Return to Work

After taking the red-eye home to California, my grandparents picked me up from the airport and took me to my parents house. It was fairly early in the morning, so I took a nice nap before they came back later to take me out. We ended up going to a place for an early dinner called Javiars Cantina at Crystal Cove. Great food, nice atmosphere, wonderful company.

As part of our conversation at the dinner table, my grandparents asked me if I had thought about why this was happening to me. My cousins had asked me at the end of our dolphin trip what I thought the Lord was trying to teach me through this. Two different ways of basically asking the same question. One way was from the point of view as a believer, the other was the point of view of the world.

I answered the question to each of them the same way. "If God is trying to teach me something, I would hope I have my ears and heart wide open to hear it from Him. Yet, I do not think that this is a lesson for me, but for others. I don't know what that looks like or if I will ever know who it is for, but I believe that I may never know who it is for." In the past four years, my answer has not changed.

The next morning, my grandparents came back to my parents house to take me to the airport. I was on my way back to Colorado for the first time in 2 months. I would be there for 2 weeks before I headed off to California for my surgery. A friend of mine had my car at her house, so I called and had her pick me up from the airport. I was still pretty tired from the time difference (four hours), but I needed to get back on track as there were many things that need to be accomplished before I left.

I returned to work on a Monday. Pretty much everyone I saw was excited to see me and wanted to hear about what was going on and what the doctors has said. I tried to update people as quickly as I could since we were all at work and needed to be good stewards of our time since we worked for a Christian ministry. Nearly every person was shocked at the options that were presented to me and awe struck at what I chose to do. It wasn't going to be an easy road, but it was the road I was confident I was supposed to take.

Over the course of the two weeks, I kept taking little things and giving them to my co-workers to handle while I was gone. At the end of the two weeks, mom flew out to join me in finishing the preparations to leave. We even met with some legal advisors to sign medical power of attorney papers, just in case. Lots of little things needed to be done and we systematically made our way through that list.

A few "Goodbye Party" goers.

My final day at work there was a going away party for me. I was prayed over and sent off with many blessings. It was a great way to leave and head off on the incredible journey. Mom and I gave the next day to getting things ready to leave. We were driving my car out to California. It would be several days on the road since I could only ride for so long. We would soon be there and going through pre-op tests. I was excited to spend time with mom crossing a few states, but was getting a little nervous as I really didn't know what was ahead for me. We were off our another adventure...

Next..."The Wheels Keep on Turning and Turning an Turning."

Reflection:
"I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth." Psalm 57:9-11