Post #1 --Introduction

About Us:

Don and Marilyn Graybill are on staff with The Navigators and have been involved in leading discipling ministries and helping people grow in their personal walks with Jesus Christ for over thirty years.  

Both Don and Marilyn, grew up in the Hershey, PA, area and surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ early in life. Don graduated with engineering degrees from Penn State University and the Air Force Institute of Technology and held numerous key positions in field and command assignments around the world. Upon retirement from the Air Force, Don and Marilyn followed God into a full-time staff ministry relationship with The Navigators, building disciples of Jesus Christ.  

Marilyn is a trained, experienced executive secretary, medical assistant and discipler.  She is a valued homemaker, grandmother, and actively ministers in partnership with Don.  

Don and Marilyn Graybill have four adult children and ten grandchildren and live in the Mount Joy area of Lancaster County, PA.

Please note: although Don and Marilyn continue as Associate Staff representing The Navigators, the content of this blog may or may not reflect the opinions of that organization.

I (Don) am doing most of the writing throughout this blog, though Marilyn may supplement (or correct 😀) the content now and then.

About this Blog:

For years the challenge to move from “surviving” to “thriving” has been bouncing around my brain and penetrating my heart — so much so that my focused “One Word for 2022” is THRIVE.  What does this mean? What does this look like? How can I do it? What does God say about this?  Can I really experience this?  My usual approach to processing something like this is to grab a pen, my Bible, and my journal and write away.  This process of writing is resulting in this series of posts. I’m a retired Air Force officer, an engineer and a missionary. I write not as a psychological expert (or even a certified theologian, though I have been a follower of Jesus for over 65 years), but instead as a practitioner who is in the process of hammering out some key life principles on the anvil of life. I am in the battle and am learning and growing each day.  

When it comes to processing my thoughts, I resonate with Henri Nouwen’s take on writing:

"To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know. Thus (writing) requires a real act of trust. We have to say to ourselves, I do not yet know what I carry in my heart, but I trust that it will emerge as I write. Once we dare to “give away” on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath ... and eventually come in touch with our own riches. (From Reflecting on Theological Education, Henry Nouwen) 

And therefore, I write.  Like Nouwen, I do not know where this writing will take us; but, I do know who is leading and therefore know I can trust the outcome.

Blog Purpose

I have two purposes for writing these posts.  First, this is my way of making sense out of my  own feelings and emotions as I tiptoe through the potholes in the  pathway of my personal medical journey.  A second purpose in writing is to try to bring perspective and hope to people also overwhelmed by the issues of a chaotic world. Throughout this series of posts, I will seek to track my personal journey with an incurable lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and describe my experiences seeking God’s help to truly “thrive” to His glory when most of my physical body cries out to  simply “survive” the rigors of this journey.  I’m writing from a faith-based perspective, but the experiences and lessons learned and journaled here hopefully will be of interest to people both committed to following Jesus and to individuals still considering a lifestyle of following Him. 

Dear Reader, I want to be totally forthright and candid with you here at the outset of this journey together. I do not know what lies ahead.  The inescapable fact is that unless God chooses to miraculously intervene in my personal journey, my physical life will probably be shortened by what’s happening in my lungs.  As this journey gets physically more difficult for me, truly “thriving” from a purely physical standpoint will probably become more tenuous.  I confess to a bit of apprehension about putting those details in print, but I’m trusting God to bring good out of this for both you and me as the hope of completely “thriving” in heaven takes on an even clearer focus.