Leaving Lisbon

After not blogging for so long, I am not sure where to start or how far to go back. There are so many things that I want to put down here, but for my own thought process and for the space allowed, it needs to be in bite size pieces.

I guess that our blog title should, for today, read "Leaving Lisbon" (not that we have stopped "loving Lisbon" at all) and soon I will change the title to something all together different. God has stepped into the middle of our dream of living and serving in Lisbon for years to come and has shown us that we are now to be on an all together different journey in life, one that we never expected or would have wished to chose, but one that we are confident that God has planned and will walk through with us.

The Portuguese language requirement just proved too difficult to reach.  Don continued to struggle with exhaustion as he studied and we just couldn't figure out what was wrong and why he was having trouble to the extent that he was having it - even after doctor visits and surgery to correct his sleep apnea. We came back at the beginning of September for our 6 months of stateside assignment and then hoped to go overseas again - if there would be a position open in an English speaking country.

Now, after continuing some more medical exams and evaluations, we have been told that Don has Frontotemporal Dementia and that he will not be able to drive a car or work again. We bless the Lord for giving us the experience of serving for 3 years in Portugal and for the timing of stateside happening at just the right time for us to still have insurance for a little while and find out that Don has this disease. With a limited number of years left, we can make the most of them and God can still use us in whatever way He will - in, through, and/or around this disease.

We trust the Lord and have a great sense of peace that God has our lives in His hands and will provide all that we need, but for now, we are trying to work our way through the maze of doctor visits, social services, and all that goes with finding out about how our lives will be affected. 

So as sad as we were to have to leave the dream of serving overseas and leaving our dear Portuguese friends and the city of Lisbon that we had come to love and call home, we can see that God, was arranging things to bring us back in His timing and in His way. We find comfort in being with our children in Greensboro, NC, knowing the God will continue to arrange things in our lives that will be the best for us and also bring glory to Him.

Don in our empty living room after the movers had gone.