Believe it or not it’s been four and a half years since Libby died, at times it seems like yesterday, at other times it seems like a lifetime has passed. Perspective is everything because as I am writing this I realize that for my oldest granddaughter Elizabeth, it has been a lifetime.

My perspective on a lot of things has changed and when I think about the times when I received devastating news I consider my reactions in a different light.  Maybe it is a symptom of shock or maybe my mind has trouble processing that news whether it’s a cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one, but I was always amazed when I walked out the door into the “real world” and I saw people who were going on with their lives as if nothing had even happened. I guess I expected that the news that I had just been given should have affected others. At the very least, the passersby should have supernaturally known that my world had just collapsed and they should have at least paused and offered a knowing look of sympathy.

The truth is that before, during, and after receiving devastating life-altering news everyone else on earth goes on as before, the mortgage still has to be paid, the lawn has to be mowed and kids grow up because tempus fugit (time flies) and life goes on.

Life has gone on in the Gilley family.

After the recent birth of their third daughter, my youngest son Nathan and his wife Bethany are in Murfreesboro, TN making preparations to accept a call to the mission field. Nathan is finishing his final year of residency at St. Thomas Hospital and Bethany has her hands full with the girls. Nathan and Bethany have been accepted into the Samaritan’s Purse medical missionary program and they are in the process of making a final decisions about their destination.

Nathan and Bethany have started a blog on WordPress to keep family and friends posted as they make final preparations to relocate their family to the mission field.

Please use the link below to read his initial post and make sure you follow them so they can update you in the future:

https://kingdomoutpost.wordpress.com/2018/10/14/1-childhood-calling-nathan-gilley/?fbclid=IwAR3TYhsK6iVPC61aE8WnoDc5Hiz1-5z_8CbXyz93Li5XH1ErN6uX20PDe1Y

Please join Jane and I as we pray for Nathan, Bethany, Elizabeth, Lydia and Ruth.

Thank you for loving our family!