A note before this: this reflection is personal, and it's meant to be — this is the one slot in the week where first-person testimony belongs.
In Chapter Three of DRY GROUND, I said something that might have stopped you cold: some of you are in deep water because you obeyed God.
I said it because that one's mine.
The Yes
On May 13, 2021, I died.
And Jesus sent me back. He said five words: "There's still so much for you to do."
I said yes. Of course I said yes. How do you say anything else to that?
But here's what I didn't know when I said it. The yes was leading me back into a body with Primary Progressive Aphasia — a rare, progressive condition that slowly takes language away. For a man whose entire calling runs on words, that's deep water. And these days I'm experiencing more rapid decline, so the water hasn't gotten shallower.
I didn't wander into it. I was sent into it.
The Questions I Still Have
I've asked why. More than once. I still don't know.
I've prayed for a way around. Healing, a reversal, a detour. I'm not ashamed of those prayers — Jesus Himself asked if the cup could pass from Him.
But what I've gotten so far isn't a way around. It's Him. In the water with me. Every single day.
That's what Chapter Two meant to me this week. I don't know why. But I know Who. And I know I'm loved — because of the cross, not because of my circumstances.
Ground Under My Feet
He hasn't drained my sea. But He keeps putting ground under my feet.
Every week I get to sit down and build one of these arcs with you is a step on dry ground. Every theme is a stone I picked up off the riverbed — proof that He's making a way through something I was sure would take me under.
Tomorrow, the last touch of this week's challenge asks you to pick up a stone of your own. I hope you will. Because whatever water you're in, I want you to know what I'm learning: He's in it too.
Not around. Through.
— JDOT Pine
🎧 Spotify | 🍎 Apple Music
