{"id":1648,"date":"2023-04-03T09:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2023-03-31T21:22:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T01:22:04","slug":"whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/2023\/04\/03\/whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a favorite TV show of ours, there\u2019s a deeply significant but very simple question asked at key junctures of the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a statement about the character\u2019s readiness to move forward, to tackle something new, despite the current circumstances, despite the need that makes anything \u201cnext\u201d look insurmountable. And sometimes it\u2019s used to subtly communicate \u201cenough of this, enough of the present, we\u2019ve been here long enough, lets get into something new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For our family, both meanings work right now. We\u2019re in that rare place of being right where we had hoped we might be but getting here happened rapidly and not in the way we saw it coming. And, now that we\u2019re here, we realize how new freedoms bring new challenges we didn\u2019t really anticipate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t want to overwhelm so what comes next is gonna be a quick \u201cbring you up to speed\u201d version of the answer to that question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Lynn was rapidly declining when we last updated you. We had to quickly find an ALF (assisted living facility) that would work with us financially as we waited for her Medicaid application to be approved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. While she has settled in, we began to adjust to live as a family of five for the first time in 12 years. Some parts of that were exhilarating, but mostly, it\u2019s been hard<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. It\u2019s been hard because we\u2019re all in this place of missing her while also grieving the loss of the last few years that had to be shaped significantly by our caregiving for her. Caring for her was our calling and something we chose and yet it did come with a cost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. It\u2019s also been hard because we\u2019re realizing that all three kids have been going through hard things and we as their parents needed to push those off to the side somewhat, so that we had the \u201cbandwidth\u201d to care for Lynn. Now that Lynn\u2019s out of the house, those things, come to find out, are bigger and tougher and our kids are older and needing greater engagement from us AND it\u2019s at a time when we\u2019re exhausted in all the ways we can be.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. The Lord has been so good. He meets us in our times of need (and in our times of rest and still) and I (Joel) cannot begin to describe how much my own walk with Him has grown in this time. I\u2019m finding His word, His promises, and the testimony of how He works with others, to be restorative on a daily basis! <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Financially things have been very difficult. While we finished last year in great shape after a year of sweet provision, as Paul would say in Philippians, abounding, we didn\u2019t set aside anywhere near enough income tax and have a significant tax debt because of that. Prior to learning that, we have also had to do without the social security and annuity income that Lynn was receiving because it has to go to the ALF. BUT, the Medicaid application which was supposed to be a quick and done thing not long after we moved Mom has still not been accepted and that means that the rest of the bill for the ALF that Lynn\u2019s SSA doesn’t cover has to be paid for out of our pocket. All this to say, we have been stretched extremely thin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. And there are other things, that while we can\u2019t go in to detail here, they\u2019re things that are really big and scary and when we lose sight of the land that is the Lord\u2019s presence, it feels like we\u2019re about to go under.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. BUT, one of the lessons the Lord has been teaching Bethany and I is this: even when you\u2019re walking through deep valleys of discouragement, physical trials, crisis\u2019 even, it\u2019s important to keep doing the normal things, for everyone\u2019s sake and for our own ability to see that life goes on and the with the Lord we can do all the things we need to.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. So that means we\u2019re going into the office and working with local co-workers (which is SO good) a few days a week; we\u2019re looking for a new local church home and being blessed by sound teaching as we do so; we\u2019re trying to spend unique time with the kids and each other in ways we couldn\u2019t do when Lynn was home; and we\u2019re trying to more regularly exercise.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So, what\u2019s next? We don\u2019t really know. That\u2019s in the Lord\u2019s hands and those are strong, capable, wise, and merciful hands. So, even though we find ourselves in what looks like a wild and chaotic sea, in a storm with waves threatening to crash over us at anytime, we also know that the Lord is lord of the waves, that he\u2019s placed us in a small but strong lifeboat and given us lifevests of Truth to put. We want Him to still the waves and our hearts, but maybe He wants something more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pray for us, friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a favorite TV show of ours, there\u2019s a deeply significant but very simple question asked at key junctures of the story.  The question is \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d It\u2019s a statement about the character\u2019s readiness to move forward, to tackle something new, despite the current circumstances, despite the need that makes anything \u201cnext\u201d look insurmountable. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":782,"featured_media":1649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-family","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/782"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-potter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}