The Stem that still Reaches!
Most days my body feels like the sky in the above photo; grey, heavy, unsettled. A flare doesn’t just bring symptoms; it brings uncertainty. It interrupts rhythm, steals energy, and forces life to slow down. Most of the plant is low and dense; thick with leaves, woven together, close to the ground. Rising out of all that green is one tall stem, lifted higher than the rest, crowned with white blossoms. Not flashy, not frantic, just steady and reaching. That’s what I want faith to look like when Lyme flares. Not a performance or a pretending I’m fine. Just a quiet rising—one small act of trust at a time. My last name stems from the Latin word crowned. It serves as a constant reminder through the ups and downs of serving the Lord in Medical Ministry what awaits me after I leave this earthly domain. Over the past few weeks my health journey has involved navigating both Lyme disease and the lingering neurological effects of traumatic brain injury. Lyme disease, diagnosed in Germany in...