“So what do you want for Christmas?” From my childhood, it is a question that I have always anticipated with excitement. Gifts have always been a significant part of my Christmases and some gifts are more meaningful than others. In a year in which a pandemic has taken so much from us including our freedom, our health, and in some cases our very lives, we all want to find under our trees a vaccine or a new drug that will simply bring back the gift of “normal.”
Unfortunately, in our lives there are events that take away things that are difficult to replace or restore. My experience with a stroke on the morning of February 2, 2016, took so much from me. Only hours after arriving at the hospital it was apparent to those around me that life was now very different. Even now I have little recollection of the days, weeks, and months after that first day. But that stroke took my job, my ability to drive, my house, many of my relationships, my ability to walk, to communicate, to read, to use my right hand and arm.
But God, through so many of you and others, gave me many amazing gifts. Each gift restored a missing part of me.
Early on, my therapists and new friends Ali, Karla, Alexis, and Dr. Elmers at the Shepherd Center used their abilities to give me the partial restoration of my mobility, my ability to speak and to adapt to my new normal. My cousins Lindsay and Shanna gave me encouragement and support for these new therapies including helping me learn to write with my left hand. Aunt Dan and Uncle Bud gave me among other things, my special companion Shep, and they still help fill my days with meaningful purpose, even when it feels like “all therapy, all the time.” Julianne, Dearing, Sally, Jamie and Molly restored my laughter with their friendship. My friends at the Aphasia House at the University of Central Florida built on previous gifts and added theirs which helped my reading, memory, and speech. Our ministers and church family wrapped their arms around us and let us know of God’s love, even when we lost sight of it. So many gifts. So much work. So much impact. So much restoration.
But the beginning of being able to accept these gifts started with a speech therapist at Mission Hospital named John who, in those earliest days filled with unbelievable loss and darkness, took interest in my case and offered us “simple hope.” He started us down a path that led us to all these other folks. Restoration almost always starts with hope.
So, in this season of Advent, as we wait expectantly, be grateful for the gifts God so graciously gives us through others, even in a year of a pandemic. Especially in a year of a pandemic.
“… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
God’s gifts are already under the tree. I hope you find yours.
Prayer:
Father, help us give the gifts of peace, joy, hope, and love this year, and even in a year of pandemic help us be grateful. In your name we pray. Amen.
