Monday Motivation: Blessing Upon Blessing

Friends

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were a joyous time with treasured family and friends. It’s been a long time since I have written to you so I wanted to share an update on our family situation. There is much good news to celebrate!

As I shared in September, my father was hospitalized in late August with a serious heart failure episode, likely related to his July hospitalization for sepsis. During the August admission, Dad’s heart function was determined to be significantly decreased, and he was discharged to hospice care. Additionally, his Parkinson’s symptoms significantly heightened creating both mobility issues and sleep deprivation. Although there were initial improvements, the sleep issues continued to take their toll, and we feared losing him in late September.

Still, all was not lost because we had an amazing hospice team who rallied around us and diligently pursued medication adjustments to promote restful sleep. With balanced nutrition and a restored sleep pattern, my dad began improving, making considerable strides each week. By the time of his 89th birthday on October 31, he looked like a totally different man, so much so that our team began considering discharging him from hospice. As a family, we began exploring the option of moving my parents to an assisted living facility near my home. 

Dad continued to make amazing strides each week throughout November, and on December 10th, my parents were accepted for entrance into the Twin Lakes Community in Burlington, NC, a mere fifteen minute drive from my home. We moved them into their cozy new apartment on December 16th just in time to share the holidays together!

Friends, all I can say is blessing upon blessing, grace upon grace. My father’s recovery has been nothing short of miraculous! I didn’t think he would make his birthday, and now we have celebrated both Christmas and New Year’s. Even better, my parents celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary on December 23rd in their new home. Did I mention this was their 33rd move since their wedding day in 1958?

It’s been quite a journey, one overflowing with blessing upon blessing. The nurse, social worker, chaplain, and physician of our hospice team were exceptional, and their support made such a difference. The private caregivers we hired to assist my parents were phenomenal, providing the perfect blend of compassion and caregiving. I was able to be with my parents for most of the past four months, and the support I received from my faithful husband, our extended family, and loving friends meant the world to me. My parents’ church family graced us with love, support, and plenty of hot meals, and their pastor became a true lifeline for my father, mother, and me. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings of this season came in the form of my precious son Jonathan, who put his life on hold, hopped on a plane, and spent the better part of seven weeks in South Carolina supporting all of us. Supporting isn’t really the right word. No, he stepped in, took charge, and little by little, he rallied his Grandaddy back to life. We couldn’t have done it all without him.

The word “grateful” can’t even come close to describing the state of my heart. These months have been filled with tears and fears, joy and despair, stress and doubt, laughter and love. Through it all, there is God. God at work. God with us, working all things together for good, even when I couldn’t see it, even when I couldn’t feel it.

It’s a new chapter in my parents’ lives. My parents are loving three good meals a day with no prep or clean-up responsibilities. The staff is wonderful, and they are meeting new friends. Best of all, daughter and son-in-law are just across town instead of four hours away. 

Eric and I are so thankful to be back home in our happy place, back to church and our familiar routines. There is still much to do, but morale is definitely up!

I know you are wondering when I am going to get back to writing, and I am wondering that too. I’m praying on that actually. For now, my to-do list remains way too long, and my words remain much too few. We will see how things go in the coming weeks. Will you continue to pray for us as we navigate this new season of life?

Friends, wherever this new year finds you, hang onto the promise of Romans 8:28, “And we know in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV). Remember, not in some things, not in most things, but in all things, God works for the good, bringing blessing upon blessing, and grace upon grace.

PRAYER

O Gracious Father, how You bless us, how You lavish us with Your love. Thank You for never leaving us nor forsaking us, but always working for our good. Lord, You are good, and Your steadfast love endures forever.

In the Faithful Name of Jesus, we give our thanks and praise,

Amen

Blessings,

Anita

-APS 1/5/2026