Gifts

and gratitude

Today I want to (begin to) document the avalanche of gifts we have received. There have been so many, taking such various forms. I am sure I will forget some, as time has already passed, and more of this type of post is sure to come. For now, Psalm 45 captures how I feel at the moment: “My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” My gratitude is toward my Savior, of course, but also toward all of you, who have loved us through this time.

Thank you…

…for bringing us dinner and offering more meals than we have known what to do with so far—we will take you up on them soon!

…for loaning us a sauna, bringing to our house, and setting it all up for us.

…for the jar opener in response to my post about almost asking Wayne to help me, only to realize that he couldn’t anymore.

…for the care package of tea and hymns and Psalms and lament.

…for our physical therapist friend who “just happened” to be studying ALS protocols and called us the day after our diagnosis announcement, offering to implement his research and facilitate therapy sessions free of charge.

…for fasting and sacrificing on our behalf before the throne of God.

…for a wonderfully practical loved-one who sent an Amazon gift full of tools that Wayne might need as we figure out what will help him and how to manage new challenges.

…for accommodating us when we are not moving quickly or need to adjust schedules.

…for the bottle of wine from a friend who says that poetry and wine are beauty distilled; the gift of beauty wrapped up in a tangible way.

…for the hugs, and holding my hand (and refraining from hugging Wayne—sometimes—but reminding him that he needs it).

…for the freezer meal plan that is in process and will be such a blessing for this scatterbrained, spur-of-the-moment, non-planner; my whole family will thank you for being able to eat something decent at dinner.

…for the notes of encouragement that have come in the mail.

…for the prayer nights that have already happened and are yet to come.

…for all the texts: checking in, letting us know we are on your minds, telling us you are praying, offering in all kinds of ways to help.

And speaking of help, we have thought about it. At first, we did not even know what might be helpful. But we have come up with a few things, and I’ll share them generically here. Feel free to reach out to me privately if you have questions or would like more specifics.

1. Prayer. This is the number one thing we are asking for. We are still asking God for a long, healthy life for Wayne, for his complete healing and wholeness. And in the meantime, our family also needs prayers for wisdom and emotional strength and patience with each other as we learn to walk this road by faith.

2. Meals. Some day in the future, we are going to have a big freezer cooking day at my house, to stock up on meals that conform to Wayne’s detox protocol. But in the meantime, my amazing childhood friend suggested that folks could simply make a double or triple batch of a recipe and bring it by already complete to put in the freezer. If you have your own autoimmune-type recipes that you love for the freezer, wonderful, or if that sounds intimidating, she has a list of recipes and specific instructions available to distribute.

3. Cleaning. We are going to need to clean our rental home so we can advertise it for lease very soon. I also think that a fall cleaning day might really help me feel more on top of life and able to maintain. These cleaning times have not been scheduled yet, but will be soon.

4. Working with Wayne. He is still the brilliantly mechanical-minded guru he has always been, but his hands just don’t want to follow suit. Anyone who is in the mood to get covered in grease and learn a little about mechanics along the way could enable him to keep his business open a little longer. And if you know of anyone who is particularly skillful or highly trained in that area, we are prayerfully considering the options of hiring an employee or two; please pass our information along to them or vice versa.

5. Odd jobs for Wayne at our house. There are also some random projects he could use help with on weekends (yard work, fences, things like that). If you have a spare couple hours on a Saturday, we’d love to have you.

We are humbled. The generosity and love surrounding us is astounding. YOU are the real gifts. We love you.