Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. I was secretly really excited to do this. Over the past couple of weeks I've seen a lot of videos of people pouring ice water over each others heads and I've heard a lot of comments and complaints of people being tired of seeing the #ALSicebucketchallenge showing up on their newsfeed, or how it's not actually doing anything - just another silly trend; people jumping on the bandwagon. But the thing is, it's raising a TON of money to help research ALS. Like, millions. Along with raising money, it's also raising awareness. People are curious about what this whole "ALS" thing is, so they google it, and they research it, and they gain a little bit more knowledge of what this awful disease is and how it can affect peoples lives. But not only is it raising money and awareness for ALS, it's also blessing and encouraging the families that deal with ALS on a daily basis. Think about it. Even if it is silly and a lot of people are just doing it because it's a trend, people are acknowledging that it exists. They're showing that they care. They're taking time to learn about what it is. They're donating money to help with the research and support of it. They're spreading the news so that others can learn about it too. Though we all receive things differently, think of the of hope and encouragement that can come from that. Seriously. Stop and think about that. To me, that kind of encouragement is far more important than what we desire to see or not see on our social media sites. We can put on our big girl (or boy) pants and suck it up for a little bit and let this encouragement and awareness continue. I think it's beautiful. On a personal note (though it's nowhere NEAR the struggles and discouragements of ALS), if people were spreading the word about Celiac Disease for what it ACTUALLY is - not just some dumb food fad where people don't actually know what gluten is - and people knew about some of the frustrations and daily challenges that it causes, I would lose it. But in a good way. Like, my eyes would undoubtedly spring a leak. Here's the thing. I feel SO alone and unheard when it comes to my Celiac Disease (mainly due to the severity of it). I don't feel like anyone (aside from a small few) really understands what it's actually like or how discouraging, frustrating, and challenging it is. Sometimes I feel like people are constantly trying to tell me how I should handle things in regards to it, or tell me what is and isn't okay when they haven't even walked a step in my shoes. That's for Celiac Disease. I can't imagine the pain, frustration, and challenges that come from ALS. And honestly, I don't want to. It's one of those things that reminds me of how fortunate I am to really live life - even with Celiac and a misaligned skeleton. Anyways, that's my take on the matter. There's a wonderful article I read about what the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge looks like through the eyes of a family struggling with the disease. It's written by an incredible woman who is a big part of the ALS community and author of the book Beautiful Battlefields, where she talks about conquering the battles of life through Christ and tells her own story of her battle of watching her husband suffer through ALS. Her name is Bo Stern, and this is what she has to say on the matter : http://www.faithit.com/heres-what-an-als-family-really-thinks-about-the-ice-bucket-challenge/?c=tsal
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