figure...

Now, some may chalk up my gut pain to just being stressed out, catching a bug, or experiencing potential food poisoning, but we can miss a bigger lesson in life if we try to just find a clinical diagnosis to everything, throw some medications/supplements at it, and/or adapt to a certain diet for a period of time. We may also cheat ourselves out of long-term healing if we aren’t taking a hard look at how we’re living our lives and making the necessary changes to improve our health.

So, am I out of the woods with the gut pain I experienced? I don’t know yet. Life can throw us for a loop and our health can certainly be impacted by it so paying attention to our bodies and listening to what it’s trying to communicate to us will always be key in achieving and maintaining optimal health. Where we’re at for capacity now may not be the same in the future so we’ll need to adapt as our bodies are able. There’s no shame or guilt for being where we’re at and what our capacity is in that moment. Afterall, we only have one body this side of heaven. We need to take care of it!