28 October 2008
Houston, Texas

The love of a father

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A year ago this month our son Everett started chemotherapy for bone cancer—Ewing’s sarcoma of the left pelvis. Cindy and I have remained with him in Houston in an apartment complex a short distance from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. On every hospital visit, whether it be for chemotherapy, a blood test, a scan, an emergency-room visit, or a doctor’s appointment, someone in our family—either Laura or Stewart when they are in town, or Cindy or I—has accompanied Everett. And every night that he has had to stay in the hospital, one of us has remained with him.

My time with Everett this year has been a blessing for me, because I have gotten to know him better than I ever would have been able to. He and I are alike in more ways that I realized, yet he is distinctively Everett—quiet, clever, thoughtful, and witty. And he has gotten to know me better, too. If we are not joking together about some quirk in current politics, we are quietly doing our own thing, enjoying simply being in each other’s presence.

The fatherly connection I share with Everett allows me not only to enjoy his presence but also to feel his pain. As his cancer has progressed, his pain has increased; and yesterday evening as he lay on the couch hurting, I felt his pain in my own heart. I know that Everett is uniquely himself and that there is a limit to how much I can understand of him and how much I can feel what he feels. Yet, I believe that our heavenly Father knows everything about him, feels all the pain that he feels, and loves him in ways and to such depths I do not yet comprehend.

So that Cindy and I can remain with Everett throughout his illness, we are taking a one-year leave of absence from our service as missionaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), beginning this month. Our home church, First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, has graciously offered us a grant for me to pursue a writing project about Christian mission and for Cindy to continue her training in spiritual formation out of the Columbia and San Francisco theological seminaries.

Our family is deeply grateful for your prayers and kind support during the past year. Your faith has communicated to Everett the truth of God’s love for him, the love of a Father who will never let him go.

Yours,

Les

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 89

Editor's note: While the Morgans are on leave of absence, their newsletters will continue to be posted on the Mission Connections Web site.