For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Hebrews 13:14 (ESV)
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Three years ago, my father-in-law became a snowbird. You know, someone who lives where it’s warm in the winter and not too hot in the summer. Like the name implies, they are people who fly away from wherever the snow is to where it is not.
Growing up in Arizona, I knew of snowbirds. They used to drive me crazy. Literally.
When you learn to drive in the Valley of the Sun (greater Phoenix area), you learn pretty quick that you can’t always drive the speed limit if you want to live. Okay, okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but those California drivers – who drive in Los Angeles traffic – would come over to Phoenix and bring their California driving with them.
It gets pretty crazy on the interstate, let me tell you. Snowbirds, however…they didn’t care. They would drive slower than the speed limit. Strange looks, angry drivers and such would ensue. And don’t even get me started on how slow they were when it came to ordering food. Oy vey!
But, I digress.
Anyway, my father-in-law became a snowbird. He lived in Washington with us during the summer & then in Texas with his daughter for the winter.
It worked out well for him. It was an adjustment for us. Especially me. I knew how to take care of my kids, but taking care of the elderly was a completely different matter.
You learn as you go…
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My father-in-law was a great encourager. He “championed” people, as one relative put it. If he saw something in you, he would do his best to provide some affirming words to get you going. He did that quite a bit for me. Only problem was that he had a hard time being on the receiving end of such support.
Now, he would’ve been the first to tell you that he was far from perfect. He definitely didn’t always make the right choices in life. He knew that, and he tried to make amends for that. But, he loved the Lord.
During his time with us, I became his editor. He loved to write and tell stories. As I said at his funeral service, He loved to laugh and make others laugh through his storytelling. And he liked to make people think. If he could tell a story that would do one of those things, then he achieved his goal.
Yes. I said “funeral”.
You see, two years ago, he (Pop) started dialysis. It was a struggle to get to that point, but he wanted to live. There were still things to see and do. He loved his family and he wanted more time with them.
That kept him going. He knew his beloved wife, Maria, was in heaven. He was sure she was having a wonderful time with her Jesus. But, he wasn’t quite ready to let go of the earth yet.
Until one day this past October…
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It was a fall Saturday here in Spokane. A great day for me as I was excited to get my hair done. Vanity, maybe, but I like it when my hair looks gooooood.
I had just finished my appointment when I texted my husband asking if he & his dad would like to meet for lunch. After all, they had just finished up at the barber shop. We all looked gooooood. Why not look good…in public? (okay, I cannot type that sentence with a straight face.)
Anyway, I met them at the restaurant. We sat down and Pop’s first words to me were, “I asked (his daughter) to look into Hospice.”
I’m not sure what my first words were, but I was a little shocked. His kidney issues weren’t his only health challenge, but that week alone brought on some major obstacles with the dialysis. He endured many complications over the past two years and he finally decided that he’d had enough.
If you know anything about dialysis, for a man in his condition, once you stop, that’s it. One to three weeks is all you have left, according to medicine.
We went through the procedures with Hospice. So thankful for them, by the way. Family flew in to be with him. I’m not sure I can accurately describe what it was like, but the spiritual side of it all was almost overwhelming.
He wanted to die in our home. His home. I didn’t. It was my home. I fought the spiritual battles to protect my home. I didn’t want a spirit of death here.
I gave him goals to keep him going. Our son, who was on a European trip, needed to see his Poppy one last time. That kept my father-in-law going. He knew he was fading, but he wanted to see his grandson’s face again.
If it had not been for the Lord…
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We watched the effects of no-dialysis slowly wreak havoc on his body, along with the other health issues, of course. Little by little he grew weaker, more tired, less engaging – not his usual gregarious self.
In the middle of it all, I heard the Lord tell me, “Untethered to the things of the earth”. Through the remainder of the process I assumed it was just a reminder for that season. My father-in-law was dying. He had chosen to no longer be tethered to the earth by stopping his dialysis treatments.
It made sense to me then as a word for that season, but was it only for that?
If you’ve been following me for some time, you know that I always share a “word” for the year. God has been graciously providing me a word for the year ahead. At one point, He gave me a word for each month of a year. Recently, I even found some “words for the year” that He gave me from as far back as 2005.
I didn’t call them that back then, but I see now how He has been growing my spiritual understanding and sensitivity to Him since probably before that time. In 2017 and 2018, however, I began to see what He was doing and what He wanted me to do.
And “What’s Your Word?” was born.
As each fall approaches, I begin talking with the Lord about the year ahead. Fall 2023 rolled around this time, and well, things looked a lot different this year. I wasn’t getting the word for 2024.
Until God said “Untethered to the things of the earth.” That word…I didn’t want that to be my word for 2024.
And yet…
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The Cambridge Dictionary defines untethered as:
not physically connected or fastened to something
dictionary.cambridge.org
When I hear the word “untethered”, I automatically think of a horse or other livestock. A rope is placed around them – usually the neck – to provide a type of restraint. To control the animal and keep them right where the owner wants them.
Philippians 3:20-21 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
The question I keep asking myself is what am I tethered to? Am I tethered to the things of this world? Does it have such a hold on me that it clutters my thoughts or controls my actions? Am I identified with Christ or this earth?
Talking through this with a friend of mine, she observed, ‘Maybe it’s being untethered to emotions or feelings.’ That sounds good too, but where/what/how/when…I have so many questions.
So am I tethered like a horse or livestock to something upon this earth that keeps me grounded? Am I tethered to my emotions, thoughts or actions that have hindered me from walking with God? Am I tethered to _________?
Right now, I am having a hard time seeing it.
For now, I refer back to a word that God gave me in July 2023.
Part of it said the following:
WATCH what you hunger for. WATCH what you feed that hunger with. It matters what you put into you, into My temple.
I Am opening up roads and paths you haven’t been able to see before. Walk them with Me. You’ll know if they are the right one because I will be there with you. As you walk, the Word will become more alive in you. With each step, My word can be heard. My word is lighting the path. My Word has made the way for you to travel.
To walk the path that God wants me to walk in 2024, untethered – whatever that looks like – is the posture I must take for the year ahead.
For this world is not my home…
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Sunny Cadwallader 
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