The Gift of Spiritual Motherhood

On By IreneIn Celebration, Faith, Family, Grace, Healing, Hope, Journey, Kingdom Lifestyle, Motherhood, Season of Life, Womanhood, WorthLeave a comment

When I was researching on the whether women has the innate desire to mother, I was pretty surprise to see articles coming from secular sites that said it is a myth. So what they claimed is that not all women has that mothering desire or instinct. I personally don’t agree that it is a myth. The world we are living in are trying to take women away from their natural ability or desire to mother. We were told to be career focused, that motherhood can wait. What seems to be common is that something in us tells us otherwise. For me, it was hard to pin point what was that opposing forces within me – what I presented and live by was a strong career minded women who appreciated her independence. The other other part of me was feeling so satisfied and fulfilled when I spend time giving myself as a gift by nurturing young souls.

That was an expression of Spiritual Motherhood that I experienced as a single unmarried woman. Something unbeknownst to me when I enjoyed my time with my nephews, nieces and Goddaughters. Those years of living out my womanhood as a Spiritual Mother has prepared me to where I am as a physical mother now. The blessing is mutual: I was immensely blessed, so was my Goddaughters. Looking back at those days, I wish I knew these three guiding elements that would help me to be a joyful, effective and fulfilled Spiritual Mother. I share this is in full in this video and here’s the summary for those of us who prefer reading.

The first one is deepening our relationship with Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 27 states;

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

It cannot get clearer than this: our deepest longing or we may call it a deep hole that keeps on leaking unless it is filled with the love of God. Having a living relationship with Christ will fill that God sized hole in our hearts. Why does this matter for Spiritual Motherhood? The living relationship with Christ is the base of our lives, this is something for everybody. In the context of our service as Spiritual Mother, a living relationship with Christ will help us in the way of detachment. Long time ago, I had an encounter with someone who played the role of Spiritual Mother to me. She was incidentally available at the time I needed someone to talk through some issues I was facing. The conversation helped me to hear myself out and to calm down from the stress that I was experiencing. So I thanked her at the end of our conversation and she in turned said this: thank you for making me feel needed.

That actually left me feeling cringed. Gosh, the need to be needed can be unhealthy for us. If we are not careful, we can unintentionally idolize it. I acknowledge there’s place for being needed; as a mother I am needed and that’s a reality. To help us moderate and sanctify our need to be needed, we need Christ as our centre. The best way to do it is to make time for prayer. I would propose making the first hour of the day a sacred hour for the Lord. Spend that hour seeking knowledge of God through scriptures reading. It is also really good to read the commentaries on the chapter you are on. The sacred hour doesn’t have to be a full hour; it’s not five minutes either. It’s a chunk of time that you dedicate for prayer and scripture reading.

Becoming a woman of the Word is a way to shape our lives to be better Spiritual Mothers. Who is a better model of this than our Blessed Mother Mary? This brings me to the second element; consecration to Mother Mary. She is the perfect disciple, a woman of the Word and truly a woman after God’s own heart. In John 19: 26, Jesus gave His Mother to us. She’s called THE MOTHER in that verse. How awesome is that! She is our Mother as well! When I finally consecrate myself to her, I had in my heart set on having a relationship with her as well; I want to learn from her, I want to be a better disciple, I want to model after her as a woman after God’s own heart.

With that desire in mind, my consecration to Mother Mary has truly bear fruits of holiness. Areas of my life that needed sanctification were brought to light. Slowly but surely, I am growing in my dignity as a beloved daughter of God. It was also really interesting to note this beautiful connection of how Mother Mary was instrumental to intercede for me. I was so inspired to put aside time to live out my consecrated and intentional singlehood in 2014 and when that period ends, the main fruit was a clearer invitation as well as a clearer courage for me to embrace sacramental marriage as a state of life vocation. So with that fruit, I started a 54 Days Rosary Novena with the intention to pray for my future husband. My intention was to be married to a man after God’s own heart, that God is his absolute number one so that he will lay his life down for me, his bride. At the same time, I also prayed that I become a woman after God’s own heart, that God is my absolute number one so that I would be able to submit to this man God has for me. God wasted no time and got to work on me. The amazing thing then happened in 2017, when I finally decided to consecrated myself to Mother Mary. I did a 33 Days DIY retreat towards my consecration and at that period, I was reconnected to Hans, although totally unaware of the movement God was making through Hans. On consecration day, Hans attended the Assumption mass with me, we were seeing each other back then and the rest is History. Of course I am not suggesting that Mama Mary will lead you to your spouse but who knows!

When we intentionally make time to know Jesus deeply and when we consecrate ourselves to our Blessed Mother, our life becomes richer. This richness is meant to be shared in community which brings me to the third element; becoming part of a life giving community. We are social beings and as a woman, a support system outside our home is essential. It is also important to choose a community of people who are as committed to your growth as you are committed to theirs. What does a life giving community looks like?

Before we get there, let’s be a little cliche in this. I used to roll my eyes whenever people say this to me whenever I pointed out elephants in the room that existed in the community. I almost always get this: “there’s no perfect community, Irene”. Duh! I know, I just wanted to be heard. What it sounded to me was just an excuse to not change. But that line is true; there is no perfect community because we live in a broken world. This is something we need to be aware of when we join a community. A healthy community ought to be imperfect but life giving. Life giving in the sense of speaking the truth of Christ, providing support, encouraging and challenging you to rise up. This is the place you share and celebrate your growth as well as the place to get support when you are in need. A place where accountability is taken seriously. Try to visit different communities and see which one resonates with you most and which will support you in your journey of holiness.

I really wish I knew these 3 element more clearly when I was younger and made it a lifestyle more intentionally. Our dignity as women is God given, we are called to steward our gifts well and therefore express our identity in the best way possible. Our life experience is also so precious, there are times that we are honored and there are also times that we are disadvantaged. As in community, the world in which we live in is also not perfect, it is not always easy to navigate our lives as women. We feel the pains of loneliness, the pains of unfulfilled longings and so much more. Deeper than that is the truth that Christ is still our centre and He is faithful. In this Mother’s Day, may all women be honored in our dignity. To birth and adoptive mothers; thank you for loving sacrifices for your children. You are indeed the pillar of society. To all bereaved mothers, your tears are counted and thank you for growing even more beautifully in your vocation honoring the children that has returned to the Lord. To spiritual mothers, thank you for channeling your innate maternal energy to add colors and positive impact to the lives of our children and most importantly thank you for your sincere prayers for the conversion of the world. Happy Mother’s Day.

With lots of love,
Irene

Viva Christo Rey!

On By IreneIn Faith, Grace, Journey, SacramentLeave a comment

“Jesus, King of the Universe wants to be my friend!” 😱🤯

Yes, the emoji was literally my reaction a year ago when that revelation hit me during a time of worship. How awesome is the fact that Jesus, the Universal King wants to be my friend! It’s me that He wants to befriend. That feeling of excitement mingled with “Seriously? Me?” was prevalent at that moment of grace.

As I calmed down, I started asking what is the appropriate response from me. I realised that I want to honour this King-friend of mine to the best of my ability. Christ doesn’t need anything from me but my response and attitude in approaching this friendship changes everything for me. It’s true that God doesn’t need our worship. Our worship of God is really for our sake – for our sanctification.

What constitute “the best of my ability?”. For me, it starts with my body language, the most visible response. Do I approach my Eucharistic King-friend with reverent? Do I dress appropriately for mass or do I dress better at a party? Do I really believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist? Do I give my small change or do I give from my heart? Does God get my “first fruit”? The list goes on and on.

I desire to present my body as a living sacrifice to this King- friend of mine. Therefore, He deserves me dressing up a bit for mass, He deserves me receiving His body in a reverant manner, He deserves my trust and He definitely deserves my best offering.

In the past as a young lady (and quite a vainpot), I remember being asked by my non believer father why was I dressed so casually (3 quarter length pants and t-shirt with heels of course!) if I was going for mass. I was at that point, in the beginning of my faith journey with little understanding of hierachy of importance. Then not long after that, my old parish priest challenged us in a formation session about our attire to mass. He commented that most people dress better to work than to mass where they meet the King of kings. That ran deep for me. And I began to change my attitude slowly as I grew deeper in faith. Today I get it even more, dressing up for mass is honouring Christ. Just like with any earthly kings, we don’t have an audience with them dressed with 3 quarter length pants, t-shirt and heels. Common sense tells us to dress appropriately. If an earthly king gets our attention, why not the King of kings? I also learnt in a big way that my body language change me and starting with the way the dress is by far the easiest step. My demeanor follows the way I dress anyway. The young vainpot Irene would have fret over what to wear every week; praise God that today I just feel free to be wearing any decent and comfortable attire. So happy to say I can get ready in under 10mins. Dressing up for my King-friend has another important dimension; it reminds me of my rightful place – that I am a creature facing my Creator. Like the Wise Men recognising Christ, the King; I want to pay Him homage.

Viva Christo Rey!

With lots of love,
Irene

The Beloved Who Suffers Well – Part 4

On By IreneIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Beginning the new year with quite a challenging reflection was not my intention. However, that week’s experience has prompted me to write and share a rather challenging reflection. In the midst of being so sick, I was thrown with a situation where assumptive judgment was placed on me with no possibility of a real conversation. Here’s the reflection written and shared on 1 January 2023

Happy New Year! Hope you had a great time closing 2022 with gratitude and welcome 2023 with joy. Sharing with you this week’s reflection with the theme “Grace-filled Dance”

Last week on Christmas night, I’ve been thrown with an unexpected challenge. In my quest of sharing my life through my healing journey, someone I loved and respected was apparently unhappy about my health decisions and judged me of being on the wrong path both healthwise and spiritually. This was communicated to me via another person. I was shocked as there was never a real conversation and everything was based on the person’s assumptions. She never opened a real conversation with me, so I felt trapped.

Thanks be to God for His grace and the skills I have built over the years to shift to safety and then to process the whole situation. Being a person who cares about my relationships, that incident affected me and it showed on my body. As I reflected on it, I am being reminded of Simeon’s prophecy to our Blessed Mother;

“A sword will pierce your own soul” – Luke 2: 35

The other person has no idea of what it is like to live with a chronic illness. It is so unpredictable and for my case it’s an invisible disability. People can be mean and judgmental; and I realized that Christ is inviting me to also suffer well in times of being misunderstood. Our Blessed Mother taught us how and I want to be like her; dancing to the music of life with grace.

Dear friends, thank you so much for being part of my journey these past 4 weeks. As I step out in faith to bring hope for people who suffer, through expansion of my calling as a coach; I am making all my past and future reflections available on my website (fullyalive.live). I believe that everyone deserves victory in their suffering and I am honoured to be bringing this message to the world.

Wishing you a grace filled 2023 and may you enjoy the dance of life with Christ by your side.

May your soul give glory to the Lord in all circumstance for He is good and He looks on you with favor. I pray that this series of the my reflection blesses abundantly.

Love and blessings,
Irene

#thebelovedwhosufferswell

The Beloved Who Suffers Well – Part 3

On By IreneIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It was Christmas day of 2022 when I wrote the 3rd reflection. The birth of Christ takes on a deep meaning in my heart. It felt like a scene from the Passion of Christ when Veronica approached Jesus with a cloth to wipe His face. At that moment, the noises surrounding the scene quietened and the focus was all on Christ. I felt like that last Christmas, the noises quietened down and only Christ matter. I pray that you are blessed by this sharing.

Merry Christmas! Sharing with you my reflection this week with the theme “Restful Wonder”

Praise be Jesus Christ that I am continuing to improve. My sister has left for home since last Thursday and I have been able to do more at home, even able to cook meals. My muscle strength continue to improve with the current treatment plan and I have also been able to taper down the on demand drug.

Receiving the sacrament of reconciliation prepared me to ponder upon the gift of Child Jesus on Christmas. What does Jesus wants from me this Christmas? Pondering on the wonder of Baby Jesus who’s adorable, totally trusting, vulnerable, peaceful and infinitely loveable invited me to one important element: CONNECTION.

Jesus invites me to a deeper connection with Him and this year it’s a fluffless connection. Nothing else matter, just pure eye locking deep connection kind of relationship with Christ. Being able to rest in the wonder of our God who became one of us has been grace filled healing moments for me.

I wish you a Blessed Christmas with a deep connection with the Adorable Baby Jesus who Heals.

May you find your deepest daily connection with the One who draws you to Himself.

Love and Blessings,
Irene

#thebelovedwhosufferswell

The Beloved Who Suffers Well – Part 2

On By IreneIn Coaching, Courage, Faith, Grace, Healing, Hope, Journey, Kingdom Lifestyle, Myasthenia Gravis Healing Journey, Providence, Suffering, The Beloved Who Suffers WellLeave a comment

My dear sister Bea who was instrumental in bringing me to a space of living out my desire to be known has been supporting me to do something about it. That’s what got me into sharing my reflection weekly during a very trying time healthwise. God is so good in providing friends who supported me through it.

The second reflection is one that prompted me to step out in faith. One of my biggest struggle is faith in providence, it was difficult during my years as a full time lay missionary, it was still very challenging afterwards. With the lion within me awakened, I know what is required of me is just to step out in faith: I do what I know what to do (the natural), and then trust God fully that He will do the supernatural. Here’s the reflection written and shared on 18 December 2022, may you be blessed.

When desperate, call on St. Jude! That was exactly what I did on 9 Dec, asking many companions to pray together with me. St. Jude activated saints around me that loved me into the deep which eventually led me to stillness that brought about breakthrough.

Examining my desire to be healed led me to realise how much I did I not prioritise my body due to limited funds. I wanted to check the state of my body and take the right action, I did not. I wanted to do a proper body detox and cleanse, I did not. I wanted to eat more organic, that happened limitedly. Realising my own sin against my body; I apologized and reconciled with my body.

My body start opening up to respond positively to treatment. I started gaining more sleep with nightly deliverance prayer from anxiety. Then I started embodying a decisive identity of “I am important”. Being decisive to make me a priority led me to my current holistic doctor. With renewed hope, I’ve started a nutritional supportive regime and so far my body is responding well.

Praising God for His favour and thanking you for your continous prayer. As I dare to hope and trust in the Lord, I am also sharing my appeal with you. Please pray about this and I truly appreciate any form of support.

Love and blessings,
Irene

#thebelovedwhosufferswell


With this reflection, I attached my appeal and my work in mental fitness promotional poster. For the purpose of sharing it here, I have removed edited out some information due to sensitivity and ethical practice.

The responses I garnered were mixed; some are very encouraging, some even took action to bless me financially, some immediately helped me to promote my work and some went totally silent. The silent part can be deafening and I took it with grace, believing that they are praying for me. This stepping out in faith exercise brought me to realization that I finally get it: I get the lesson that God is teaching me since the beginning of my YES to Him. The idol of my false sense of self sufficiency was well and truly shattered this time. I realized all these while, what I thought was lack of trust was rooted in me trying to control all the outcomes of my life including my attempts to control God. Now I understand the sense of lack of freedom whenever I am invited to trust God in financial providence. With all sincerity, I tried my best to trust and allow God to work but there’s more anxiety than freedom. This amazing breakthrough that came with the awakened lion within is grace from God. I am also seeing this partially as the fruit of my own daily practice of mental fitness. All these has been prepared before hand for me to come to a moment of grace where I dare to step out and I also dare to trust and allow God to provide as He pleases.

So here I am stepping out in faith to invite you to consider my work in mental fitness training. If you are curious about this, connect with me. If someone you know may benefit from this program, send them to me. I pray that you are blessed by my reflection and that you are encouraged to find victory in your challenges and sufferings. May you find the courage to step out in faith!

With lots of love,
Irene

The Beloved Who Suffers Well – Part 1

On By IreneIn Courage, Faith, Grace, Healing, Hope, Myasthenia Gravis Healing Journey, SufferingLeave a comment

Having the privilege to be off drugs and living pretty well for a short period of time has been nothing short of a blessing. Being inflicted with a nasty flare up of Myasthenia Gravis around end of November all through December of 2022 has become an awakening for me. I am given yet another chance in life. I praise God for the people He placed in my life to bring forth “a new life” in me. I was so sick that I can only share my reflections personally with close friends. Those who supported me has been a blessing to me and has been blessed by my sharing. So here I am sharing my past reflections in parts as I believed that everyone deserves victory in their suffering.

This was written and shared on 11 December 2022 and it was my breakthrough reflection.

Upon being invited to stay with the desire to be known, so many things came out. One identity I am invited to take on now is “The Beloved who Suffers Well”. I sensed my own discomfort in it but then who is the first Beloved who Suffers Well? None other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He showed us that the Cross is the way to Glory and I am to be focused on the grace of the moment.

What came out of my reflection surprised me. I only want to be known of the good stuffs but in my reality now I am crying out to be known in my suffering. To dare to bare the suffering. So here are the symptoms I am experiencing:

– muscle weakness
– unable to swallow properly without drug. It’s sometimes hard even with drugs
– severe double vision
– dizziness
– unstable movement
– jittery feelings on my muscles
– cold numbness on my lips and pallate
– slurry speech
– loss of appetite
– heaviness on my chest
– anxiety / depression (drug related)
– diarrhea (drug related)

I desire to suffer well like Christ and I recognise opportunities to do that. When things felt good, praise Him and when it is not that pleasant; look to the Cross for His grace for all these shall pass.

Continue to pray for me.

Love and blessings,
Irene

#thebelovedwhosufferswell

I pray that you are blessed by my sharing and that you find victory in your suffering.

With lots of love,
Irene

What It Takes to Sort out 48k+ Emails

On By IreneIn Coaching, Mental Fitness, Myasthenia Gravis Healing JourneyLeave a comment

I get an almost continuous prompting warning me that my inbox is almost full. And it comes with a solution: upgrade your space for $X. Nice solution but doesn’t serve my purpose. My personal email address has been in existence for 10 years now and I am the type who does not naturally sort things out in order. Just the way I am, preferring human connection than a tidy house kind of person. As in any human being, our strengths are complemented by our lack. Sometimes my weaknesses comes with a price tag. I often get overwhelmed by details as I am not a naturally detailed oriented person, so when I get overwhelmed, I run away from the task and procrastinate until it get the better of me. That often resulted in unnecessary stress.

Recently I discovered that tasks that used to be overwhelming no longer affect me as it used to be. The greatest example I had recently was sorting out 48k+ emails in my inbox to mere 6k+ of important emails worth keeping. It took me 5 days to do it in between other daily chores and it felt great to have that sorted out. That has been a great exercise where I get to look back at my the last 10 years of my life through the lens of the emails I received. It brought back the exact emotions I felt at the specific seasons of life. I also grieved the loss of some friendships who were important but whether I like it or not, it’s best that I come to term they are lost friendships. There were also moments of warmth reading emails from people who are already at the other side of eternity, brought back cherishing memories of these people. The changing seasons are also evident in the newsletters I subscribed. Some of them started from the beginning and are still relevant today. Some has been long gone as they don’t serve my season. It’s so interesting to see and embrace my life through this exercise.

Upon completion of this gigantic task, I noticed a few things;

  1. 48k+ emails is no joke and the fact that I felt stable all through was amazing. No overwhelmed feeling, I did not feel like I need to rush it, I am ok to take a bit at a time and it felt good to finish. In the past, I would have fainted, vomited and gave up after three pages. I am still in awe that it was possible and calm
  2. The ability to feel the emotions of the seasons again is a gift of looking back with gratitude. With that, moving forward in hope becomes a choice of lifestyle
  3. It was quite easy to delete things I thought was important back then
  4. I don’t need an overload of information, hence it is time to reevaluate what do I want in my inbox

I attributed my ability to calmly take on this task to my one year of mental fitness practice. I am a Transformation Coach who also offers Mental Fitness Training through Positive Intelligence (PQ). What better way to give than to be one who is living out the lifestyle of mental fitness practices. PQ practices bring about incremental improvement, it took me a year to reach this point where I see a breakthrough. A significant improvement is observed with just 6 weeks of practice and for me personally, I benefited from a continuous practice that strengthen my mental fitness.

Another major factor is my physical healing. It is one thing to praise God through sickness which is great as that is the source of strength and holiness. Having a physically abled body does make a heap of difference on how we take on life. The combination physical healing and being mentally fit are in my opinion making this great task possible. It is like speaking and living out the language of possibility in a whole new level.

Friends, if you are looking into improving your peak performance, wellness and relationships; do reach out to me for more information. I’d be delighted to hear your story and offer a way forward. As you take time to reflect upon your life, I pray that you’ll have the desire to for higher ground and greater joy. Wishing you the best in your journey.

With lots of love,
Irene

From Drug Pusher to Drug Addict to Sobriety

On By IreneIn Celebration, Faith, Grace, Journey, Myasthenia Gravis Healing Journey, Season of LifeLeave a comment

Yes, that’s part of the story of my life! Many years ago, when I was young, vibrant and energetic, I worked as a legal drug pusher – the way pharmaceutical representatives fondly call our job title. I have left pharma for almost 10 years now. A little more than 2 years ago, after being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis (MG), I went down the path of pharma drug addiction – by necessity! It became a journey of unlearning what I thought I knew and learning a new way of honoring my body. Praise be to God, I am now in sobriety for a little more than 2 months.

In the background is a snapshot of the cocktail of drugs I was on

Having a pharma background has indirectly made me ignorant to the natural healing ability of my body. As I am also not free from confirmation bias, so it was kind of an eye opener to walk down the path desiring total sobriety from pharma drug. It is not uncommon for patient living with an autoimmunity being told that they have to be drug dependent for the rest of their lives. I stumbled upon stories of people who defy the odds and achieve something called a remission, some even successfully reversed their autoimmune condition with the right protocol. In the beginning it was amazement for me and kind of a wishful thinking that I want to be one of those who beat this. As time goes, the more I learned about this amazing God given body, the more I am convinced that healing is possible.

So started my quest for an alternative natural treatment. In the quest for healing, one main attitude that I took on is radical self responsibility for my health – I am responsible for my health, not my physicians. Hence that calls for a shift in the way I treat my body. What comes in contact becomes important be it the food I take, supplements, cleaning agents or even medical treatment I allow in my body. “Are those interventions necessary?, What are the risks vs benefits?” are among the questions I will ask before proceeding with any medical intervention. Thanks to my pharma background, reading products insert and clinical paper is something I am accustomed to. What it comes down to is doing my own research and own my decision as I should be the one who is most in tune with my body, knows my body best – not just following orders from my physicians. Self responsibility is an attitude welcomed by my physicians, it’s much easier to work with me as I do not put the burden of my health on them.

The initial part of the journey felt quite lonely as MG is a rare condition. What’s more rare are people who successfully reversed their condition naturally. The support group I joined are mostly conventional based which is fine as that’s the best known ways. I am grateful that I got support from my family who also believe that natural healing is possible. With heaps of prayer, I met my Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physician. Acupuncture, chiro work and TCM herbs worked for me. It may not the answer for every MG patient but it’s worth a try. I recognized the importance of radical self responsibility when it comes to healing as I met people who unconsciously embodied their victimhood in their healing journey. Living as a victim will not bring any freedom or victory. We are better off doing the heart work of getting out of victimhood to accountability if we want any progress at all in our lives. Talk to me if you’d like to explore tools to shift from victimhood to accountability.

Has there been bad trial for me? Yes, you bet! Some of the stuffs I tried not only did not help, it worsened my condition. When that happened, I simply stop and keep searching for things that may help. Have I been reckless? Oh yes, indeed recklessness was the main driver towards my sobriety. In March this year, I ventured into mushroom growing at home. It was an awesome experience to able to harvest fresh mushroom at home. What I did not consider was the spores from the mushroom. For any healthy person, those spores are easy peasy to get rid of from their body. For me at that time still on immunosuppressant, I got infected and suffered prolonged cough. Tried all sort of medication and it only just helped the condition a little bit. I knew for a fact, I need to be weaned off the immunosuppressant in order for the fungi infected cough to be healed. Praise God I have at that point started the weaning process. The cough been quite an ordeal and I thank God once I was off the immunosuppressant, my condition started improving exponentially.

A very interesting experience of being off pharma drug was the withdrawal syndrome. My hands and feet were swollen for a month; I shivered at my neck while the peripheries of my body felt crazily warm. To intensify the drama, the prolonged cough finally affected my taste buds. When my taste buds were affected, that’s when things got hard. I enjoy my food and for that simple pleasure to be taken away, I was left in a state of choice again. Do I rise up victoriously or do I sulk in self pity? I chose victory. Well, experiencing drug withdrawal with an affected taste bud has become a reality, I may as well laugh it out. Not in my power to stop that with a switch but definitely in my power to define the experience with an attitude of praise and gratitude. As I continue to praise God for His healing power upon me and His overflowing grace that helped me through; I find peace, strength and courage to persevere in my healing journey.

So today, I am a little less young, still vibrant and regaining my energy; being thankful for the experience I had journeying from a drug pusher to a drug addict and now in sobriety. Thank you for your support dear friends through my journey. It is my prayer that you will also embody radical self responsibility when it comes to honoring your body. May your journey be an exciting one!

With lots of love,
Irene

What I Learnt Through Sickness

On By IreneIn Celebration, Commitment, Courage, Faith, Grace, Hope, Journey, Myasthenia Gravis Healing Journey, Season of LifeLeave a comment

The vivid thing that I remember was being overwhelmed with grace in the beginning of the diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). When I first started having symptoms, we did some research and were desperately hoping it was something mild and less nasty. The illness progressed really quickly to the point of hospitalization and looking back I now know I was just a day or two away from a full on myasthenic crisis, where intubation would be necessary. We are ever so grateful for the grace and the favor from the Lord upon us that I was just in time.

I was determined to make my season of healing a season of grace and that mindset became the guide of my search. The journey was tough and at every juncture, I searched for the blessings behind it. My mother was in my house helping me at the early stage and she needed to get back to my hometown for her doctor’s appointment; so my niece helped for a week followed by my sister for another week. Then the lockdown happened. I was a little more than month out of hospital, still very weak and found myself without any help. My attitude was “think possible and do what’s possible”. With the outlook of gratitude, here are some things I learnt (please note that these are my personal opinion derived from personal experience);

Emergency care is life saver
I am alive today thanks to emergency care where I get immediate help and rescue medication. In my case IVIg was administered to bring my body back to a more stable state. I am evermore grateful for my dear friend who helped me in the admission and also my neurologist who is respectful and dedicated to saving me at the time of hospitalization.

Get a medical insurance coverage in case you need it
This is where grace was really abounds. My work as a lay missionary paid me nothing monetarily and so that led me to a decision to put my insurance to a holiday mode. Thank God I get to restart it in time for its use. We are privilege to have private hospitals that can attend to us immediately. The bill was really huge for us and thanks to my medical insurance, I paid only a fraction of it. I got my medical insurance when I was young with the desire to not ever need it and it turned out to be a blessing when I needed it.

It’s liberating to unlearn limiting beliefs and learn new ones
I’ve worked as a medical representative for quite some time and the medical field was one that I looked from a one sided perspective. When I was diagnosed I was told there is no cure for MG and that I would be on medication for life. I know the fact that there is a possibility to depend on drugs for life but I do not like that option. So I start researching extensively on the topic of autoimmunity. The search opened my eyes to a whole new possibility of healing naturally. I learnt not only about autoimmunity but also about cancer. The whole dynamic of the body becomes something I start seeing a whole. It’s like scales were peeled off my eyes that I now am able to embrace the fact that the body is really interconnected. I may have an autoimmune of the nerves but healing my gut would be the gateway to heal the autoimmune.

Understanding the modality of natural means of healing gave me a lot of hope. My research led me to meet my Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor who helped me to heal to the point of wellness. This in turn enabled me to start tapering down the immunosuppressant I am on. This is hope enfleshed and I am so grateful.

Diagnostic tools of modern hospital are helpful
I have a good relationship with my neurologist and I appreciate his care for me. Some MG patients are not as lucky as they did not meet good doctors who are respectful. The diagnostic tools in modern hospitals are really helpful in the navigation of disease management. Yearly CT scan is needed for me to monitor the thymoma, blood tests will give an indication of what’s going on. So for me, even though I am experiencing healing through my TCM doctor, I am still going under the care of my neurologist.

Mental fitness is a plus for healing journey
I am privileged to have gone through my own mental fitness journey in 2021 and now on the journey of advance coach training in this area. Mental fitness is our ability to take on life challenges with a positive rather than negative mindset. It’s the work developed by Positive Intelligence (PQ) and the programme has helped me tremendously in stress management. It is a well known fact that stress is a root cause of many diseases and I believe the it was major contributing factor to me getting MG. Since the diagnosis in 2020, I made it a point to regulate my emotions well. With PQ I was able to identify the source of stress in my life and am able to regulate even more effectively. I learnt tools that helped me to stop the spiraling down of negative thoughts and emotions that often resulted in stress and unhappiness. My PQ journey has seen me being happier and more productive in my work. I run an eight weeks mental fitness journey to as a foundation for clients who desires to achieve their desired outcomes with ease and great happiness. Connect with me to find out more.

Healing is possible when we take responsibility
Self responsibility is so crucial in healing. I take full responsibility for my healing by educating myself on the disease, being discerning on what I put into my body and choosing a healthier lifestyle. Education is what helped me to tap into hope of healing through the natural means and what I learnt is such a treasure on every front. Formerly a drug rep, I know well how modern drugs work. I acknowledge that modern drugs can be quite helpful especially in the beginning phase of getting ill. Dealing with symptoms can be debilitating and having drugs to help control it for a little while helps us get back on track. However, to gain full healing, it would be worth it to look at natural means. In my condition, the drugs I was on just could not bring me to a state of wellness. I thank God for TCM modality that brought me to where I am. Getting to know other people who are sick and stuck, it became apparent to me that they lack the courage to take responsibility of their bodies. They are likely to embody an attitude of helplessness and depended fully upon the advice of the healthcare provider without any question or research. Those advices are great but as responsible adults, we are invited to discern what’s best for us. Nobody knows your body better than you do, in all logic, we should be the “expert” of our bodies. What went missing that we became so disconnected from our bodies? I can answer that for myself – I was not present to my body and I did not know how to love my body fully. Through MG I learnt to reconnect, listen to and love my body the way God intended me to.

I intentionally choose my diet, lifestyle and what kind of medication I allowed in my body. Healthcare providers had encouraged me to take certain drug for prevention of some disease. My response was to check on the recommended drug; is it necessary? What are the contents of the drug? What potential side effect would it bring? Would the mechanism of action injure me due to my condition? What is known about this drug? Is it even ethical? These are some of the questions I would bring to the table of discernment whether to take any additional drug. In my discernment I would tap into grace of the Living God and connect to my instinct for decision. When it concerns life, I think it’s important to go beyond our rational mind to our intuition. All these requires a sense of self responsibility. This body is a gift from Christ and it is my responsibility to take good care of it.

God heals the way He pleased
One of my first response when I got sick was to pray. I invited family and friends to join me on a 54 days rosary novena with the intention of my healing. I secretly wished I would be one of those who received healing instantaneously. However, in my case God is pleased to heal me according to natural law. It’s a process that I go through with some days being great and some being really crappy. I learnt to be grateful through it all. This is a journey of endurance and trust training. I certainly see my trust in the Lord increase steadily. Do I still cry when it’s difficult? YES I do! I also experience recovery from the negative emotions way faster and with every hurdle comes greater trust. I am learning as St. Paul taught us to find contentment in all circumstances (Philippians 4: 12).

I hope my little nuggets of learning is helpful for you. Wherever you are in your healing journey, the burden feels lighter if you have someone who walk alongside you. Should you be considering a coach, I am here. My prayer for you is that you find fullness of life in the midst of your circumstances.

With lots of love,
Irene

Recounting 2 Years of Healing Journey

On By IreneIn Celebration, Courage, Faith, Grace, Grieve, Hope, Journey, Myasthenia Gravis Healing Journey, ProvidenceLeave a comment

The recollection of events that happened 2 years ago is still vivid in my mind. It sometimes felt surreal that we’ve been through such drama, especially now that I am in a much better state physically. Just a few weeks ago I shared my grace of healing with a Myasthenia Gravis (MG) support group, one response that I got was pretty astounding: “that’s crazy, you are one lucky person!”. Indeed I am really blessed to have found healing through Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

I can count so many blessings that came out of my healing journey; one of them being my openness to unlearn what I thought I know to be the “right” way of viewing sickness and relearn to connect to my body through natural means. As a former drug rep, this is a sanctifying journey and I am just simply amazed at the grace of openness that I was able to tap on. Because of MG I enrolled myself into all sort of health education programs and the irony is that I finally understand a little bit of the principle of TCM through an English speaking American program despite growing up more deeply rooted in Chinese culture (I only speak a few Chinese languages but am unable to read or write Chinese scripts).

Acupuncture has been attributed to being quite helpful for MG, with that knowledge I started praying and looking for an acupuncturist from the very beginning of the diagnosis. I finally found one after more than a year of searching when my friend shared his experience with his TCM who also does acupuncture. Meeting my TCM doctor was an answered prayer. I only wanted acupuncture to supplement my current conventional medicine regime but I was given more.

At my first appointment, I found out that my TCM doctor did his masters in autoimmunity, hence he was totally unsurprised by MG with thymoma. Another assurance came my way when I met his wife who had MG with thymoma 17 years prior. That gave me a lot of hope as I know then the doctor I found knows what he’s dealing with as MG is a rare condition. I started off with just acupuncture as I wasn’t sure about taking herbal meds on top of my current conventional regime. After consultation with my TCM doctor, his advice was to take the different meds at an hour and a half apart.

It was Aug of 2021, I started experiencing slight worsening when I finally met my TCM doctor. Came Sept, I lost my dearest younger brother and that bout of emotional stress threw me to the floor of MG flareup. I was so weak to the point of having difficulty in swallowing water. So at that time, I restarted steroid and pyridostigmine to help control the symptoms. Both my neurologist and TCM doctor had great empathy and were really supportive.

By early Oct, I started herbal meds with weekly therapy that involves cupping, chiro work and acupuncture. Within 3 months, I showed signs of improvement to the point of wellness. One example would be computer screen time. At the peak of when symptoms was relatively low on conventional drug treatment, I could withstand computer screen time up to 10 minutes and then my eyelids will start to droop. By that point, my whole body would feel a tiring sensation like an out-of-sync-electric-current numbness that runs through my body. I would need to lie down for at least 20 minutes to recover. After 3 months of TCM treatment, I can withstand computer screen time up to an hour before I started feeling my eyelids. I only need to take an eyelid rest by closing my eyes for about 30 seconds and then I am ready to continue with my work at the computer again. That’s a massive difference and I can only praise God for His grace that led me this far into my complete healing.

Today I am on yet another milestone journey – the last leg of immunosuppressant dose reduction prescribed by my neurologist. The last appointment in Dec showed how much I improved clinically and that somehow gave him the confidence to propose the beginning of the dose reduction. I am ever so grateful at the mercy God is showing me. His mercy that enveloped me from the beginning of the journey. His grace that led me to decide to make this a meaningful season. I’ve learnt so much through this and it has certainly changed me in the way I view life, the world and the way I honor my relationships. My heart is filled with gratitude towards everyone who jumped in support of me and my family during the most difficult time. I am praying for you daily as I thank God for the healing I received.

Being able to turn any circumstances into blessing is indeed a grace I received and happy to tap on. One of my way of blessing others is sharing my journey and what I learnt. My next post will be focused on what I’ve learnt through my healing journey. When I prayed for healing, I was expecting an immediate miracle. God, however has a different thought (Isaiah 55: 8-9). In His mercy, He allowed me to experience the fullness of loving myself – transforming my mind, teaching me patience, forming me in His love and my trust in Him. I experienced a miracle that manifests itself in the ordinariness of life, the power of natural remedies and the effectiveness of life long mental fitness training. Praising God in my own transformation and looking forward to share more with you.

With lots of love,
Irene