The “Moon” has Left the Building

by Admin
June 24, 2016

I'm out “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” – Psalm 90:14

From the Moon family:

“The last week has been a blur of activity as we prepared for Evan to discharge from Emory Rehab Hospital and come live in our sunroom. The house has been in a state of crazy, shower door modifications, AC unit work, relocating all our stuff from the sunroom to our basement, house cleaning, a ramp being built, etc. Terry has handled the coordination of the home updates.

At the hospital, Denise worked through the medication needs, learning when and how to administer, AND making sure all medication scripts were written and filled before discharge. She has also worked with the social worker and staff on medical equipment needs. The paperwork, understanding the outpatient therapy schedule and the times when Evan can eat and not eat, around his radiation and chemo regiment, were also documented and practiced.

Emory Hospital has a family day to prepare the family to take a patient home. Terry and Brian were able to take off work, and along with me, Denise, attended classes on how to care for Evan, proper physical therapy exercises, order of medication, how to transfer without being injured, etc. The classes lasted all day and we took notes to help us remember everything they were teaching us.

Denise and Evan experienced a little excitement the morning of discharge. The elevator unexpectedly malfunctioned and we had to climb out of the elevator between floors. The transport staff member, who was with us, was awesome and we worked together to “escape.” Thankfully, we still arrived to Evan’s radiation and chemotherapy appointment on time. Evan will love sharing that story for years to come!

Friends from Birmingham, AL, came and helped us transport and unload everything at our house. After six weeks, Evan is not in the hospital. We praise God for the “thus far.” He has surely helped us with excellent medical care, Evan’s healing from the brain surgery, days of no physical pain for Evan, and amazing optimistic attitudes. Only Jesus has given us the strength we’ve exhibited when we have operated with little sleep and so many decisions.

The Emory staff is wonderful. We are thankful for their care over Evan and our entire family. We have tried to bless them with gratitude, smiles, laughter, snacks, drinks and meals, but how do you thank people who have battled alongside you against brain cancer?! Evan made a poster to thank them. When we said our goodbyes, we gave loads of hugs!

As we prepare for the long back and forth of road trips to rehab, the pharmacy, radiation and chemo, we thank God we will have a staff that cares deeply for Evan. The thought of traffic, parking and doctor visits could panic us, but we will take those moments one day at a time. We are grateful for our huge Jesus family that has rallied around us, prayed with us and ministered to us in practical ways. We need you and we thank you for your investment in our lives.

Nurse Evan is out of the hospital! Evan woke up in our home this morning! We praise God!

Our work is not over. Recovery is going to take a while. Evan is going to need help with basic needs, communicating, monitoring medication, being transported to appointments, having meals prepared, moving around the house, etc. Denise will remain off work as his primary caregiver. Please pray for continued stamina and rest for all of us. Pray Evan’s body can acclimate back to days and nights so that he and Denise are not awake all through the nights. Pray for continued improvement in speech and movement of his left side. Pray the radiation and chemotherapy works effectively and with minimal or no adverse side effects. Pray for us not to stress about bills or missing work. Pray for us to rest in Jesus, with sustained faith and trust that He cares for us. We know the truth and every day we have the privilege to walk in it.

As you face your own trials and difficulties, we pray also for you. We pray that you will rest in Jesus with us, trusting Him for the unknowns of your own life. This we know, Jesus has never abandoned or forsaken us and He will not abandon or forsake you either! Let’s together put on joy and keep going!”

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

How do we come? Sometimes the full of life is such a distraction, demanding, a “must deal with the next interruption” kind of instability that leaves us exhausted, burdened and heavy. But, Jesus says, “Come to ME.”

We come for things. We come to our social media feeds. We come for a bag of chips, a juicy burger, or a slice of pecan pie. We come for the third cup of coffee. We come for a run or a bench press. We come for a book. We come to a friend or spouse. We come to the beach, the mountains, the swimming pool. We come to our television, iPods, YouTube videos, Spotify, the theater. We come. We long for comfort, for downtime, for rest.

Jesus says, “Come to ME.”

So, where is He?

We force still. We sit and listen. That listening is prayer and we start hearing. We talk back and we vomit our worry and our heavy laden on the One who is capable of carrying us. We force reality over escapism because we realize we are most healthy when we are broken and vulnerable. We quit faking “together” and we expose fragile. And in our transparency, we have come.

Maybe we run outdoors, away from our desks, projects and cellphones and we notice what we do not control. We listen to the birds chirp, watch the squirrels run along the power lines, see the cloud configurations and feel the sunshine as water runs down our backs. In the quiet, we feel our heart beating and our eyelids blinking. We notice the blooming flowers, and the weeds that try to choke them out, and we think, “yea, the hard in my life tries to choke out my beauty too.” We watch the little girl holding her mama’s hand, the exhaustion of the road worker and the man racing to his next meeting. Everything feels in slow motion for those seconds and we have come. Come to Jesus.

We plan a spontaneous trip to our neighborhood park and we take a frisbee. We sit on the scratchy grass with a book. We listen to our kids or our best friend. Our water bottle sweats as we find refreshment from its liquid. We try to skip rocks in the creek. We watch the little minnows scatter. The moss is extra green today. A little wildflower twinkles through the straw and catches our eye. We have come to Jesus.

Or maybe we stop by a fast food restaurant for lunch, in a hurry, wanting a salad. We order while we check texts on our phone. We pull out our credit card to pay and someone has blessed us. The meal is paid. “What?!!” We grab our food and decide to go sit at a table. We pause and cherish the surprise. We look around and try to figure out “who did this??” until deep inside of us, we realize it was Jesus that wanted to share lunch with us. It never really mattered who blessed us, that was between Him and them. What mattered was the shock and awe captured us, making us pause and come.

The coming can be anywhere and everywhere. Jesus is creative. He knows our hearts and what delights them. And He’s eager to be with us. He is always with us and waiting for us to notice His presence in all the little moments that comprise our lives. He is ready to teach us when we are ready to learn.

So, we practice coming and in that “come to Me,” He meets us and gives us rest. He knew life would be hard, but He knows His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He wants us to know too. He’s there when we find our rest in Him and start to realize the French fries, the golf game and the big in-over-my-head work project were all opportunities to come… to come to Jesus.