Basking in the beginning of a new year. It is chilly outside, but we are cozy inside. It’s so quiet. 😊
Jack, our two-year-old Aussie, is constantly making sure we’re okay. He’s been spending a lot of time checking on my bride lately as she is recovering from shingles and life-threatening clot removal surgery.
Today I want to take some time to align my insides with what’s happened externally. I don’t always take the time to do this.
Emotions from multiple difficulties tend to stack up in my soul and grow stale, numbing my tenderness. But today I need to steward my heart. It’s part of our recovery.
A Little Entomology
Re-covery – The word recover comes from Latin recuperare (“to get again, regain”), via Old French recovrer, meaning to return to a former state, health, or possession. [1]
I love ‘re’ words. There are several that work well as I unpack my heart.
• Reflect — to bend your attention back toward truth
• Replenish — to fill again what has been poured out
• Rejoice — to delight deeply, to let joy rise anew
Reflect
Reflect, to bend my mind back toward the truth.
The truth is that my wife could have been blinded by a severe case of shingles. She could have had a stroke or lost her life with the blood clots in her leg and lungs.
Allowing these facts to pass the stubborn ‘No Entrance’ gate of my inner heart, I cry: “I could have easily lost by bride of forty-four years!”
The reality of these recent happenings is taking root deep within me. My eyes tear up.
Tears are rare for me, and I don’t hold back. My soul shakes a bit to go along with the tear, and soft sobs emerge.
With my eyes closed, I feel a gentle pressure on my arm.
My eyes open to find Jack’s paw on my arm, checking on me. Australian Shepherds are that way. I can learn a lot from him.
Replenish
re – (again) + plenus (full) to fill up again, to restore fullness
My tears don’t last long, and they never erupt into anything more than gentle sobs, but I’m glad for them.
I turn my thoughts to the word replenish.
During a crisis, you can’t easily tell how your soul becomes drained. But I could tell I was getting discouraged. It can be disheartening when someone you love is suffering and there’s not much you can do to ease their pain.
I felt this before during the deaths of my father, mother and sister. Seeing them suffer, I did what I could, but their pain remained.
In our present situation, many folks have rallied around us.
On the first day of the emergency, even before we knew how serious the situation was, Dean, Kevin, James, and Dave showed up at the first hospital.
On the day of the surgery, our kids came from all over the place; our brother Bill flew down. Elder Rob was with us in the waiting room.
The Andes, Anna, the Millers, the Hills, James, Kelsey and Becky brought food, and many others offered. Our kids cleaned up our house and even put clean sheets on our bed. Folks from our church, our neighborhood and long-term friends were constantly praying for us, checking in and offering help.
The presence of love replenishes. It was happening during the crisis, and it’s happening now.
And now, as I pause and draw near to God, though He never leaves me, His nearness, His comfort is replenishing me. My soul is being brought back to fullness. 😎
Rejoice
re–(intensive) + gaudere (to delight)–to delight deeply, to experience joy again
Being brought again to fullness in His presence, my soul senses joy.
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11b NASB)
He is joy. All the “little joys” of this temporal place never satisfy us. Only God gives full joy.
But how can suffering and joy co-exist? The following answers to this question are not exhaustive.
Paul: For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:8-9).
When our hard times stretch us beyond our abilities, it helps us realize our limitations. We can give up or we can trust in God.
James: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
Testing builds our endurance and perseverance, teaching us not to depend on circumstances to be okay. In Christ, we lack nothing.
Peter: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, 7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ — 8 whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, 9 receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls (I Peter 1:6-9).
Trials purify and strengthen our faith.
Prayer
Lord, thank You so much for never leaving our sides during these difficulties. Thank You for allowing me to come to the end of me quickly when it comes to nursing my wife. This is allowing me to stop striving in my strength and more quickly depend on You. I should depend upon You always, no matter what.
I desperately need You. Even when I don’t realize it.
Thank You for providing new ways to show love to my wife.
Lord, thank You for these moments today to steward my heart. Thank You for being my God of all Comfort who is always by my side. Thank You for some tears. May others flow.
I love You
Reflections
In the days since, my bride’s asthma has flared up.
Honestly, this is not what I was expecting. In my sometimes-overoptimistic way, I was sure that after tooth problems, shingles and life-threatening clot removal surgery, health would surely be coming.
She’s had her weary moments, but overall, she’s kept a brave, persevering attitude.
I’m still very hopeful that things will turn around soon. But in the meantime, I’m reminded constantly of how needy I am of God’s strength and power. I must stay alert about this.
Allowing her to express to me what’s going on with her is vital.
I must Relinquish (give up the pursuit or practice of, desist, cease from) my dependence on me.
For my bride, I pray for her:
Recovery (return to health after illness, injury, misfortune)
Refreshment (to make fresh again)
Reviving (to live again)
Restoration (to be brought back to wholeness)
[1] Google AI search – entomology of recover
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all referenced Scripture is from the WEB World English Bible version of Scripture
Other posts in our Everlasting Way Series:
Learning How to Overcome Emotional Numbness
Are we More Like Batman or Spider-Man
Transforming Awareness: The Power of God’s Love
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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Nonfiction books by the Author:
This collection of devotionals chronicles a heartfelt journey from a life of striving and self-reliance to one of growing surrender and trust in God.
Through personal stories of family struggles, cancer, grief, and unexpected trials, the devotions show that true, unshakeable joy comes not from perfect circumstances, but from the constant, loving presence of Jesus Christ.
It’s an invitation to learn to let go of our burdens and find growing peace in God’s greater story.
Because joy is rooted in God and is eternal, it doesn’t ebb and flow with the waves of circumstances. In fact, as we grow in our understanding of joy, we can even experience it more acutely when life is hard. Why? Because God uses trials to conform us into the image of Christ. With this awareness, which gives us glimpses of God’s greater purposes, we rejoice because of His masterful work to free us from needing anything but Him.
For these reasons, and many others, joy in the Lord is commanded in scripture. It’s not just a good idea, it’s vital to our journey as human beings. Rhythms of Joy
Novels by the Author:
What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for? Beyond Time
By finding two undelivered letters in an old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowingly set off a series of events which uncovers a plot to wipe out a whole family. Hope Remains
Please Check out the Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.
