Day 21

A dry crust eaten in peace is better than a great feast with strife. Proverbs 17:1

Susan Lark, M.D., notes that up to 90 percent of premenopausal women suffer from at least one of the 150 symptoms that define PMS, and up to 10 percent of them have symptoms severe enough to hamper their ability to function normally. “The all-too-familiar symptoms include headaches, depression, moodiness, fatigue, breast tenderness, fluid retention, backache, cramps, acne, weight gain, swelling, constipation, allergies and joint pain.^a So do we use PMS as an excuse to get us out of work, sex, housework, or pumping our own gas? Well, we can hardly go that far since “at the 1976 Olympics an American swimmer won three gold medals and broke a world record while at the height of her period.”^b I have to admit that I have toyed with the idea that since PMS is followed by menses, maybe I have the right to be pathetic for ten to fourteen days each month. The only problem is, I don’t want to be pathetic half my life.

After the birth of our second child, Bill noticed that I seemed to have a pattern of some negative emotions. I regularly became irritable, panicked, bossy, and cynical. On those days Bill could do no right, and the world seemed on the edge of doom. Either I tried to control everything, or I fell into a mild depression. Bill began to mark down the worst days for me, and after a few months he noticed that day twenty-one was my worst day. So I planned a lighter schedule on days twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two. I tried not to make snap decisions on those days. I set aside time to exercise and rest.

Mark up your calendar for a few months. There may be some days not to argue, not to get on your children’s case, and not to react to a friend.

God is more powerful than PMS, and by his grace, we can deal with those difficult days.