If you are going 'on tour' you have to have a poster!

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After a further teleconference with the Palliative Care team this morning, we have agreed that Sue is in another 'sweet spot' and so we have locked in (as far as it is in our control) the plans for our final trip 'down south'. We have decided to persevere with only oral medications but have bumped up some dosages to counter increased pain levels. We are as confident as we can be that 'all is in hand', but are still holding everything lightly in case the plans go awry! We have decided to stay almost exclusively in our own accommodation while we are away as we recognize the need to pretty closely manage activities and visits in order to prolong the 'sweet spot' for as long as possible. A week by the sea and a week in the hills seems 'just the ticket'!

Our deep desire is that Sue remains well enough for us to be able to spend some time cocooned in our cottage in Yarragon before returning to Darwin. All indications are that this will be our final time there together - the thought of which is perfectly captured in the title of this blog - where joy and grief mix and merge.

It is good and right for us (Sue and me, you, all human kind!) to be intentional in acknowledging that the depth of our grief (even that which we experience in anticipation of future loss) is a product of, and an exquisite counterpoint to, past, present and anticipated joys. We most deeply grieve the loss of that which we most deeply love. We are now becoming more practiced at using the moments when grief intrudes and sadness rises to reflect upon and treasure the richness and joy that underlies it. It is an amazing experience to have God use our emotions to punctuate and highlight the richness, goodness, blessing and favor that has permeated our lives. This remains true now, more than ever.

There should be no surprise than that this same experience (discipline) is reflected in Scripture:

Psalm 30:11-12

You have changed my grief into a joyful dance;
you have taken away my sorrow
and surrounded me with joy.

So I will not be silent;
I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever.

Amen, Amen, Amen.