OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is not always about constant cleaning and repetitiveness, those are just some things that some OCD sufferers focus on. Like many people, I thought obsessive cleaning was part of it until I was in my late forties and I started feeling like a stranger in my own body. My mind would race and little things that bothered me became big things. For about a year or more I was really battling myself. I thought I was going crazy. I started wanting to isolate myself as much as I could. I noticed an increase in my irritability and my emotions. I cried easily over what to most people would seem like nothing. Things I hid were harder to hide. I didn't really "hide" things per se, I just avoided things that I knew would bother me. Mike never caught on that I willingly did the grocery shopping in the fall and winter months and he'd do it in the summer months. The reason for this was that pre-covid, the grocery stores didn't have wipes to wash t...

 Toxicity is like cancer, it starts small and continues to grow, without treatment, it will spread until it sucks the life right out of you. This is how it feels to be in an unhealthy relationship. This doesn't always mean a romantic relationship, this could be any relationship between husband & wife, partners, parent and adult child, inlaws, siblings, friends, coworkers, or anyone.  As a Christian, I know that God wants us to forgive others as he has forgiven us. Matthew 6:14-15 says If we don't forgive others, Jesus cannot forgive us.  Matthew 18: 21-22 says to forgive an infinite number of times without limits. Forgiveness won't fix another person's character, it is more like a medicine of sorts to protect our hearts from bitterness. I have learned that forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same things. We can forgive even if another person's behavior continues to be toxic. Reconciliation requires both parties to repent, forgive and communicate honestly....

How does chronic illness impact the partner?  They may lose social connectedness with others, as illness requires more of a homebound life. They may lose sexual connection, as illness saps desire. They may lose mental and physical well-being, as worry about their spouse's illness drains their equanimity. Partners are hurting and they often hurt in silence. When people recite their wedding vows to their person, do they really think they will one day be in the position to honor the vow of "In sickness and in health"? In January of 1994, I made that vow to my person but to be honest, I didn't give it much thought. we were still young, I was 27 and he was 30. I had already had children from a previous marriage and in 1995, our family was complete with the birth of our fourth child. Like any marriage, it was work. There was stress and there were blessings. The stress we had in the early years of our marriage was brought on by my husband adapting to being a step-parent, co-...