Transition (written by Lane)

Well, we no longer live in a hospital or even an inpatient rehab facility. We’re on our own at last, after fourteen incredibly trying months of near-constant supervision, intensive all-day therapy, and institutionalized food. Alone at last, and in a place of our own for the first time since we got married, really. Yet we’re still every day faced with the reality of my injury. There’s an awful lot I want to do, but can’t still. And now I can’t help but remember back to last year when I just knew I would victoriously walk out the doors of Mary Free Bed (the rehab hospital I was at for almost 8 ½ months) carrying my bride in my arms. Then when that didn’t happen, I decided it would be Hope Network where I’d learn to walk again. And now here we are, out of Hope, Free Bed, and any inpatient facilities at all. In our own apartment and I’m still wheelchair-bound with limited arm/hand movement and a largely weak and monotone voice. Emily and I have been experiencing a practically innumerable amount of physical transitions the past fourteen months, which have all been exciting, but we’ve also been experiencing a great deal of spiritual growth, which I think is far more exciting. I suppose I could use the word “transitions” again, but this time in regards to thinking. Because with each big physical transition has also come a significant mental one. As I mentioned, last summer I was just convinced I’d be healed before the year’s end. So much so that I couldn't stand the thought of this injury taking more than a few months to heal. I couldn't bear hearing stories of people with TBis who were five, eight, ten or even thirty years out from their initial traumas and still weren’t totally back to the way they had been pre-injury. In fact, that thought bothered me so much that I would cringe whenever it was brought up. But over time, I’ve become convinced through the undeniable evidence that this is most likely going to be the case for me as well. And over time, I’ve become convinced through God’s objectively true Word that this likelihood is quite alright.  There’s a whole mess of truth in the Bible to convince me of this. For starters, there’s James 1:2-4, which basically tells Christians to think of difficult situations with joy because the trying and testing of our faith produces patience/endurance. And as Christians allow patience to work in our lives, it matures us(I realize the version in that link says "make you perfect", but the Greek  translated "perfect" essentially means "mature"). So based on that passage, I know and am fully confident that, if I allow Him, God’s going to use this trial/test in my life (for however long He desires) to mature me and make me more like Christ Himself! A similar truth is found in Romans 5:1-4. Essentially, Paul is saying here that one of the extraordinary benefits of entering into a personal relationship with God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone is that when you do, you not only have objective peace with God, you can also rejoice in suffering! What a paradox this is, joy in trials, rejoicing in suffering. Yet it’s objectively true, and one of the countless things in the Christian life that literally are only possible through Christ (Philippians 4:13). So, this post more or less sums up the mental transition Em and I’ve been going through this year. Not because we’re great people or super-Christians, but simply because we know God intimately through His Son Jesus Christ, and believe all His words are true regardless of our earthly circumstances.