Last week our family was able to resume our annual family trip to Manitoba, Canada. We had not been there as a family since 2019. In those four years, it feels like a lot has happened… but we felt the same love, got to travel the same dusty bumpy dirt roads, the three-piece chicken snack with fries and gravy and Tim Horton’s Ice Capps tasted the same, and the Plett family was still up to their shenanigans. Our family dynamics were different this year because Stevan wasn’t with us. He is currently in Brazil, 4000 miles away serving with YWAM, and Kaden got to bring along his girlfriend, Leah along.
Bryson is currently back home in Indiana with us. It is good to have him back. I say that in truth, but brutal honesty says I wasn’t ready for him to be back. I have been home for six weeks now. Bryson had been settled into his new home in Arizona for 6 weeks before we picked him up. I had been adjusting to the new normal of his absence. The Island was free of his medicine paraphernalia, my mind had relaxed from carb counting and Brad and I had established a new freedom to go whenever we wanted without having to plan for Bryson’s care.
Yesterday, Bryson and I went out for lunch and did a little shopping. I had flashbacks to the many times we did this while we were living in the Valley together. I caught myself thinking, here I am again back to my caregiver role, for a moment I felt claustrophobic and sad. We reminisced about our favorite eating establishments, and he reminded me as we were heading to Ross “what do you need? This was always his line to me when I told him we were going shopping. Most times I had a mission of what needed to be purchased but sometimes I was “just looking.” He has been known to call me a hoarder at times, Oh Bryson you sure know how to take the fun out of shopping.
There was a sameness, a comfort in our relationship, this is the dance that Bryson and I did for 8 months in the Valley, but also the last 6 years since he walked across the stage completing his high school career. But I saw a difference in Bryson yesterday, I saw a new confidence, a new contentment. He is happy to be back in Indiana, He is ok with being here because “July is warm” But he knows that he isn’t staying. He loves Arizona and he is proud to tell you that. He talks about his new home with affection. Yes, he will tell you he is bored with his daytime activities, and I had to remind him this is just for a season, we will eventually be getting him a job.
As I write, God speaks to me and helps me process my whirling thoughts. “Lisa, open your eyes to see the hope and newness that Bryson brings, look what you have accomplished, you have given him his wings, use this time to replace the old memories of caregiving with new mom memories” I need to keep this thought in my head over the next few weeks.
Bryson would love to connect with his people while he is back. He needs his people. Reach out to him or me!
I still need my people, my prayer warriors. The legal side of things is in full motion. This week a host of phone calls and emails between our lawyer, DDD, and our agency have taken place. Our new official hearing date is August 1. Our lawyer is fighting to get this resolved before and with all the action that is happening, it needs resolution soon. When I woke up this morning, my prayer was “Jesus, let DDD just own up to their mistake that the nursing assessment was wrong.” So often not owning up to our mistakes is what keeps us stuck in the same hard place. If DDD would just acknowledge this, the case could be settled.
Will you pray with me for a miracle this week?
Love the photos!
Continued prayers!