It Is What It Is!
Until Faith Changes Everything
by
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"Today is the first blank page of a 365-page book, write a good one!" Today I sit here thinking about when all this started, my desire was to reach out and touch someone through paper and to help those in difficult situations beyond what they ever would have imagined for their life. So who am I to think I can tell you how to live? I am one struggling with a chronic disease who knows every circumstance is different and every human being was created in the image of God, yet was also created with a free choice for their life on a daily basis. We all hopefully have the same amount of determination to make something of our lives, even with our hideous chronic issues plaguing us. Chronic diseases, as I have talked to many, cause us to want to throw in the towel, but I ask you to think of this; if we are all in a similar boat, then what does it take to get us to improve upon our circumstances and to be rescued from that boat?
When a ship is sinking, everyone pitches in to help bail out the water. When we feel suffocated by sinking sand, we look for something to cling to, to keep us from being dragged under. When we come upon roadblocks, we look for detours to lead us in another direction. When we encounter waves that seek to roll us under them, and when we are caught up in moments like rip tides that seek to suck all the air out of us, we try to fight the currents, when in reality we should just stop and go with the flow, believing that eventually we will come out of it all. Sometimes it is as simple as focusing on your heart, and if you're a Christian, you can rejoice that your heart is being looked after by a mighty God who oversees every aspect of your day. If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't go it alone; seek out the only one capable of reassurances and building up your confidence that this too shall pass and that for this moment "It is what it is."
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About the Book
With Auto Immune diseases on the rise and many people being diagnosed with Chronic Issues this book takes a look at some of those issues and how to get through the day to day living with a Chronic disease with positivity and reassurances that It Is What It is Till Faith Changes Everything. Faith being the core to living with this disease.
About the Author
Susan Beth Thomas was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was diagnosed at age ten with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, and endured surgery for a spinal fusion at age eleven, but she still persevered through many of her early life challenges, including depression. During childhood and young adult life, she attended the Mt. Lebanon UP Church, which was a Godsend to her, as she learned she did not go life alone. Upon graduating from high school, she worked with small children over the course of twenty-five plus years, working in preschools, including with special needs children at a therapeutic preschool, and then she took a sabbatical to work with individual care as a full-time nanny for several families. Throughout the course of these pursuits and at the forefront to all her dreams and desires, compassion for children was her main focus. Susan never stopped listening to her heart.
Susan decided to pursue a college degree in education at age forty-two and attended Carlow University in Pittsburgh, in hopes of graduating and teaching in the state of Florida. She attended Carlow for three years and then transferred to Lynn University. Upon arrival at Lynn University, she changed her major to social work, thinking of pursuing that area of work with children. She graduated from Lynn University in 2010. Susan worked for two years with the elderly, and much to her surprise, she found compassion could still be at the core of her work and her life. She decided to pursue a master’s degree in psychology and counseling, as they were closely related fields and would lead to her desire to be a child counselor. However, while in the third semester of her master’s program, Susan was diagnosed with her disease, autoimmune hepatitis, which led her to research and to being able to fully write this book on living with a chronic disease daily. She now runs a support group in the community at large called Togetherness Helps and is the administrator and facilitator of the group, with most people attending twice monthly. Her own motivation and strength are what spur her on to want to help others in the same boat. She also has a website connected with the support group, www.Togethernesshelps.com. Even with this disease, Susan tries to lead a highly active life.
With compassion clearly present in this book, she gets it, she’s lived it, and she knows “It is what it is—until faith changes everything.”