Pass Or Fail? What Do We Do Now?

Early this week we received an email from a dear friend and relative at home who keeps up with us through A Word For Wednesday. I have not mentioned in that space much about my health and she wanted to know if I was progressing and how we were doing overall.

We wrote her a reply and the need for this Mile Marker was realized from her questions and our reply. I have expanded it quite a bit here for all of you.

Thank you for your concern and questions as to my current health. I have written on Mile Markers more about my actual condition than I have put on video. Even then, I am hesitant to mention how I am doing for fear of wearing everyone out or making it all about me.

Since late August, we have been traveling and preaching revivals in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and now Oklahoma. Most of the revivals have been Sunday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Sunday revivals. There was one Sunday-Friday revival and one full week of camp meetings included.

I seem to handle the preaching fine if I conserve my energy during the day, but the traveling is difficult. That is why we are building in some extra days between revivals. I hoped the rest days would make the travel days easier. That has not been as successful as I assumed but surely it is helping,

My right side is still numb with no change that I can tell. My singing is still affected but better and my swallowing is still limited as well. I am so thankful that I can sing at all and swallow enough to survive. KJo helps me push through the crippling fatigue each service so it probably appears that I am doing better than I am.

When I am tired, my balance, singing and swallowing are all affected and the doctors and therapists have assured me that is normal. Each day we get up hoping and believing the current normal is changed for the good.

These two months, September and October, are a test to determine if I can travel next year. I am not sure if I am passing or failing the test, to be honest, but we are pleased with the response in revivals. Each week we have hoped for significant improvement, but we are pressing on by God's grace.

With the pass OR fail still up in the air, what are we going to do? That has been the pressing question since the end of August. I suppose that I expected to find a clearer answer during this test. I expected to pass with flying colors with a slim chance of failing spectacularly. Either of those would have provided an easy answer.

With no clear answer, we have been listening closely for the Lord's leading and words of advice and wisdom from close friends and our spiritual mentors. Sunday morning I seemed to receive the go-ahead to begin planning to preach revivals next year,

This week we have begun contacting Pastors who have been patiently waiting on us. Their responses have been comforting to us and their kindness has been amazing.

We will preach a few full weeks of revival, but mostly shorter revivals with a Monday-Friday of rest and travel time thrown in occasionally. We are not at all sure if we can physically do it, but we feel compelled to try.

Thank you for praying for us and for offering assistance. Your prayers have been and still are instrumental in God helping us and guiding us. We still plan to be home by mid-November and preach through December, mostly close to home. 

We plan to begin again with revival after Christmas for our Pastor Bennie Sutherland and our home church. As it stands now, we will then move on to Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia and points south. Please pray that God with strengthen us, guide our steps and make us effective in ministry.

Thank you, friends.

Davy