A white landscape, completely different from yesterday’s gray gloom, greeted us this morning when we went to pack the car. Allen says it’s West Virginia snow: it won’t stay around long, but will be treacherous while it’s here. Hopefully the snow will be true to form and disappear before we start driving late this afternoon.
The therapists say Allen’s response to treatment has been true to form. When I picked him up for lunch Thursday, his Wednesday gloom was gone. He talked non-stop while I drove and was upbeat when I picked him up at the end of the day. When he walked into our motel room after supper, he turned to me and said, “Finally, I have peace. The internal noise I’ve heard all my life is gone, and I know how to control it when it returns.”
For the past two weeks a string of miracles, bright and hopeful as Christmas lights in December, led to this moment. For years, Hiram and I asked God to heal Allen’s heart of the medical traumas he experienced. His words said the prayer had been answered, though it will take a long time for him to recover completely. Then another miracle occurred. I didn’t cry. Instead, I hugged my son for a very long time. And he hugged me back.
Today Allen finishes treatment. I join him and the therapists from three o’clock to four-thirty to talk about follow up counseling and other things. We’ll drive as far as the monastery tonight so he can tell Father Seraphim and the other monks about his week. We’ll drive to Iowa tomorrow (Saturday) in an attempt to beat Sunday’s predicted storm.
We need a few more prayers to get us home. First, pray that we find a therapist to do follow up treatment in either Iowa or Minnesota. Pray for us while we travel and dodge winter storms. Pray for Allen during the holiday as he rests at our house and adjusts to life as a recovered post traumatic stress syndrome sufferer. Pray for him as he explores his options and embarks upon a new, unexpected future.
Thanks for every note and email, every phone call, and every prayer offered on our family’s behalf in the last few weeks. We are so grateful for your part in what God has orchestrated.
