“The LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place” (Deuteronomy 1:31).
“Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 63:9).
“Thus far the LORD has helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).
As I (Wright) look back at 2022, gratitude fills my heart. Indeed, the Lord has carried us, borne us upon eagle’s wings, delivered us, and helped us.
Early in the year, my brother Peter nearly died of CoVid, but God raised him up, answering the prayers of hundreds of people around the world. Now, at 92, with his wife Sally Ann he continues his ministry to college students and student ministry leaders in Auburn, Alabama. This indomitable pair serve as examples of what God can do in and through his people.
In March, we put our house in Bastrop, Texas, on the market in order to move to College Station, Texas. The unexpectedly high offer on our house enabled us to pay cash for a bigger one with bedrooms for Dori and me, our daughter Sarah and her six-year-old son Blaise, plus an office and a guest room. No fewer than nine Christian families live within a five-minute walk, providing fellowship for us and playmates for Blaise. We can walk to a park in two minutes.
We thank our heavenly Father for the precious privilege of being so close to Sarah and Blaise.
We received a warm welcome from Mercy Hill Church, where Sarah’s family have attended since its founding in 2018 (www.mercyhillbcs.org). We love the Christ-centered preaching, energetic congregational singing, and genuine fellowship. Dori helps with the children’s Sunday school, and we both attend a weekly small group that discusses the sermon and how it applies to us. Dori also participated in a marvelous women’s Bible study at another church.
Though the move exhausted us, and living in a three-generation household has posed unprecedented challenges, God has sustained us. Through the Scriptures, Christian books, daily living, and the help of wise counselors, he has shown us aspects of our character and conduct that desperately need transformation by his Holy Spirit.
The seven relatively quiet years we spent in Bastrop, during which we received substantial healing in several areas of our individual lives and our marriage, prepared us in some ways for the demands of our expanded household.
Still, we need to rely daily, even hourly, on God alone for wisdom, love, patience, and self-control in our roles as parents of an adult child and grandparents to a very lively little boy.
During these hectic months, God has enabled me to continue writing stories for the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity, the China Institute and Global China center websites, and academia.edu. He’s also given me opportunities to speak by Zoom to Chinese college professors and Indian pastors and church leaders, as well as to talk by phone with several dozen friends and colleagues in North America, Taiwan, mainland China, and England.
We eagerly anticipate what our Lord has in store for us and all his people in 2023.
