Know Your Tools

I'm an artist. To get satisfactory results when I attempt to render something, I  have to know and be familiar with my media, whether it be watercolor, pastels, colored pencil, graphite, pen and ink or charcoal. 
Let's take watercolor, for example:  it's very unpredictable and also very unforgiving.  On top of that, when your colors on your paper are wet they look deeper or more vibrant than when they are dry.  There are many different kinds of paper, and when the paint is applied, the color will spread differently according to the weight and how it is pressed.  You have to understand how to mix colors so that you don't wind up with a muddy mess.  There are different grades of paint.....; many different types of brushes; and there are other tools to apply the paints with like a sponge or sprinkled salt.  Then if you make a mistake, you have to get creative according to trial and error to see if it can be corrected so that you don't have to trash it.  To get good at painting I have to spend time practicing what  I know and I work to improve.  You get the picture. 
So what does this have to do with PD?  Well this is what I'm thinking:  As time goes on and our disease progresses, we are able to do fewer and fewer of the same things like we have always done.  We can be inclined to brood over our losses.  We might give in to depression and self-pity as the losses mount up.   Our hearts can break over this dreadful state of affairs.  But, wait a minute......  Are we bypassing the good news that no disease or state of affairs can steal?
God gives us all of the tools we will ever need to deal with this disease and our heartaches.  He gives us the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23 - "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance....")  He also gives us armor so that we stand and do not fall.  (read Ephesians 6:11-18) If you are a Believer, God has given you the tools to create a masterpiece.  And you need to be familiar with these tools He gives you.  Practice love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance!  You become proficient with these tools only if you practice.  And, it won't be easy at first, but keep on, and you will see a change.  Don't focus on your loss, but go forward into the life that you have, and don't look back.  Nobody can ever go back to the way things were, but we are all given this new day. 
I don't know about you, but I suspect you would agree with me that your day is packed full of circumstances and opportunities to test your skill in handling these tools.  "This is the day that the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it."