Be Prepared

I was trying to be different than the old Boy Scout motto. I could have sworn that one had an “always” at the beginning. A little research confirmed what I already knew though…my memory is terrible. Anyway, that theme has been on my heart for some time. Before that, though, I usually start these with updates on Jennings, so I’ll do the same here.

There are none.

How great is that? He has not been to a medical appointment since the last post. He continues to fight colds that intensify and wane on a continuous roller coaster of congestion. His immature immune system can’t quite clear them, but it’s substantial enough at this point to keep them at bay. He’s been battling a more intense section recently with a very stuffy nose and cough. It’s been about a week now, though, and has held steady and not progressed. Jennings will go in next week for routine labs, labs for the trial, and a chimerism check. Please pray for those to be right where they have been and for his chimerism to still be 100%.

With no appointments, we’ve been enjoying the spring. Top left is the whole gang at the Strawberry Festival with the Queen herself (we know her 😉). Top right is Caroline and I at the ACC baseball tournament to watch the Tigers get smoked by the Heels 👎. Bottom right is Jennings placing his trust in nylon rope and teenagers, also at the Strawberry Festival. Bottom left - Hamilton! And I learned what a Step and Repeat is 👍👍.

Now back to the beginning. I mentioned Lauren’s prayer for Ember, The Rock, in the last post. Jesus is our Rock…in times of blessing, and in times of suffering. I have been reflecting over the past month about how thankful I am that we had that foundation when Jennings was diagnosed and our lives were flipped upside down. We still had it when he relapsed and it felt like someone pressed the “repeat” button on the life-flipping control board.

When we got that news, each time, we fell through all the floors, all the scaffolding we had erected, all of the decent and shoddy construction of our built lives. But as we fell and it crumbled around us, we landed on that rock of a foundation.

I remember getting a visit in the hospital early in Jennings’s original treatment from an older, wiser friend. He had recently lost a spouse to cancer and was telling me how glad they were to have their faith to fall back on. We lamented together, “Can you imagine getting that news and not having that truth?” If you’ve built your life around things of this world - be it career, money, a relationship, working for retirement - and then it’s taken from you in an instant?

The structure of your life crumbles and you begin to fall…and fall…and fall…

There is no foundation for the mess to fall onto. Going back to an earlier post, there’s no slab on which the rubble of your life is piled. No pile for you to begin to clear out of the way to build anew on a still solid, unchanged foundation.

I’ve been struck reading through the Old Testament by how often the prophets & leaders called the people of Israel to remember, usually all the way back to the Exodus. They were to recount all of the Ebenezers, the points of remembrance of God’s faithfulness along the way. This served as a reminder that the same foundation was still there in whatever current situation they faced.

I think that’s what started to put this on my heart, then this past Sunday’s sermon (in Exodus, fittingly) hit on it as well. Our pastor made the point that we need this foundation of faith before crises. Lauren & I had that, and still do have that, and I am so grateful. As Spence said, only with that will you ever be able to say with Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21, emphasis added)

Then this week happened. The intensity of emotion that is stirred up when innocent young children are taken is, rightfully so, unrivaled. That tragedy in Uvalde brings into crystal clear focus the sharp, fine point that our lives can be upended in a moment. And with that focus, how essential it is to have that foundation before you start to crumble. It will not take away the grief, the anguish, the pain, the anger, the questions, but it will be there to catch you, to carry you.

We should embrace the questions, the doubts, the uncertainties around our faith. Their very existence acts to point us back to our own Ebenezers and why we have faith, what we know to be true. And through this exercise, we are reminded of our foundation. The more we remember that, the more it will be there when we need it.

This is me reminding myself through writing; not an attempt to be preachy to you…hopefully it is received as such. This is also reminding me that I should share Jesus with others more urgently, so that they may have this foundation, and forever be prepared.

Here are a few more pics before we go 👇

This is us wrapping up the semester’s activities. Clockwise from top left: Our proud gymnast, now a member of the Team gymnasts at the Y; the Athletics about to wrap up a fun “first” season (I asked Jennings how it went. We were 4-6. “It was fun,” he said. “We had a winning stweak. We wost it. But we had it.”); Smallish Bear’s dance recital (the same one who screamed through tears in an attempt to get out of “trial by fire” swim lessons, “But I’m the wittlest in my famiwy!”…it did not work); ah T-Ball, bless you Coach Neil.

The Palmer 6 went real-deal camping…and survived. Although we did forget the twins favorite new snack, spoiled ayggs (hardboiled eggs 😂).

Thanks for continuing to follow along.

“For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?” Psalm 18:31

#allinforjennings