Christmas “vacation”

Bob:
After submitting my final grades for fall, Chris and I flew from Indy to Fort Lauderdale—a wonderful transition (from 8 degrees & snow to 75 degrees and sun)! Since our upcoming move takes us to the Pacific coast, we had planned to spend time with our daughter Rebekah (TU 2007) and son-in-law Jorge, who serve on the staff of His House Children’s Homes of Miami (www.HHCH.org). We would stay in their Miami Beach apartment from December 16 through 28, a nice respite before “taking the field” in Los Angeles. These plans changed as I spoke by phone with my parents who live in Beaufort, SC, and who view our move to California as remote and foreign. So, the same day we arrived for our Florida respite, I caught a flight to Savannah, where my sister picked me up for the drive to Beaufort. Arriving that night we learned that my father had been admitted to the Beaufort hospital with a broken leg. Dad’s diabetes and heart disease made this a life-threatening condition, so I went directly to the ER where I found him alone, awaiting the doctor. He is also legally blind, but when he realized I was with him he immediately asked for prayer. His condition was listed as unstable and we spent the night together in the ER, as I read the psalms aloud to him and prayed. The next day I napped for a couple of hours before returning to spend another night with him, this time in PCU (one step below ICU). He was mostly unresponsive due to pain medication, and his reduced kidney function concerned the doctors. Over the next few days my mother, sister, and I faced first the possibility of saying goodbye to Dad until Heaven (he’s a believer), and then of how to best arrange for his long-term care. My visit was timely since my mother is elderly and my sister’s husband is facing treatment for stage 4 cancer. Please pray for these two women—my mother and my sister—as they face losing their husbands. It was emotionally difficult for me to leave Beaufort with so much unresolved, but wonderful to be back with Chris, Rebekah, and Jorge, for a few wonderful days prior to our departure.