The dawn came with musical silence;
Raelyn’s soul heard the melody that her ears could not. A new day had come, new possibilities, a fresh
page yet to be written.
To her friends, she appeared strong. But deep down, she felt the kind of sadness
that leached into your bones rather than exploded in a cascade of tears.
Her friend invited the family to visit their cottage in Michigan,
but they couldn’t go.
Heather, their 23-year-old daughter had been suffering from
anorexia for more than a decade.
Her weight was that of a small child.
They’d nearly run out of options until a chance Facebook posting last
fall brought Heather the first breath of hope in years.
Treating anorexia, which is characterized by self-starvation
and an inability to maintain adequate body weight, seems absurdly simple on the
surface: just eat and gain weight. It’s
something Heather and the millions of others afflicted by eating disorders have
heard many times. But it’s never that
simple.
Raelyn had long since lost track of the number of times Heather
had been admitted to a treatment program with electrolyte imbalances caused by
starvation or self-induced vomiting, or thoughts of suicide. She’d gain weight during the program, then
return to her old ways when discharged.
So for more than 20 years, she remained miserably,
incurably, trapped.
Up to one in five people with chronic anorexia will die as a
result of their illness, either from the effects of starvation or to suicide. It’s the deadliest of all psychiatric
disorders.
Scientists have made tremendous progress in treating teenage
anorexia before the disorder becomes chronic.
But this hasn’t translated into effective treatments for adults.
In Ohio, an experimental five-day intensive program requires
patients and up to four support people to join them for treatment. So Raelyn’s family vacation will be spent in
Ohio this summer with Heather and their last hope before hospice for successful
treatment. She felt the weight of the
sadness in her heart; making no effort to chase it away.
“It's okay to be sad . . . especially about sad
things," thought Raelyn. There's a single word for a burden we
bear for the good of others: CROSS.
She thought about Jesus and "Take up your cross and
follow me." There's a difference
between taking up a cross begrudgingly and accepting it as a heavy gift for
someone else. Jesus wasn't happy about His
situation; He pleaded three times to have that cup taken from Him. Yet He didn't resent having to die for the
sake of the world. He was sad, but did
what He had to.
Jesus or the comforts of this life? It’s a tough call, but the reward is
incomparable.
“Here I am Lord.
It is I Lord. I have heard You
calling in the night. I will go Lord, if
You lead me. I will hold Your people in
my heart.” Amen
