2/19/26
I never write a post like this, but maybe this is the time for it.
Several months ago I started feeling poorly. I mean, really bad. I found I was having symptoms which were legitimately scary. Confusion, loss of energy, forgetfulness, sometimes unexplained pain. These, taken together, can point to several types of illnesses which are definitively serious.
As most people who are engaged in human care do, I tried, for as long as I could, to minimize it. What do you do when you feel tired? You go to work. What do you do when you have been confused and forgetful? You take really good notes so you can figure out later what you were doing. After all, your work has a lot to do with bringing help, comfort, and good to others. Meanwhile, I made appointments with my physician. Getting into the pipeline can take a long while.
As I got in to see her, and began working through the large number of tests she prescribed to rule out anything deadly, the symptoms continued to worsen. I had to cancel a number of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry activities, as we approached the end of the fall semester. In mid-December I went on leave from my work with the Mid-Missouri Lutheran Hospital Ministry, as I couldn't do the work. I lost sense of time. For some time it was very difficult to put more than a few words together into a sentence.
As a result of the exhaustive testing, we've zeroed in on a likely cause for some of my symptoms. In my case, it seems that I'd been having pain-free migraine events. The more they learn about migraines, the less they seem to know about them. However, we are at least on the way to stopping them, or making them more manageable. I am now managing to catch my breath between attacks, which goes a long way.
Today was the first day I have tried to have a more or less normal day dealing with campus ministry. It's really good to be back in my natural habitat. What will tomorrow bring? I have no idea. Recently, I've been having an attack every other day, so I have a suspicion what tomorrow might be like. It might be a day with some pain and from which I'm able to recall very little.
What's the outcome? A dear friend of mine, Robert D. Jones (now professor at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY), would frequently remind everyone around him that the Bible speaks to all situations. We aren't always able to recognize it. But it's there. Your Bible is thick. It's full of the concerns of living in a fallen world. Isaiah 53 describes God knowing all about suffering. In John chapter 16 Jesus explains to his followers that he has overcome the world. Romans chapter 8 makes a list of all the things that can't separate us from God's love in Christ. There's nothing that can ruin us.
your story is likely very different from mine. In fact, we all have different stories. Yet, in all of our trials, we are encouraged in Scripture to remember that the same good Lord who created and sustains all things has also redeemed them to himself through Jesus. That redemption is for you, as it is for me.
It's good to be back on campus today. So far I've had at least slightly in-depth conversations with seven people, in the course of less than four hours. In all of those interactions, my goal has been to bring the help and hope of Jesus to people who are weak, weary, fearful, or despairing. Jesus has overcome the world. Either we get to rejoice together in that fact, as we see him putting everything in order, or we get to pray together that he will care for our needs. That's why I'm on campus.
While I have you, please remember that Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry is funded by the generosity of people who wish to have Christ-centered, face-to-face, pastoral care available on the collegiate campuses in Columbia, Missouri. If we have been helpful to you in any way, please consider supporting this ministry financially.
I never write a post like this, but maybe this is the time for it.
Several months ago I started feeling poorly. I mean, really bad. I found I was having symptoms which were legitimately scary. Confusion, loss of energy, forgetfulness, sometimes unexplained pain. These, taken together, can point to several types of illnesses which are definitively serious.
As most people who are engaged in human care do, I tried, for as long as I could, to minimize it. What do you do when you feel tired? You go to work. What do you do when you have been confused and forgetful? You take really good notes so you can figure out later what you were doing. After all, your work has a lot to do with bringing help, comfort, and good to others. Meanwhile, I made appointments with my physician. Getting into the pipeline can take a long while.
As I got in to see her, and began working through the large number of tests she prescribed to rule out anything deadly, the symptoms continued to worsen. I had to cancel a number of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry activities, as we approached the end of the fall semester. In mid-December I went on leave from my work with the Mid-Missouri Lutheran Hospital Ministry, as I couldn't do the work. I lost sense of time. For some time it was very difficult to put more than a few words together into a sentence.
As a result of the exhaustive testing, we've zeroed in on a likely cause for some of my symptoms. In my case, it seems that I'd been having pain-free migraine events. The more they learn about migraines, the less they seem to know about them. However, we are at least on the way to stopping them, or making them more manageable. I am now managing to catch my breath between attacks, which goes a long way.
Today was the first day I have tried to have a more or less normal day dealing with campus ministry. It's really good to be back in my natural habitat. What will tomorrow bring? I have no idea. Recently, I've been having an attack every other day, so I have a suspicion what tomorrow might be like. It might be a day with some pain and from which I'm able to recall very little.
What's the outcome? A dear friend of mine, Robert D. Jones (now professor at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY), would frequently remind everyone around him that the Bible speaks to all situations. We aren't always able to recognize it. But it's there. Your Bible is thick. It's full of the concerns of living in a fallen world. Isaiah 53 describes God knowing all about suffering. In John chapter 16 Jesus explains to his followers that he has overcome the world. Romans chapter 8 makes a list of all the things that can't separate us from God's love in Christ. There's nothing that can ruin us.
your story is likely very different from mine. In fact, we all have different stories. Yet, in all of our trials, we are encouraged in Scripture to remember that the same good Lord who created and sustains all things has also redeemed them to himself through Jesus. That redemption is for you, as it is for me.
It's good to be back on campus today. So far I've had at least slightly in-depth conversations with seven people, in the course of less than four hours. In all of those interactions, my goal has been to bring the help and hope of Jesus to people who are weak, weary, fearful, or despairing. Jesus has overcome the world. Either we get to rejoice together in that fact, as we see him putting everything in order, or we get to pray together that he will care for our needs. That's why I'm on campus.
While I have you, please remember that Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry is funded by the generosity of people who wish to have Christ-centered, face-to-face, pastoral care available on the collegiate campuses in Columbia, Missouri. If we have been helpful to you in any way, please consider supporting this ministry financially.
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