October has been the pivotal month for us. First, I would like to update you on Olsson since many of you have been fervently praying for him. After the thrombosis, he ended up losing the tips of a couple of fingers. He continued to be critical and eventually had surgery. There was an abscess on his intestines and a stoma. They had to take a section of the intestines out to reconstruct. Since then he has gained by leaps and bounds in his health. He is no longer on a ventilator, he is in a regular room, out of the incubator and sleeping in a baby crib. He should be strong enough to move to the Yarmouth Hospital, which will bring him closer to home and the rest of his family. He may be thriving enough to be home by his due date, the first week in December! Ira and I both believe God has been the Great Physician for Olsson and has a wonderful plan for his life.
After our daughter's wedding, we had a vacation with my family. Once we got back from that, we entered the transition phase of this new journey God has us on. The place between here and there. The place between where we left and where we are going. Ira ended up filling this place with a trip back to Nova Scotia to do a work project at our home Church that they had been planning for a while. I stayed in TN to order items we felt important to take with us to Colombia, organize our belongings and other personal effects.
When the day came for Ira to fly back to TN to do the final packing, his flight got cancelled due to Storm Sandy. Then it got cancelled the next day and again the next. We had already booked our flight to Colombia and the time frame was getting uncomfortably small. While I was trying to be patient and understanding, anxiety started slipping in. I was feeling sadness and compassion for the people on the east coast directly effected by the storm and at the same time feeling that my problems of trying to leave my 'in between' place were small in comparison to theirs. However, that unwelcome thing called anxiety kept creeping in on me and growing. It was much broader than the delays that could happen due to the storm. It was about facing a reality that I am leaving the place of transition to enter a new place of transition.
What happens when we are in this place? It has me in the place that makes me overwhelmed, frustrated, searching, anticipating, insecure, lonely, doubting, complacent, hoping, longing and seeking understanding. It is bittersweet. I am planting a seed of appreciation and getting excited about entering a new way of living and getting to be a part of something much bigger than me.
The doubt has led me to lean on Jesus and be reminded of His faithfulness. The loneliness has me striving to seek satisfaction that can only come from Him. The unknowing frees me from wanting to be the one in control and the complacency convicts me to want to live more fully. The anticipation has me excited and all of this makes me long for deeper and more meaningful relationships. None of which I have achieved to the point that leave me feeling completely focused.
This is not going to be easy. Transitions never are but they are places where I grow the most and need grace, lots of grace. I am a broken person and will face some sort of transition daily as I step onto this new path. It also makes me realize that the real journey of transition is the one we all have on this earth, the in-between place until we enter eternity. Thank you God for meeting us here and walking with us through it and being that environment of grace as we live our broken realities.
Tomorrow, November 4, we leave Tennessee and enter Colombia. I pray that I will have the same grace to give to those I will be sojourning with as we travel this sod. Your continued support, prayers and encouragement lift us and Bless us daily! Let the transition continue!
After our daughter's wedding, we had a vacation with my family. Once we got back from that, we entered the transition phase of this new journey God has us on. The place between here and there. The place between where we left and where we are going. Ira ended up filling this place with a trip back to Nova Scotia to do a work project at our home Church that they had been planning for a while. I stayed in TN to order items we felt important to take with us to Colombia, organize our belongings and other personal effects.
When the day came for Ira to fly back to TN to do the final packing, his flight got cancelled due to Storm Sandy. Then it got cancelled the next day and again the next. We had already booked our flight to Colombia and the time frame was getting uncomfortably small. While I was trying to be patient and understanding, anxiety started slipping in. I was feeling sadness and compassion for the people on the east coast directly effected by the storm and at the same time feeling that my problems of trying to leave my 'in between' place were small in comparison to theirs. However, that unwelcome thing called anxiety kept creeping in on me and growing. It was much broader than the delays that could happen due to the storm. It was about facing a reality that I am leaving the place of transition to enter a new place of transition.
What happens when we are in this place? It has me in the place that makes me overwhelmed, frustrated, searching, anticipating, insecure, lonely, doubting, complacent, hoping, longing and seeking understanding. It is bittersweet. I am planting a seed of appreciation and getting excited about entering a new way of living and getting to be a part of something much bigger than me.
The doubt has led me to lean on Jesus and be reminded of His faithfulness. The loneliness has me striving to seek satisfaction that can only come from Him. The unknowing frees me from wanting to be the one in control and the complacency convicts me to want to live more fully. The anticipation has me excited and all of this makes me long for deeper and more meaningful relationships. None of which I have achieved to the point that leave me feeling completely focused.
This is not going to be easy. Transitions never are but they are places where I grow the most and need grace, lots of grace. I am a broken person and will face some sort of transition daily as I step onto this new path. It also makes me realize that the real journey of transition is the one we all have on this earth, the in-between place until we enter eternity. Thank you God for meeting us here and walking with us through it and being that environment of grace as we live our broken realities.
Tomorrow, November 4, we leave Tennessee and enter Colombia. I pray that I will have the same grace to give to those I will be sojourning with as we travel this sod. Your continued support, prayers and encouragement lift us and Bless us daily! Let the transition continue!
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