Jennifer Taylor Schmidt

Jennifer is a wife, mom, teacher and writer. She enjoys writing fiction for middle grade readers and writes for her own website, realfoodrealhealing.com, where she writes to nourish the body, mind, and soul, while sharing her personal health story. Jen is married to a Lutheran pastor. They have one son. Aside from writing, Jen enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, and walking trails.
Broken relationships. Sickness. Miscarriage. Death of a loved one. Loss of a pet. There are so many different things that might contribute to a feeling of grief throughout the Christmas season. During this time of year, grief sometimes feels unwelcome or misunderstood. It seems out of place with the joyful decorations and parties and parades that occupy the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think the stark opposition between grief and joy only serves to intensify the feeling of grief for one who is sad. You’re not supposed to feel unhappy during the holidays, right? But what if you do? Is it wrong? Should Christmas just pass you by?

In December of 2015, I experienced a miscarriage. It was my second in six months. Medically, I needed a D&C to help my body complete the
My longest Messy Middle was a span of five years. When my son was about one year old, my husband and I began to hope and pray for another child. After two miscarriages in the span of six months, my body began to deteriorate. I collected a list of seemingly unconnected symptoms. Chronic fatigue. Brain fog. Muscle pain. Joint pain. Migraines. Blurred vision. Digestive distress. Painful Bloating. The list went on and on.

For three years, every three months on average, I was diagnosed with a new autoimmune disease or other condition. Hashimoto’s Disease. Celiac Disease. Ulcerative Colitis. C-Diff. Carbohydrate Malabsorption. Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). Histamine Intolerance. I had a growing