Like a Precious Flower

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. I am pleased to report that we had a productive visit with Joy’s primary care physician on Tuesday, where we were able to address some health issues that proved to be minor, thankfully, and in the process Joy felt very supported and heard which greatly encouraged both of us.

At the same time, it always proves emotionally taxing for Joy when we go to a medical provider as she recognizes how much has changed for her since the accident. Her emotions are especially acute in a healthcare setting - a setting where she spent 45 years of her life in highly responsible, often complicated roles, which she handled with wisdom and grace, but which now feel so foreign to her. While I know it is a heart-wrenching loss for Joy, I always want to assure her that she is loved by those of us who know her, not because of what she did or does, but because of who she is. I came across this Henri Nouwen quote that I think speaks to an issue we all struggle with:

“In many ways we are like the busy executive who walks up to a precious flower and says: ‘What for God’s sake are you doing here? Can’t you get busy somehow?’ and then finds the flower’s response incomprehensible: ‘I am sorry, but I am just here to be beautiful.’ How can we also come to this wisdom of the flower that being is more important than doing? How can we come to a creative contact with the grounding of our own life?”

While Joy feels limitations in her “doing,” I pray she recognizes the many ways she is precious in her “being,” like the flower. While the depth of Joy’s caring and compassion for others has always been there, it is much closer to the surface since the accident as she is beautifully uninhibited in her spontaneous expressions of encouragement, affirmation, and tender-heartedness to family, friends, and strangers alike. She truly lives up to her name bringing joy to those she interacts with.

Joy continues her passionate involvement with Bundles of Love as she sews, knits, and crochets baby sweaters, hats, booties, burp cloths, blankets, and quilts, as well as working on items for sale at a holiday craft fair later this year that the organization uses for fund raising purposes. It means so much to her to be able to practice her skills for the benefit of others. I have to say I feel a bit guilty when I pull her away for her aphasia and cognitive “homework,” but fortunately, she recognizes the importance and benefit the exercises provide even if they are much less enjoyable for her.

While this update is brief, please know that we, as always, covet your prayers for Joy’s long haul recovery as we continue to hold you in our thoughts and prayers as well. I will close with the verse we chose this week from our Bible reading which I think aligns well with the “wisdom of the flower that being is more important than doing,” and it is our prayer for you from Romans 15:13:

“I (we) pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”