Category: Eczema Devotional

Every parent hope for the best for their child; off the top of my head, I can think of hoping for

1. Growing well physically – Sometimes we take eating, crawling/walking/running and sleeping for granted!

2. Joyful child – Well-adjusted, being capable of loving and be loved

3. Education – for those of us in Singapore, (in fact many developed nations), getting the child to a higher-ranked grade school, high school and college

4. Career, marriage and happy life

Not all matters can be fully controlled by parents, we can only try our best and hope. Many of these ‘hope’ have a tangible feel, for instance, parents learn about nutrition, provide support for emotional development and do all that we can to volunteer for primary school. Sadly, for some parents, the hope of better beautiful skin for their children can feel like grasping at straws as whatever they do, the skin continues to be red and inflamed. It may even feel like hoping in blindness, not knowing what we can do differently, and hoping that our child’s skin will improve or placing hope in a miracle cure that we do not know.

Fortunately, in Jesus, our hope is never blind. The bible has been ‘tried and tested’ and proven correct. Jesus himself had appeared (resurrected) and showed himself tangible by even asking Thomas to place his hand on Jesus’ body. God is real and Christianity is not blind faith. I pray that eczema families have hope daily for better skin, better sleep, better quality of life and also that we place our hope in God.

Bible verse:

John 20:24-29: Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

God, thank you for giving us Jesus and the bible. Our faith is based on solid rock. Help eczema families to always have hope for better quality of life, with improving eczema.

Hope in Jesus is not Blind

Recently, we had a road trip to Malaysia with 2 other families with young children – if there’s anything we learn, it is making do. Out of 2 cars, 1 broke down; out of 6 adults, 2 had food poisoning; out of 5 children, 4 had various health problems. We improvise, accommodate as we go along and make do with what we have.

It reminded me of parenting an eczema child. A lot of time we have to make do – given that we have less sleep, more skin issues to manage and most times, little time to rest. Sometimes I feel like if I’m ‘losing out’ on time, luxury, rest, ambitions, life?! But I always remember that there is no ‘making do’ in the kingdom of God, God is able to redeem our lives, give us more than our hearts desire and even a child to Sarah at 90 years old.

Bible verse:

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen

Dear God, we may have to make do, sacrifice, forgo things that we would like to have. But nothing is in vain to You and You will bless us abundantly in ways we never expect!

With God, there is no need to Make Do.

Parenting is not easy. For one, parents are not perfect super-humans. We feel drained, tired, cranky (not only kids ‘crank’!) and sometimes, ridden with guilt, doubt and worry. As a parent of an eczema child, I can think of MANY scenarios where I simply decide to slip up in my parenting. Forget about imposing boundaries and just let my child do whatever she wants, as long as it’s not scratching. I’m tempted to turn on that TV, toss that iPad over and just chill.

One source of comfort is that our father God in heaven models for us parenting and understands the struggles. After, we are sometimes the most whiny (think the Israelites in the desert), ungrateful (think of the many generations under Judges) and sometimes, outright don’t love Him. While we are on earth, parenting will never be perfect but we know that we are not alone in this journey, hang onto God and your spouse!

Bible verse:

Matthew 18:12-14 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Father in heaven, please make up where our parenting lacks. Please be our father and help us be faithful children and raise our children likewise. Extra strength to those of us with eczema children, it’s tough, Lord!

God will never let go of His children, that’s parents and your kids!

Yet another study came out few months ago on the damage done to our brain from sleep deprivation. The test mice were limited to 4-5 hours of sleep over a 24-hour time period and in just 3 days, there’s a loss of neurons in a particular part of brain. Sleep deprivation has also been linked to metabolism, inflammatory diseases, Alzheimer’s and dementia.

When I read the report, my first thought was 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep is a luxury! Though my child’s eczema had improved and remained mild, uninterrupted sleep at night is still very rare as by some mysterious unknown reason, her head gets itchy at bedtime. Add in the other days when she’s down with flu or fever, or her skin has some rash, and interrupted sleep is a given. Sleep and rest is essential to humans – God designed it that way. The 7th day of creation is a day of rest, as a reminder we need to rest. The daily work of creation has a morning, evening also signaling rest at the end of a day’s work. I do pray simply we all have enough sleep!

Bible verse:

Psalm 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.

Dear God, help all eczema families to have enough sleep. We need it and our growing children need it. I also pray that we can trust You, instead of trying to labor through the night to do more work.

 Keep a Day’s Work to the Day

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Children’s backpacks seem to be getting heavier, as the amount of school work increases in a day. A too heavy load or a backpack that is worn incorrectly can cause back pain for our children. This is worsened by increased inactivity as children (and us adults) sit more, and usually with a less than ideal posture. The backpack should not be more than 10% to 15% of the child’s weight.

What happens when a load is too heavy? A child has to COMPENSATE by bending forward or arching which compresses the spine unnaturally. This reminds me of when parents carry too heavy a load – a ‘backpack’ of responsibilities such as childcare, chores, meals, schoolwork, work and caring for aged parents. Something may give way to such a heavy load, be it health, spiritual growth or relationships. Like dealing with a heavy backpack, we can lighten the load and adopt a more sustainable model to manage our responsibilities.

Bible verse:

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Dear God, I pray for all parents to have a load that we can bear, and a support system to bear the load together. I pray for rest for those of us who need it, and to find that rest in You.

Wear the Right Load, Right.

Photo Credit: A. Galassi via Compfight cc

Think with me, ‘my child’s skin is not good enough’, ‘the moisturizer is not good enough’; sometimes we start thinking ‘my career is not good enough’, ‘my ___________ is not good enough’. Some Not-Good-Enoughs are ‘good’ to improve, while others can easily lead to a joy-sapping way of life. For eczema, I do think the occasional use of prescription cream, daily use of moisturizer, some decent (though interrupted) sleep is good enough. In life, the benchmark varies widely for everyone.

Sometimes as a Christian, I do guard myself when I start to think that God is not Good Enough. Hush.. how can you say that? God is God! I do think that this is very possible, although taboo to say it out right. It is a very real challenge, in daily living, in our performance-driven, results-oriented, materialistic society to remind ourselves and actually believe and live by the notion that God is good enough for me. He is sufficient, He meets my needs, He is what I want.

Bible verse:

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Dear God, I pray that I will have the wisdom not to go after things in life that I don’t need. I pray that we will all find contentment and gratitude in life, despite living with eczema. I pray that we will find You to be enough.

God is Enough

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In my morning jog, I see the sun rise against the lake and I always felt in awe of how sunrise gets the day off to a fresh start. It is almost like on cue – birds come alive and start chirping, even the greenery in the park seems to take on a greener shade! I remembered when I was caring for my child’s eczema – each day is a new day, a day where it may just be possible that her skin would get better.

It’s like the song ‘As We Gather’ with the lyrics below. We can be comforted and blessed that God’s love is steadfast and his mercies have no end. Each day is a new start with fresh hope. I do pray that all of us, including myself, we ‘get’ the nature of God and experience His love.

Bible verse:

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lyrics of As We Gather, by Mike Faye & Tom Coomes

As we gather my Your Spirit work within us

As we gather may we glorify Your Name

Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship

We’ll be blessed because we came

We’ll be blessed because we came

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning, new every morning

Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord

Great is Thy faithfulness

Steadfast Love from God and mercies are new every morning

Photo Credit: Hamed Saber via Compfight cc

It amazes me how women size up each other – I guess everyone give off some vibes from their appearance and mannerism on who they are and hang out with. For me, (have I ever said this?) I wear no make-up and only have one pair of work shoes, cook my own food and do my own chores. I don’t hang around much with friends who are very different from that. Yet, I suppose another thread that can bind moms together is discussing the problems that they face being a mom, and nothing beats finding another mom who understands about caring for a child’s eczema. This sense of solidarity and for those who don’t know what it means – it’s defined as union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples. And it’s true isn’t it? We like to talk and share with those we know understand what we go through.

This reminds me of Jesus. He is the son of God and very well can be God from the heavens without coming to earth. When I was deciding whether to be a Christian, I used to think that it’s stupid of him. Why bother with all this? Everything is known – get the good guys to heaven and period, minus the drama. When I understood God’s love and his pursuit of us from Adam and Eve time, I see why Jesus was on earth so we can know Him and understand that He understands. And He came for everyone. I pray that all parents of eczema children will find Someone, or someone to share this journey with you and if I can do anything to help be there for you via my blog and support group, let me know.

Bible verse:

1 Corinthians 12: 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

We are all part of a community.

Eczema is a skin condition that has its days of ups and downs – but there are certain days which seem to be only spiraling down. In the eczema support group sharing sessions that I hold monthly, the times when parents shared about how from bad to worse their child’s skin is getting were really sad – knowing that we as parents have done what we could, yet not knowing what else we could do.

This reminded me of Joseph, a man whose life was shared in bible (Genesis 37-50). Joseph had ensured many hardships and they just seemed to get worse.  He was betrayed by his brothers, separated from his father and sole to slavery. During this time, he was falsely accused, imprisoned, had hope of release from prison and had to wait another two years before his life turned for the better. Yet, when the very same brothers came to him for help during a famine later, he was able to say ‘And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt’ (Genesis 45:7-8).

I’m reminded by Joseph to have a faith in life (things got better) and to have faith in God. I’m also reminded to forgive.

Bible verse:

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.”

Dear God, I pray that you help our family (parents and children) to have faith that the eczema will improve. We are tired from the demands of caring for eczema children, lighten our load, uplift our spirits.

Have Faith

I’m with all of you in this. My first visit to the dentist after caring for my daughter as a full-time stay-at-home mom, my dentist for the first time in my life said ‘You have dirty teeth. Period.’ I’m thinking, WHAT? Caring for my daughter with eczema had obviously limited my brushing teeth time, along with toilet time and sleep time. Cuddle, hug, laugh, TV and exercise time are out of the window. It is 3 years later when her skin is finally good enough that I started my ‘Caring for Me’ routine – making sure I eat well and within my daily calorie limit, exercising, sleeping and of course, regular dental visit.

18 months have passed since my Caring for Me routine and I have never been fitter in my life. I have muscle tone, good stamina, only my flexibility needs work (anyone offering help on this?). Just as they always say during an emergency in the airplane, take care of yourself first, then your child. I like to think that in life, to be sustainable and happily so, we as parents do have to care for ourselves. Scheduling downtime, making an effort to live healthily can help us to be happier higher energy level and in a way, a better parent. I also think of caring for my health as a way to worship God with my body, to have the strength to do His work.

Bible verse:

Luke 10:27 : And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Dear God, I pray that you help us, parents of eczema children or those with family members to take care of with chronic conditions to find time to care for ourselves. I do not want to be tired, stressed or sluggish, but to be a bright cheerful person to encourage and support those around me.

Care for Yourself so that You can Care for Others