Well, I used to get an email for each post, so I had assumed all was quiet on the western blog. Now I've had a 30-minute catch-up session! Lisa, thank you for your insightful writing. I loved your "let me reframe this"---I want my teenager (as well as myself!) to read that to see how it's done! And it can never be easy to know that patients are nearing the end of their lives here, but you are in that rare place where life boils down to the truths of simple blessings...a hand held, a friend present, a family gathered, a doctor who cares. Yet this season makes all of that more poignant. I pray your batteries are re-charged this Christmas.
Sandy, my heart hurts. I only know in the very slightest way how you could feel. When I was pregnant with Lloyd, they told me my size indicated there might be twins, and I went through the holiday season waiting to find out. My heart embraced it completely, yet there was nothing I could or couldn't do to make it so. By the time I found out it was a fibroid mass instead of another baby, I felt bereft, which was ridiculous since I still had a child to be thankful for. The heart and hormones know no bounds. This empty place is one of those mysterious "containers" into which God pours Himself, and we come to know Him in a new way. "The fellowship of His sufferings", yet the joy of His new provision for your life as well. I hope I didn't muddle this too much...just know I love you. --Wendy
