Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Thank you for your many thoughts and prayers for Avery and our family in this ongoing time of grief and struggle. Everywhere I go you assure us of your concern and well wishes. Your emails, notes and words uplift us and give us strength.
We continue in this very long, difficult season. After her initial seven weeks in intensive care in Philadelphia, we were able to bring Avery to Frasier Rehab Hospital in Louisville, where she has been since the end of April. There she continues the incredibly slow and uncertain tasks of healing and recovering from brain injury. Progress is measured in very small increments. Doctors continue to tell us the outcome is uncertain and may not be fully known for many months, if not a few years. For now she is dealing with severe physical and cognitive disabilities. We are still discerning, with the help of her doctors and insurance, when she will be moved to home or another care facility. It has been a long valley of grief, uncertainty and fear.
There have been many graces during this time.
· We treasure your many expressions of prayer and support.
· My mother lives in Louisville, so Kaye has gotten a home cooked meal and familiar bed this last several weeks - a great gift after weeks of a borrowed room with strangers in Philadelphia.
· Kaye is free to be chief parent in the rehab process, so I am able to maintain my full schedule, spending a couple of days a week in Louisville.
· Friends far and near who remind us we are not alone.
· Our other children, David and Susannah, have been incredibly supportive even as they deal with this tragedy.
The greatest grace - though the most unwelcome - has been the invitation to practice love in very concrete ways - feeding her bite by bite, brushing her teeth or hair, sitting and watching the mystery of brokenness and healing. Many of you are familiar with these hard privileges in your own families. When we speak of vocation, we often think of the choices we make to serve God in the world. We discern our gifts, discover our passions, and practice those things that give us joy and meaning. But often - much more often - vocation is not what we chose for life but what life choses for us. Our call from God comes in the form of a terrifying phone call in the night. And obedience takes the form of one little step in the dark after another - doing the next right thing and trusting that even the most unwelcome calls might contain an invitation from God to walk in the way of faith.
Thank you for continuing to walk with us.
God's Peace
Doug and Kaye Hahn
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