Grateful to Be Back — And Ready to Move Forward

It’s been a while, and before anything else, I just want to say thank you.

To everyone who is part of this Gateway To Hope family, whether you volunteer with us, support us, or you’re one of the families we’re honored to walk alongside, this message is for you.

For those who don’t know, I spent five weeks in the Shands hospital ICU Burn Unit, followed by a stretch in rehab, and I’m now continuing that recovery at home. It’s been a long road, longer than I expected, and harder in some ways too. I’ve also become something of an expert in minced hospital meals, which is not a skill I was hoping to add to my resume. But it’s been full of quiet grace too, and a lot of that grace came through you.

I want to apologize for the silence on the website this past month and a half. Please know it was never for lack of caring. If anything, you were on my mind constantly, even in the hardest stretches. I thought often of the families who count on us, who are doing everything they can just to get through the day, to put food on the table, to make ends meet, and I hated the thought of going quiet during that. I’m finally able to type again, more slowly than before (my physical therapist would say “finally” is generous), but with a full heart, and I can’t tell you what it means to be sitting down to write to you again. I also hope to pick up that red accordion again, in the very near future!

Every message, every prayer, every thought sent my way, I felt it. Truly. There were moments in that hospital bed when I felt weak in body but strong in spirit, simply because I knew people were praying for me. That kind of love doesn’t just comfort you in the moment. It carries you. And if you’re one of the families we serve, please hear this: you are just as much a part of this community as anyone standing behind the tables handing out food. This mission exists because of you, and it belongs to you too.

Now, with a grateful heart, we move forward together. If there are topics you’d like to see explored here, things connected to our mission, or simply things sitting on your heart, please let me know. This space is at its best when it reflects all of us: those who serve, and those we’re blessed to serve alongside.

Speaking of all of us, today let’s talk about teamwork.

None of us make it through hard seasons alone. Doctors, nurses, therapists, family, volunteers, and this whole community, each one showed up and carried a piece of the load for me at Shands. And I know that’s true for so many of you, too.

Getting through a hard week, stretching a paycheck, figuring out the next meal, keeping things together for your family, that’s not something anyone should have to do in isolation.

That’s exactly why Gateway To Hope exists: so no one has to carry it alone.

That’s teamwork at its truest. Not one person doing everything, but a community trusting that together, we’re stronger than we could ever be apart. Neighbors helping neighbors, one meal, one hand, one prayer at a time.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Thank you for being part of this team, whatever role you play in it, and for walking this road with me even from a distance. I’m so glad to be back.

With gratitude, Hal at Gateway to Hope