Looking Back, Looking Forward

Ecclesiastes 3:1
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…”

Like all of you, we just celebrated Christmas, a time to commemorate our Lord’s human birth. We celebrated with our families (we’re pictured with David’s side) and once again we’re reminded how blessed we are. As we approach the new year, a year that will bring new experiences for our entire family, it’s time to look back and reflect on God’s grace in our lives.

David Lee spent almost eight months in Poland teaching English to Polish students and helping wherever he was needed by PROeM Ministries. He also met a young lady who has captured his heart. We have a feeling Wiola (pronounced Viola) will be a part of our lives for many years to come.

Julie began a 15-month internship at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., where she is serving in the missions department. She has taken trips to central Asia and Poland, as well as some domestic missions trips, and is preparing to go to Ethiopia in February.

Tammy and David spent an amazing week in Poland in late July. All four of us were together at FishArt Camp, a camp where we helped young people learn to worship God through the arts (music, drama and electronic arts). It was a family reunion of sorts, but more an opportunity to serve the Lord by serving others side-by-side.

As we have written previously, Tammy’s prayer for a number of years has been to be “used in a mighty way” by God. She wasn’t sure what “big thing” was coming, but she knew that God was preparing her to make an impact for the Kingdom. We thought maybe He was preparing her for the work in Poland.

But the news we received this fall--that Tammy has the early stages of leukemia--has convinced us that this journey is the “big thing.” The time leading up to the transplant has been an adventure, and we know that the transplant and the time following will be one of the hardest ordeals we’ve ever had.

But we also know that God has been very faithful to us. He’s allowed us to see His will very clearly. When one of us is struggling, the other one reinforces what we both believe. The occasional “Why me/you?” question (from either one of us) is always answered with, “Because you/I have the faith to allow God to be glorified through it.”

We have been blessed to touch the lives of many people, through this process and even this blog. It is therapeutic to write our feelings, and allows us to crystallize our thoughts. We know this is the time that God has chosen for Tammy to go through this disease and recovery, and we hope we have kept you informed on how we’re doing.

We know we’ll be at KU Medical Center. As far as timing, we are awaiting word on whether either of Tammy’s brothers will be a match for the bone-marrow transplant. That will help determine when the transplant will be done. We ask for your continued prayers.