I just realized that it’s been two months since I posted here at ThinkHardThinkWell. Let me give a quick update…

Corrie is now 38 weeks pregnant. She is ready to go at any time now! We are hoping that Elizabeth Shoshanah makes her ex utero appearance sooner rather than later because…

…Corrie’s father, Joe, will be having surgery on July 10 to remove a brain tumor. About a month ago, Joe started acting strange–zoned out, and unable to speak much–and we were all suspicious. I drove him to the hospital for tests, and on our way he had a seizure that lasted about a minute. Once in the hospital, the doctors were unable to determine definitively the cause. Then he saw another specialist last week, and it turns out that he has a brain tumor–which appears to have grown in the three weeks between MRIs.

Needless to say, we are all quite nervous. We just got through Claudia’s bout with ovarian cancer, which–in God’s mercy–was discovered at stage two last summer and treated immediately. She is now cancer free and regaining strength after five months of chemo. And now Joe, the healthy one, needs brain surgery, followed by recovery and (perhaps) further treatment depending on the type of tumor they find.

Sometimes I wonder if I brought all this on our family by choosing to study Lamentations. OTOH, Claudia’s illnesses began long before I joined the family or even knew Corrie. Why do these things happen to godly people? Man’s oldest question has a biblical answer that is at least intellectually tolerable, if not emotionally satisfying. Sin brings death and sickness–not the individual’s sin, but Adam’s and Eve’s. Check. But why? Why Joe? Why us? The only way forward is to cling to the hope that a God who allows sin and death has some purpose greater than we can imagine, and that he has experienced the worst of suffering and death Himself–at the cross.

My research on the tribe of Benjamin in the Deuteronomistic History and Chronicles rolls along. I have completed five out of seven chapters of my dissertation, and I am reaching that critical point where I want so desperately to be finished, but need to muster that discipline to finish strong–because this is the most important part. I am looking forward to November, when I can be free of this wonderful but heavy burden. I have so many other research ideas that have been on hold, because a full-time job, a part-time ministry, a dissertation, and a family (oh–right–a family!) leave no time for side-research.

Blessed be YHWH’s name. More updates to come, with (d.v.) baby photos and recovery stories. Thanks for stopping by, San Diego.