rachelhopkins99Hi Fam! It has been such a whirlwind start to the year. I just wanted to give you all an update on things. The past few months have been interesting. My time living in Hawaii I have progressively felt worse and worse. What started out as occasional headaches and some fatigue has turned into migraines, chronic fatigue, and some odd neurological issues.
For those of you who know me, you know how much I guard my health. I eat clean, drink tons of water, and I workout 5 to 6 days a week. In December I had a wakeup call of how serious and abnormal my symptoms are. I went back to Tennessee and had some blood work done. I started feeling a lot better while being on the mainland. The semester was about to start and I did not have my blood work back yet. But, I felt as though I needed to come back to Hawaii.
So I did. And my symptoms have been worse. My test results came back and I tested positive for black mold in my body. I also have three other organisms that my body is working to fight off. My doctor also tested my immune system. Essentially, it is not working well at all. How it was explained to me is that my body will not start healing until I leave my current environment. With black mold there is a window of time that my body can heal from what I was exposed to. Once that window closes my neurological issues will become permanent and get worse.
I felt the Lord saying exhaust all your possibilities here. I have searched high and low for housing and to no avail. Affordable mold free housing in Hawaii is very hard to come by.
Realizing the implications of what living here could permanently do to my body, I felt the Lord speaking to me about going back to Tennessee. I wrestled with him on this. I feel in my spirit there is so much more to do here. In the last year, Hawaii has truly become my home. Part of my heart will forever be here on this island and with these people. The homeless community, Wahiawa, and Surfing The Nations has become my Ohana. I don’t want to leave this.
I want to stay here. This does not make any sense to me. Then the Lord reminded me how becoming a missionary and living in Wahiawa was not what I wanted. It did not make sense either. This past year has been one of the hardest years of my life but also the best year of my life. I know He is faithful and He will bring something good out of this. Right now I just can’t see it.
I’ve fasted, wrestled, and prayed over this. And it’s clear that I have to go back to Tennessee to prioritize my health for a time. I don’t feel like I am done in Hawaii. This change is indefinite, I am going back to get healthy and then see where the Lord leads me. I am so thankful for you all and your support through this journey. The journey is not over, just taking a little break to get healthy. So thankful for you all and all of your support through this journey ❤️
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