We started a new semester at BFA on Monday, so today I was teaching a new group of juniors about biblical manuscripts and translations. One student asked me why we would choose to translate the Bible into so many languages when the Muslims believed it was sinful to translate the Koran because it risked skewing and misinterpreting the words of Allah. My response was that we are so excited to share the Gospel – the Good News – that we want to reach everyone with it and learning ancient Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew might be a stumbling block to them. It’s such a human response to want to share good news. As Christians, we are desperate to share the good news that Yahweh made a way to restore relationship with us that we have broken through our selfishness. We are so excited to share that message, that we will translate it into every language we can – we’re still in the process.
Personally, this week, I’ve been so excited to share good news about my recovery with others. Yesterday I had the joy of walking into the office of my surgeon to tell her that my toe wiggles every morning. Her grin matched mine as I made my way down the long hallway to where she waited. We looked at my x-rays together, and she told me they looked great, and she saw no reason to need to operate again. I have the option to keep my titanium in if I want – and who would want to lose the ability to literally sing, “I am titanium!” (I kid you not, I’m listening to a mashup of that song right now, and I sing it with so much more conviction than the recording artist.) At this point, I’m pleased with the thought of not needing a second operation, not needing subsequent hospitalization, not even needing more x-rays in the foreseeable future.
I also had the joy of sharing with two of my students on Monday the news of my toe wiggle for them to pass on to their respective brothers – the two young guys who prayed for me on New Years. After my therapy Friday, I shared with my friend driving that it was the first time I had been able to release both my hands from their grip on the saddle and swing them both naturally by my sides. Just tonight I was able to walk on a treadmill without stopping for five minutes – and I wasn’t even hooked up to any harness to take my weight. I have so much good news to share, and I want to take a moment to celebrate it.
The moment can’t last forever though, because there’s still lots of life left to be lived. I’ve still got a long road ahead in my recovery, and still a lot of function is missing. My surgeon, therapists, and I are all still hopeful for nerve regeneration in the coming year – even months, weeks, or days would be awesome. In the meantime, I’ll keep working hard to take care of what I have because it’s a precious gift that shouldn’t be treated lightly. Our bodies are beautiful systems, as I’ve learned through this past year, and they are not invincible. My dad is learning a similar lesson as he currently rests hooked up to heart monitors awaiting bypass surgery on Monday after a heart attack on Friday.
I’m grateful for your continued prayers for me and for my family this week. My dad’s surgery is just two days before my birthday. It’s already shaping up to be quite the year, but I hope you’ll continue to praise God for the good news and praise God for his faithfulness even in the difficult news.
In order to end on a lighter note, I’ve just created the Facebook event for this year’s birthday goodness. I was so blessed to be able to see people join globally to pray for me, that I’d like to do it again. Feel free to find the event “Better than a Super Birthday Bowl II” on Facebook and join. I’ve posted five prayer requests below that I’m asking people to continue to lift up, but specifically to find a moment to gather with others if possible next Wednesday, February 4, and pray through them.
1. Praise the Lord for the miracles I’ve experienced so far: learning to take steps with braces and walking sticks, increased strength in my quads, movement in my glutes, wiggling my toe, and so many more.
2. Praise the Lord for the chance to return to work and do what I love most – teach. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be back in the classroom where I am most at home.
3. Praise the Lord I have a home, and that I’ve been able to stay here independently with the help of friends in this community who help me regularly whenever I’m in the slightest bit of need. I’ve never been alone in this recovery.
4. Please ask for return of function – specifically for return of all bathroom function. I would love to walk without braces or crutches, and I would specifically love to stop taking three different medications and paying for dozens of sterile items currently necessary multiple times a day because of a single lack of function.
5. Please ask for God to be glorified. This request is unchanged since the moment of my accident. I’m so happy to hear of the ways in which people have seen God glorified already, and I fervently pray that his name is made more famous as my story unfolds.
