We Are Moving On!

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. This has been a whirlwind week and it will be a whirlwind day - the movers arrive at 8:00am! The move that I have alluded to is here and we are about to relocate from just off the loop in the Northwest Twin Cities metro to just off the loop in the South Twin Cities metro on the bluff overlooking the Minnesota River valley. As we prayed for wisdom, searched alternatives, and settled on our location, we have felt God’s hand, grace, and mercy all along the way. Joy has made remarkable strides in her healing and recovery and yet there remain physical and cognitive limitations that we wanted to better accommodate through our move. We thank God that we feel we have accomplished that, but we would certainly appreciate your prayers for the move today and for settling in and adjusting to our new location.

As I just mentioned Joy has worked so hard and made so many gains in her rehabilitation that I haven’t spent a lot of time sharing updates on her current condition other than to ask generally for healing for sight to the upper right, her aphasia, and cognitive needs. But the intensity of the move has brought to light in new ways the challenges Joy still faces with her aphasia. General daily conversation goes very well, but when you are going through the plethora of items in a home to pack or give away, there are many challenges for Joy in the words she is trying to find. Most of the days this last week have ended in tears of exhaustion at working so hard to communicate what she wants to say, but can’t find the right word to say it.

As an example, Joy said to me, “We need to remember the sewing machine,” and so I pointed to the boxed sewing machine, on a stack of boxes not five feet away and said, “We have it, it’s right there.” She said, “No, the sewing machine, what you do with the clothes, the sewing machine,” and started moving her hand back and forth. So I asked, “Do you mean the iron? That would easily fit in this box.” To which she replied, “No, it can’t fit in a box, its the thing you use for the clothes, the thing...” This went on a little longer until we realized that she was trying to say “ironing board.” That’s just one small example, but when it happens with countless items we are trying to sort, pack, or eliminate, it gets exhausting and again often results in tears of fatigue and frustration. So for those of you who continue to follow us, please know we covet your faithful prayers so much because they are still so relevant and necessary, especially when it comes to Joy’s ability to communicate the way she wants to and needs to.

Since we have a full day ahead, I’ll close with yet another Henri Nouwen quote aptly titled “A New Beginning” -

We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises. Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to the voice saying to us: “I have a gift for you and can’t wait for you to see it!” Imagine.

Is it possible that our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives? Yes, it can! The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: “You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will just be a repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best you can.” There are many cunning foxes jumping on our shoulders and whispering in our ears the great lie: “There is nothing new under the sun… don’t let yourself be fooled.” When we listen to these foxes, they eventually prove themselves right: our new year, our new day, our new hour become flat, boring, dull, and without anything new.

So what are we to do? First, we must send the foxes back to where they belong: in their foxholes. And then we must open our minds and our hearts to the voice that resounds through the valleys and hills of our life saying: “Let me show you where I live among my people. My name is ‘God-with-you.’ I will wipe all the tears from your eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone” (Revelation 21:2–5).