Note: I originally wrote this in February of 2011, but didn't publish it until now. We are still working out some things, but are feeling much better. I plan to add more later.

Have you ever had something rock your world altering your life in the most profound way?

In my case, it has been the early onset of old age. Ok, you can stop laughing, I am (mostly) serious. In years, I might be just 35, but in energy levels, stamina and other measures of well-being, my 82 year old father pretty much has me beat.

My wife and I both are suffering from symptoms that are generally consistent with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. In our case, there was a gradual onset over a period of about 10 years until we could no longer ignore the symptoms. Although we looked fairly health and doctors couldn't find anything significant wrong, we were just too weak to even function on a basic level.

We were serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic. I had to resign my position as pastor of the church in Santo Domingo. For me, that was the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I simply had no choice. I knew if I wanted a chance to be able to raise my family, it was absolutely necessary. Besides that, I wasn't doing the church any favors by trying to do a job I wasn't physically capable of. Moreover, I somehow felt God was leading us towards something else.

We continued working with the church as we were able and spent the next year preparing for furlough. It was made much more difficult because our energy levels were so low and we had so many loose ends that had been let go for so long due to our health.

Finally, last September, we returned to the US on medical furlough. It seems that we have been able to pretty much stabilize our condition in the sense that we are showing some improvement and the flare ups aren't as bad. Also, we are currently working through some treatments we are hopeful will yield some meaningful improvements.

So what does it all mean? In our case, we really just don't know what the future holds, but who among us does?

We know who holds the future. That is all.

—Luke Townsley