In May, 2015, Dori and I moved from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Bastrop, a small town about thirty miles east of Austin, Texas. Our primary purpose in moving was to be closer to our daughter Sarah and her family, who live in College Station, but certain considerations have kept us from settling there until very recently.
We have sold our house here and plan to relocate to College Station in early June.
We are most grateful to God for leading us here first, for the past seven years have been full of blessings, most of them unexpected.
Rest
Not until we had been here for a while did we realize that we were both very tired. Since 1989, we had been immersed in ministry to Chinese students, scholars, and their families connected with the University of Virginia.
We found great joy in this work, but the combination of weekly meetings and hosting many people for meals, parties, and overnight stays took its toll. Dori and I were both exhausted. Since coming here, we’ve had only a few family members and friends visit us. It’s been very quiet and Dori has only had to prepare meals for just the two of us.
(Some) Healing
Taking care of me hasn’t been a simple matter, however. I had been struggling with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia for more than a dozen years. More than three dozen trips to Asia and frequent domestic travel for conferences aggravated the fatigue. After we arrived, Dori’s sister Ann referred me to her doctor, who practiced integrative medicine.
He and his team were able to diagnose my difficulties more precisely and to initiate some treatments. One of these was a four-day rotation diet that addressed some food sensitivities that were causing me trouble. Dori has adapted beautifully, designing a wide variety of meals based on four groups of ingredients.
In 2018, extensive tests revealed that I have an active Epstein Barr virus which helped to explain the chronic fatigue. In addition, Dr. Roy, a neurologist, discerned that “low mood” was another likely culprit. That led to substantial inner healing for me. I haven’t yet recovered fully physically, but I have more peace than ever before.
Family and Fellowship
Bastrop is only 20 minutes away from where Dori’s nephew Thomas Cogdell and his wife Amy live. They lead a prayer ministry called Christ the Reconciler, which passionately seeks to break down walls between Christians of different persuasions (christthereconciler.org).
They and their group welcomed us with open arms, as did the members of First Baptist Church in Bastrop. We’ve been nurtured in Christian love in new ways. After we settled into the church in 2015, Dori joined the church choir and attended the women’s Bible study; I went to the men’s prayer breakfast on Thursday mornings.
Dori was so glad that she was able to see her sister Ann many times before a sudden stroke ended Ann’s life in 2017. Members of my side of the family came to Austin to see my grandniece Constance perform with Ballet Austin.
Naturally, we have spent as much time with Sarah and her family as possible. After our grandson Blaise was born in 2016, and then when Sarah was diagnosed with endometriosis and acute fibromyalgia in 2018, Dori especially has made the trip many times to assist her.
The cloud has moved. (Exodus 13:21-22)
God has made it clear that the time to be closer to Sarah has come. She needs us as never before, and we are eager to spend more time with Blaise also. Our new house is only one street away from theirs.
My work will continue much as it has since we came to Texas: prayer, writing and editing, conversing and corresponding with several dozen people in the West and in Asia, and occasional lectures by Zoom.
College Station is home to Texas A&M University, with more than 1,500 Chinese students. I am asking God to lead me to two or three men whom I might encourage.
“Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come” (Hebrews 13:14). As pilgrims in this world, we are cheered by the one who said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
