First off, Jeff is doing ok. I have not noticed any signs of more progression of the disease, but so far, there has not been any noticeable change in healing either. Every morning when we wake up, Jeff is confused about why he can't see and asks me if this will be the day he will be able to see again. I have to remind him often that we don't know what the Lord's timetable is. Yesterday Jeff said that it is easy to say "Thy will be done" not so easy to say "Thy time be ok too"
Each day brings new challenges and opportunities to strengthen our faith and for me to practice cheerfulness in spite of burdens that might take awhile to be overcome.
I have created another post of the email I sent out. In it I talked about expecting miracles.
Let me share just a few miracles with you in response to that plea.
The response has been overwhelming. Missy Novak from Florida called to tell me the Florida wagons were circling and she was contacting many of our dear friends who were no longer in Florida.
The LDS Church in Spokane responded likewise with an outpouring of love and support.
Many of the friends that I have met in my business ventures over the last year likewise responded with the sweetest support and love.
Our children all joined s in fasting and prayer and invited all of their friends to join us as well. Oh how we love the friends of our children. We consider them to be our children too.
When I went and picked up Jeff's things from work, I was told that many in that company who are proud to be self-proclaimed athiests joined us in a day of fasting and prayer. That was a miracle in and of itself.
I was able to take Jeff to Sacrament Meeting last Sunday. It was a miracle just for me to get him showered and dressed...but it only shows how many ways I have strengthened over the last few weeks.
One of the first things that happened was that our bishop invited me to the front to receive our release papers. We have been serving a mission for the LDS church for the last 2 1/2 years in the addiction recovery program. For those of you who know a little bit about our story, that in and of itself is a miracle. (Not that we were released, but that we were able to serve faithfully and learned to love so many others who are now going through trials very similar to ones one have faced in the past.)
We have had many callings in the church in our lives, but never have we loved serving to such a degree. Receiving the official release brought overwhelming feelings of sadness and absolute joy.
The Sacrament Song on that particular day was "I Stand All Amazed" It was one of those tender mercies of the Lord for those particular words to be able to penetrate my husband's somewhat scrambled mind. He sat in his wheelchair and wept without even comprehending why. His spirit knew and felt the love.
I was able to bear testimony to my belief in the power of miracles. I do not need to define how those miracles will look. I only choose to see them in every aspect of our lives and I do. Each post I will share with you little miracles I experience because I absolutely expect them to happen.
I do not know what the future holds for us. Right now I am just enjoying the very intimate one on one time I am able to spend with my husband. He has become very childlike and sweet. Sometimes he comprehends what is going on. Most times he is very confused, but tries so hard to make sense of things. We have gained a whole new understanding of what it means to be "at one" in our marriage. I am grateful for all the opportunities I have had in the past to make decisions about what I am willing to sacrifice to create an eternal marriage.
As time goes on, I will share many insights I have gained on marriage, life, death, learning to create joy by letting go of the past, forgiveness, and finding humor in the most dire circumstances. Jeff has informed me when he can see again and use the computer he is going to publish his own book about how to survive your stay in the hospital. His title is "Dead Men Don't Need to Pee". I will let your imagination figure out how that title came about.
That's it for this first post. I will try to keep them brief, although those who know me well, know that once I start writing it is hard for me to stop. But this has been a dream of mine for a very long time. Like I have said before, we are just very ordinary people who have been given some extraordinary opportunities to learn. If in my sharing our learning steps with you, you can find peace in your own lives, I will feel like perhaps our experiences will have added value.
Chris Dietzel,
very new resident to Boise, Idaho (that will be another post for another day)
No comments:
Post a Comment