Dormant...but not

We are trying to articulate the season we are in. The word, "dormant" keeps coming up. We are waiting, resting and recovering. We are not able to carry on our “missionary endeavors” as we usually do when we are in this country. We aren’t scheduling meetings. We don’t have office work to do. We aren’t planning what to say or show in the next gathering. Hence, we feel dormant. 

Recognizing this, we choose to wait with expectancy. We pray. We dream aloud of what it will be like when we get to go home. We talk of hopes and dreams for our participation in Uganda. We pray, listening. We set daily goals and evaluate at the end of the day. We study in small increments, pacing with activity and rest.

All around us we see creation preparing to enter its season of dormancy. Trees are losing leaves. Flowers are fading. Some gardens are waning. Outdoor temperatures are cooling in our area. Fall is coming on and we delight in seeing the beauty it brings. We know that soon enough this beauty, too, will fade as the trees/plants go dormant, waiting.

And then, in the most unexpected ways, we see that dormancy is really preparation for new beginnings. While much of the plant kingdom is preparing to shut down, others break out of dormancy into a new beginning. Their time to bloom is now. New growth is taking place. God spoke lovingly to us as we witnessed this in our little wooded setting during a recent walk.

 

Our hearts are encouraged. In dormancy good things can come. It is a time of rich preparation for new beginnings. It is making us ready for what comes next. Even as we feel dormant we recognize we are in a time of preparation and learning.

Jeff is slowly moving onward. We aren’t stuck in the round-a-bout anymore, but his forward locomotion feels slow and tedious. Fevers still plague him. Physicians continue to run tests, ruling out what they can as possible causes for the fluctuating temperature. Our calendar is dotted with medical appointments. Jeff does well in getting out and about, then comes home eager to lay down and rest. But he is gaining ground. This week he begins his cardiac rehabilitation class. For the next couple of months or so he will meet to exercise while having his heart monitored, learn more about living with an artificial heart valve and how to maximize his recovery efforts. We rejoice he has reached this important milestone.

We wait with expectancy, confident in God and his work in us. We see his hand in it all and we rest in him. When we feel tempted to be restless we remember the surprising flowers bursting forth in September (rather than in May) and we marvel at the tiny new plants breaking through the rocky soil and into the light. Then we lift our faces to the Son and soak in his warmth that brings healing and hope. We are dormant, but not. Praise Jesus!

Jeff , one month after surgery