Sunday, June 6, 2010

Power of Expectations (4) Family Transitions

Dear Friends and Family,

Spring has flown by like a migrating bird. School is out and we have a graduating senior, Zach, pictured on my blog. Like most parents, we are very proud of him and have high expectations for his future. He will be attending my alma mater, DePauw University, to study media and journalism.

We have all experienced the impact of leaving home and the various expectations associated with that big transition. I can remember leaving for college quite a few years ago and the excitement mixed with apprehension that accompanied the move. I am sure Zach is ready to move on, but at the same time wondering what lies around the corner. Godspeed to all those graduates. May they improve on the foundation their forebears have laid.

My parents are also in the midst of transition as they leave their home of thirty-one years in southern Indiana to move to Indianapolis. We are glad to have them moving closer to us and have positive expectations of what their proximity will bring. Leaving "home" is challenging for them because of so many memories stored up in a particular place. My dad is glad to be "downsizing" bringing fewer outdoor duties. While my mom's indoor duties will likely not diminish, there will be a few more good restaurants to sample here in Indy.

I have been reading and thinking quite a bit about expectations in the medical realm - the placebo effect, the power of the mind and attitude in healing. I hope to blog on this area soon. In that vein, please offer up a prayer for my father as he has recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will require surgery. Having seen God's hand in very tangible ways in my life over the past year, we are confident in his plans for my dad - for healing, for restored health, for a vibrant and meaningful life.

I'll close with a quote from the great 19th century preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon from "Morning and Evening" (May 31 selection):

"What a great comfort to know that we have a great Physician who is both able and willing to heal us! Let us think of Him awhile tonight. His cures are very speedy - there is life in a look at Him; His cures are radical - He strikes at the centre of the disease; and hence, His cures are sure and certain. He never fails, and the disease never returns. There is no relapse where Christ heals; no fear that His patients should be merely patched up for a season, He makes new men of them; a new heart also does He give them, and a right spirit does He put within them."

In Christ alone,

Newt