Hello friend,

Well, it has been quite some time since we last spoke and I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I have embarked on a new journey!  Ever since the fundraiser many events have taken place in my life that have lead me to create a new blog to spread awareness on Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

I am thrilled to explore this new path and I wanted to share the news with you.  If you are interested in following my new blog, click here!!!

You can also follow me on Instagram @thedancingcrohnie or on FaceBook at The Dancing Crohnie

Thank you so much for all of your support! Each and everyone of you have a special place in my heart ♡

Cheers to new beginnings and to happiness and health!

 

Always dancing,

Elizabeth Alvarez

 

***New Blog!: The Dancing Crohnie

The great burst of 365 days which we have packed into the word year, catapults out and beyond ourselves with such colossal acceleration that it is a wonder if we can catch a glimpse of its silhouette. It seems as though nine-years-old is the last age time operates at the appropriate gauge—how thrilling when innocence would snack on ticking hands of clocks as if devouring a sharp-cold popsicle in summertime.

It is in summertime that children sit on curbs and carelessly swing snow-white sneakers above baking concrete streets. It is the children who allow tiny globs of sweat to swell on their temples until gravity pulls the glistening spheres into free-fall splats. It is the children that invite the pulsating-tangerine sun to sting their shoulders with slow intensity regardless of risk of burn.  It is the children who stare amazed at their masterful creations of runny green and red popsicle slush melting in the sun.  All the while, parents and other old adults jerk, twitch and convulse, oblivious to the beauty amidst—their minds fixated on deadlines and eyes beaming lifelessly at ticking watches.

Time still ticks regardless of position and deep nostalgia hits the gut hard when you realize yet another year has elapsed. Gazing at January with motherly eyes, I greet her comfortably and knowingly—she is the same as always yet this time more invitingly green and extra dewy.  January will only be once in 2016—grab her with intention and she will lead you into February who will pass you to March and so on.  Time is forgiving and rather lenient if you live intently, the funny thing is: sometimes living intently means to live childlike, which can be challenging for a responsible adult.

Isn’t it peculiar how children have no concept of the measurement of time? A child has no desire to know what time it is, they are busy living fully that time does not bind them up.  Is it not when you are the most invested in something: a page-turning book, a mesmerizing play, an enriching heart to heart conversation, that you are the least aware of time?  Time itself seems to slow down during the actual experience and when the actual time is revealed you are left astonished by how quickly time passed by.  Could you imagine living a life so full and enjoyable that in a sense you escape the constraints of time?  Children do this daily, for they choose to live as they please, without remorse, fear or hesitation.

I find it fascinating that in Mark 10:15, Jesus reminds us that we cannot enter into His kingdom unless we are childlike. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in¹. How fitting.  The kingdom of God offers unimaginable quenches to all our thirsts and Jesus is saying that in order to gulp such goodness, we must live like children live.  A bit surprising, no?   But if you take a moment to assess and deconstruct His words, what He is saying is rather brilliant.  Why not become so fattened with innocent ambition and intention that time and other constraints of life shed and fall away? Jesus makes it clear to us that His yolk is easy and His burden is light².  He came to give us life so we could have it more abundantly³. Are we making life more complicated than it is?

Friend, life is simpler than we perceive. So be simple.  Be childlike.  Lace up your sneakers this new year and play.  Play and slurp and lick multicolored popsicles in the most messy and repulsive way.  Allow the sugary goop to stick to your lips and cheeks, fingers and palms.  Lick at your hands to enjoy the remaining syrup and allow some to drip on your tank top.  Swing your legs back and forth vigorously, take in the radiant light of the relentless sun, and don’t forget to look down at your masterpiece splattered below—if you ask me, pavement can always use a splash of color.

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¹Mark 10:15 ²Mathew 11:30 ³John10:10

Photo Credit: Grow Happy

 

“You have had zero improvement,” said my gastroenterologist. I looked at him unbothered and listened to the proposed game plan: new medication involving an intramuscular injection every two weeks and continuation of the diet plan. It wasn’t until I got into the elevator and walked into the white lobby that I erupted frustrated, tired tears. God mercifully arranged that my two best friends be by my side and I thankfully felt their loving arms enlace around me as I pressed my hands into my face. They both stood firm as pillars while I faintly jerked from the overwhelming entanglement of emotions twisting, untwisting, knotting and unknotting inside me. We stood intertwined in front of the automated glass sweeping doors that robotically opened and closed, closed and opened—I was dizzy.

Dizzy, but not alone. Time seemed to suspend for a moment while I was wrapped up in their hold. I was doing exceptionally well, how could this be?  I thought: dear God, why must you put me through such severe mercies?  Please don’t mistake my question. I know God does not want His children to be sick, nor does He inflict sickness on His beloved. However, I do believe we have our own crosses to bear, and I will say this—I must dig in deeper with what has been laid before me.

The intimidating expanse of God’s wisdom is what I meditate on in order to keep me still and sure. His hand is over me and He knows my life from start to finish. When I have the luxury of immersing myself into His vast, eternal presence, He causes me to blossom and bloom like a soft pink rose in early spring. I must continue to morph into His image.  Is this not our purpose? So with quick repentance, I must refocus my lens and wipe clean its dusty surface in order to gaze into my Healer’s eyes. Oh, what He offers is delicious freedoms and ever-flowing energies of love and wholeness. He said himself that the voyage would not be easy, but what lies on the other side is goodness beyond comprehension.

Friend, remember that it is the thief that comes to steal and kill and destroy¹ but greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world². So live fiercely, for nothing can touch us. But what about the tremendous horrors and evils that creep and dislodge themselves into our paths and the paths of others? Dearest friend always remember that nothing, no evil can penetrate your eternal being with God as your shield. Press into Him, and you will be forever guarded and forever safe. How comforting it is, especially through trying times, to remind ourselves that we are simply passing through this temporal world. Whatever is plaguing you will eventually fall away. So pass through. Emulate a summer breeze that playfully swishes and dips. Explore an open window and rustle through its vivid-blue curtains. Keep weaving in and out, out and in. Curve, and spin, whirl and twist. Lift and push, rise and fall. Pass through.

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¹John 10:10  ²1John 4:4

Photo Credit: Karen Hollingsworth “Discreet” Oil on canvas

With beads of sweat sliding down my chest, I prayerfully and frantically looked for the house keys in the blush of morning—they were dropped during my early jog.

The scenery is grand.  The trees mature and strong-rooted have over-stretched branches that give every street deep shade from the sun. Laser light of the ever-powerful morning star shoot through breaches from the canopies above, unveiling a spunky light show for those who run the neighborhood streets in the smiling morning. Lush dense grass carpets family homes, stout hedges hug fences—there is an overload of green and a slight kissing of a thin hot breeze.

Reasoning said finding the keys would be unlikely, they could have dropped anywhere, but stubborn faith showed me a vision of the pair waiting for me on a sidewalk, sunbathing. After three blocks of searching a voice suggested to give up, it’s a total crapshoot, but faith nudged me to move onward. The light pink sidewalk ricocheted intense heat and more sweat dripped into the lip of my tank top as the search continued. Lo and behold, in the distance laid a pair of shimmering keys collecting sun rays as if vacationing in Tahiti—toes in sand, daiquiris in hand and bickering about whether the cloud above looked like a fat poodle or an oversized fork. I could not help but yell: Jesus; you are so good to me! I plastered a ridiculous smile on my face. The keys were found.

I threw up when I got home. The utter elation from finding the keys took over my body and caused my insides to squeeze-out liquid joy. Giggling. I am only teasing. The purgation did occur but it was because I pushed my body too hard on the run. Lesson learned: no more running beneath the bright blue sky just yet. Focus remains fixed on being Crohn’s free and impatience at this point is silly and rather immature—I jumped the gun with the cardio. All things heal in God’s time, so with poise, I will ride the steady lulls of this journey with total patience—my body will alert me when it is ready for outside jogs. I will say however, when I return to pounding the pavement my keys will be secured in a pocket with a zipper or a trustworthy button.

It is pretty wild that the pair of silver was found so quickly, the chances were not in my favor. If I had listened to the opposing voice in my head I would have returned home keyless, all the while the two were waiting to be found. You see, just before a beneficial shift or change occurs, opposition, negativity and disbelief try to suffocate its manifestation. If adversity is felt, chances are success is a short block away—take inventory of your greatest achievements and you will find this to be true. Where there is no vision, the people perish¹. About to throw your hands up in defeat? Don’t. You are about to breakthrough. Envision victory. Look at it. Make it real before it enters reality and pray it into fruition. Believe you have received it, and it will be yours². The power of earnest prayer married with vision is explosive—how different life would be if this were our continual habit.

 

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¹Proverbs 29:18  ²Mark 11:24

Photo Credit: Tao Okamoto by Russell James

Isn’t it awful when you get a good thing at the wrong time?  The jovial news of a long awaited promotion arriving the same day your spouse decides to suggest divorce.  Or the chivalric request of a proper dinner date, from a most charming requestor, on the afternoon you must catch a flight home from vacation.  Even the simple offer of a plump red-velvet cupcake can be terribly debilitating if your mouth is inflamed and nursing from a root canal.  Timing.  Timing is everything.

Oh but how satisfyingly grand it is when you get a good thing at the right time.  The stars-align and life seems to swell with candy, cliché happy music, chirping birds and sparkles.  Lots of sparkles.  The sky is the bluest blue and fluffy white puppies seem to flank every street corner.  It’s the good life, as Frank Sinatra would say.

It is from this sort of happy place that I write to you today.  I have been offered a new season in my life.  A season to heal, recharge and reemerge with newness.  Grasping this opportunity with hungry and desperate hands, I am thankful, humbled and expectant of the good things to unfold.  However, I am not foolish, nor do I live a life of illusions.  Of course, I will have good days and bad as I embark on this new program to heal from Crohn’s Disease; everything in God’s time of course.  But, my mental space is set to winning.

I will happily share that I just received news from my gastroenterologist that I am no longer anemic, iron deficient or vitamin D deficient.  My inflammatory markers are only a hair abnormal and all other tests fell in the normal category.  Cue fireworks.  Might I add, I have only been doing this new program for about four weeks and currently waiting for supplements and other components to arrive.  My body is responding beautifully.  Cue tap-dancing panda.

Although I am in a season where things have aligned with utter precision, I will be sensitive to those who are in the other space.  To you I will say, know that it is a temporary place, as all things are in life—the season will soon pass and recede away like the ocean tide.  Never lose sight of this reality and do not live illusioned or believing the false idea that you are stuck and will never move forward.  The same rings true for my current moment.  In this life we will have many troubles¹.  So live presently.  Live hourly.  Live with gusto.  And always know that weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning².  Time is fleeting.  And although timing can be paradoxical, it is ever-changing.

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¹ John 16.33 ² Psalm 30.5

Photo Credit: Nischal Shetty