Visitation Overload

Our hearts are breaking.  The tears flow like water.  What can be done?  To whom can we turn?

It's a human instinct to seek out one another in times of stress and crisis, the old "a worry shared is a burden halved" sort of thing.  Spiritual and emotional support for our brothers and sisters is an absolutely vital requirement of both the Church visible and invisible.  We are a body and are knit together with sinews of love and are commanded by Jesus to work as one so that the world will know that God sent Him.

But we also know that as individual human beings we sometimes need to quietly reflect on where God is leading us, to listen very carefully to what He is saying.  Rick and Mary are in such a time.  Mary told me on a phone call this afternoon that "God is teaching Rick and I soooooo much.  He has a massive defroster running, melting many of our pre-conceived ideas about who He is and what He wants for our lives."  They're listening hard to hear what He has to say; to follow His request to step out of the boat when all around them the waves are pitching and solid ground is seemingly many leagues distant.  Like Jesus in the garden, they know that they have some very long stretches of thorny ground in front of them and they need time to prepare, to reflect and to pray.  And the silence to listen.

Couple this with the fact that Isabel is, as we all know too well, very critically ill and that Rick and Mary must understand and digest the bewildering complexities of intensive medical options and procedures, each with their own sometimes intersecting and conflicting impacts.  Doctors show up when they will and need to be consulted and advised as the opportunities present themselves. These discussions, in turn, lead back into how they seek God's will and how the Holy Spirit intends to lead and comfort them.

And there's no need to explore the management challenges associated with the emotional and physical needs of a large family, yanked into a new operating mode, far away from familiar routines and expectations.

Bottom line, they all need the space and time to think, to reflect and ponder what God is telling them through all the bewildering inputs of medicine, a parent's heart, His word, prayer and vision.  For these reasons the family has requested me to respectfully ask that until further notice all impromptu visitations be curtailed.  The cultural demands of hospitality, especially for dear friends and family that they may not have seen in a while conflicts with the immediate work they feel they have to do.  Like Ecclesiastes reminds us, there will be a time for these things, but we must for now focus on the season that dawned on them this past weekend.

Rick and Mary still desperately need to know, however, that the Body of Christ shares in their reflection and somber seeking of the Master's will.  One great way for you to do that is to sign yourselves up for the available prayer times discussed in the previous post. They'll be encouraged by your willingness to hold them up in prayer before God.  

We can also use the comment spaces associated with this blog to publicly share our insights and what we hear God saying to us as we pray; it would be a very Good Thing if we as the Body of Christ spent some time in shared reflection on what all of this means to us collectively and as individuals (it isn't just something that has happened to "them," God is trying to get our attention as well.)

Finally, for those that would like to share with the family in a more private way, I've created an email address as a place to share.  This can be a place where you can say what's on your heart, how you are feeling--the sorts of things you'd say in the waiting room if you were there.  All these messages of love and support will then be available for the family to internalize as time and circumstances permit.  Just send your messages to WimmerBrowns@gmail.com.  Please do write; opening a communications channel will enable them to share as they can.

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your kindness and love. 

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. " Romans 12:10-13