"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." --Abraham Lincoln, 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation
It was a game I couldn't lose - taking multiple turns around the table to give thanks, I wasn't about to run short of ideas. The little things, like being able to taste food again; the job- and career-oriented - a supervisor who encouraged me to go where I wanted for treatment, other supervisors who supported me taking leave to go to South Africa and to get underway with a ship, the opportunity to "write my own ticket" this year, a whole network of colleagues who supported me at every turn; the friend-related: living in the same city as my best friend for the first time since high school, seeing more of my family in five months than in the previous five years, friends who knew and judged me for who I was, not what I suffered from; the move: two amazing roommates, a great apartment, unbelievably amazing renters, a safe home for my car over the summer; the symptoms: no lasting heart or lung damage, no lasting damage to my fingers (the symptom I most dreaded), no more drugs; the side benefits of taking a few months off: a two-week cross-country road trip, shelves of books read, a symphony and several other pieces composed, a newfound love for the local library; finances: a completely paid-for course of treatment (with some of the best civilian providers available) - I didn't pay a penny for anything, not for transportation, not for medication, not for anything, for treatment that's cost at least $100K and counting; opportunities: long deployments or top assignment picks; and most of all, that I'm still here. It wasn't that long ago that someone in my position a year ago wouldn't have made it this long, let alone be driving ships and hiking mountains and cooking Thanksgiving dinners.
Not to discount the hard work and distinguished support of so many, but this is the work of no mortal hand.
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
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2 comments:
Turns out, your blog today is a beautiful prayer. Amen.
V - I remember thinking the same things - how lucky we are to be going through this at this point in time, as opposed to 10 or 20 years ago, when our outlooks would have been much more grim.
Divine intervention....
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