Love One
Another
Read:
John 13:34-35
(This
is a slightly edited version of an email from Ron to a bunch of
friends who descended upon the Draper abode for a Fall cleanup.)
Well
hi all, (and this really is to all of you: everyone who has prayed
for us, cooked for us, transported us, made blankets for us, visited
us, and thanks to all for all the cards and well wishes, we passed a
lot of time reading and savoring each card that comes in. The
outpouring of help for us is truly something to behold.)
Yet
again you've humbled us beyond words. After everyone went home, I
took the Lovely & Gracious for a ride in her power chair around
the property. Needless to say it was quite a ride. As she looked at
the beds around the patio she exclaimed Oh My God!!! Then the tears,
the laughing, the tears, more OMG and then the quivering in her
chair. As we went around front, and the West side she couldn't
believe all that was done in a few hours, neither could I for that
matter. As you all know we strive and do a constant little cleanup to
keep our place up to the way you normally see it. This year we
watched as one bed and one bush after another turned into something
we didn't even want to look at. This was clearly the best Fall
cleanup Everrr!! As we went farther around and out to the back and
looked at our house from the back of the pond there was more OMG,
lots of crying tears of joy, quivering, and more OMGs!.
Then
to the barn, she wailed a pretty good one there, OMG, and when she
saw all that was done and how clean the floor was, more shaking. Then
she saw the drill press and band saw, (her favorite old territory)
and that's when the caterwauling started. Then she saw the gym
equipment from the basement set up for her, more caterwauling now
with wailings of how can we ever
repay everyone?? Just keep being you and getting better was about all
I could say.
For
months now our minds have been literally paralyzed with fear and
anxiety over the future, it seems were running a relentless gauntlet
of menacing obstacles, and yet with God's love and the support of all
of you, we continue to persevere. Saturday was the first time in 10
months that we were able to slip the tangled bonds of fear and spend
several hours just being Ron & Jeri with friends. You didn't just
clean our yard, you've cleansed our souls. Later on after dark I
dumped a wheelbarrow of logs on the fire and spent a while with the
Lord trying to figure out what we ever did to deserve such good
friends as all of you. It occurred to me that the things we've
gained, are of greater value than what we've lost. You've filled us
to the depths of our souls with an overwhelming sensation of humble
gratitude, the magnitude of which is beyond my ability to describe in
words, I pray that in time it will show with deeds.
Through
it all, we strive to do something each day that we couldn't do the
day before. I get the joy of rediscovering my wife with each new
sunrise.
Thank
you all so very much for your support, we shall endeavor to not
disappoint,
Ron
& Jeri Draper
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