Just When I Thought Things Were Settled

When James saw his doctor on January 11, we heard good news. His left eye was recovering very well. A 3-month follow-up appointment was set, and our lives returned to normal. I gave six workshops at BASS in March and started accepting new speaking engagements when it was clear that we would be staying in the Bay Area.

Imagine our surprise when James saw his eye doctor on April 21. Although the OCT scans showed that his left eye was healed, the vitreous sack of his right eye was now clearly pulling his retina!

The following weekend, I attended a four-day conference for professional therapists in the business of helping couples. Then I went straight to work at Fremont. When I got home on Tuesday night, James casually mentioned, “My right eye started seeing wavy instead of straight lines.”

He waited for a few days (hoping his vision would improve on its own). Finally, he sent an e-mail to his doctor. We got an appointment almost immediately for the following Monday. We went in on May 5, and a new OCT scan showed a very tiny macular hole in his right eye.

How could that be? Even though we SAW how elongated his right eye had become, even though we SAW how his retina was being stressed and pulled, how could it happen so soon?

The timing is NOT right! We are making new plans for our church, James would be traveling one week in June, many co-workers would be away this summer, and I recently scheduled speaking engagements at various churches and organizations for the next six months. I repeated "Not Now" to myself and in prayers. Then it dawned on me. If not now, when?

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).