Again: Blessed With The Best

 "God always sends me the best" not only is my favorite quote (Sharon Forgie as she went through cancer treatments), but has become my reality over the past four plus years of my ALS journey from Michigan to Texas. Caring professionals and amateurs :) have been used of God to help me and our family as caretakers and supporters. The most recent are  Bristol, Shay, Alma, Jenna, Jill and Joyce. There are many unsung heroes and I thank God for the ones who have crossed my life in this last chapter.

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth ...This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. ...for there is no want to them that fear him. ..they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing"

-Psalm 34

ALS Team Texas

RELOCATION AND RENEWAL

We are in a new place and meeting new people. God continues to connect us with those whose dedication is to help and give hope for full life regardless of diagnosis or progression. Houston is a big city, yet God has once again blessed our lives with such caring people. 

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/research/our-faculty/labs/appel-lab/

Many are simply unheralded and unknown yet working to give quality to life's difficult circumstances. Lou Gehrig gave his "Luckiest man alive speech" on July 4, 1939, and his overwhelmingly grateful tenor impresses me to proclaim that I feel I am the most blessed man alive!

Psalm 103:1-14

Bless the LORD, O my soul:

And all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

Who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;

Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;

So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment

For all that are oppressed.

He made known his ways unto Moses,

His acts unto the children of Israel.

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide:

Neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins;

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth,

So great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth his children,

So the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame;

He remembereth that we are dust.

Thank each of you for your prayers and concern.

Blest With The Best!

One great thing forty years in ministering to people has exposed me to is the many, MANY health care professionals that help people deal with sickness and disease on a daily basis. I have been blessed beyond measure to walk with many through those storm tossed waters. 

A good attitude and a good sense of humor goes a long way on both sides of the equation.

One evening in September nearly eight years ago, I got a call to come to the ER at Genesys where a dear, sweet Lady in our congregation was at death’s door. They whisk us out of the room as their amazing team literally saved her life that night. Over the next week, I met people who worked in many disciplines, including palliative care (which I had to google), cancer doctors, surgeons, and many that I do not even know what they were doing other than obviously helping her.

Over the next three years, she was up and down in her strength as she went through chemo, rehab centers, possible food poison and one of her doctors was even arrested for Medicare fraud. Finally, stage 5 cancer took over meaning no more chemo and hospice was set up.

As she was in the hospital for the last time on that cold February day, she said something to Vicki and I that she had said over and over throughout her ordeal –

“They always send the BEST people to help me”.

Just 14 days later, she went home to be with the Lord, but her words, laughter and attitude have made such a lasting impression on my life.

As I have begun my journey facing many health uncertainties, I have already been blessed with the BEST that God has brought into my life because of this disease. I had my three month checkup and evaluation this week at University of Michigan ALS clinic and I took a few pictures to share and  I want to thank God for them! I was even able to share my faith with the nurse that drained seventeen vials of my blood that it would really be great if they found the key to the mystery of this illness from my Texas blood!

As they seemed encouraged by my continued physical strength, I too feel a renewed sense of vigor, not only for today, but for new opportunities to celebrate my life and faith in Christ in the months and years to come… as each day we are given grace and “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began…” (Titus 1:2)

It is overwhelming to me that so many people send notes to tell me they are praying for me continually. We must constantly be aware of the love and care of people around us.I have truly seen God work in my life this year in ways that I can only say “God is good to me”, and when you put your trust in Him, He can do things in and through your life in a purposeful way that when this life is through, He even has something better in store for us that will trust Him!

Rumors, Reactions and Refreshment

TRANSPARENCY. The word of the day. When I made the decision to let others in on my diagnosis, I know human nature well enough to expect a certain about of exaggeration and misunderstanding. It is a time such as this that I can identify with Mark Twain and his letter to the reporter who inquired about news of his demise when he said "the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated".

Although most reactions have been kind, encouraging and filled with offers of prayer, some have set  the whole process in fast forward past the tribulation and a hundred years into the millennium complete with mildewed gravestone and faded newspaper clipped obituary. 

My answer is simply this: God will keep me alive and well until He is finished with me. Although I feel somewhat an accelerated need to really live life to the fullest and lead our ministry through necessary changes, my prayer is still that God would lead one day at a time. 

I've had the privilege through phone calls and social media to be greatly encouraged by a host of friends and spiritual mentors. Along with the prayers being promised, some have provided thought provoking reminders of the fact that the journey is just as important as the destination. 

One such post that helped me keep this in perspective is from my friend Keith Bassham  (he can say more in a couple of paragraphs than I can in ten pages)

He wrote:

"When Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur Fellowship passed away, one of her coworkers said to the leaders that God had expressed confidence in her followers by taking her from them. In a similar way, God expressed confidence in Job when He called him to the attention of Satan. I have no death wish, and I’m not intentionally seeking a path of suffering, but if and when it does come, I hope to have faith to see it as something God purposes, if not for me, perhaps for others. And, I hope to have the faith to see it as something of a grace coming to me, an expression of God’s confidence in the work He has been doing in me these 50 years. Be convinced of my prayer and continued friendship. God speed on your journey. I will be following closely."

These special fountains of fresh spring waters and wonderful conversations are a life bonus and reflect the kindness of God in unexpected times on an uncertain path to a promised haven. God is good. 

Numbering Your Days

"Everything's not funny". That's what Dad used to say to Steve (my brother) and me - usually around the kitchen table as we always found something to laugh about. 

November 20, 2018. The neurologist looked me square in the face to clarify that this is NOT pinched nerves that is causing the weakness in your hand, "it is a disease". The weeks ahead included a return visit to assess the nerve connections in my legs and a neck/spine MRI (of which could be compared to cutting out the bottom of two Home Depot five gallon buckets, taping them together and somehow sliding your head and torso into it! #FUNSTUFF #NOTFORSISSIES #PUTMETOSLEEPPLEASE).

I'd like to write a book while I still can. I looked up statistics on this disease. Most live about three years from diagnosis. "1000 DAYS" comes to mind as my thoughts go immediately to David's words in the Psalms "teach me to number my days". To that day, my days are 22,624. 61 years, 11 months and 9 days. A good and full life indeed. 

My life verse is still Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee". I just got a bookmark from Jamie (James' widow) with his fingerprint etched on it along with this verse. This year has been such a different chapter of our lives. 

Final confirmation is needed by a physician at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. On my followup to the MRI visit, the doc told me "not to read too much about it" and let the specialist explain more when I see him January 3. It is a little hard to do when you have so many questions that come to mind.

My Old Bible..

YOUTH CAMP: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

..who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

The place is chosen, the week is set, fundraisers are planned, parents are contacted, transportation is arranged, forms are filled out (and copied), sponsors rework vacation time, children “setters” are coerced, pets are boarded, bills are paid ahead and mail pickup is diverted.

I’m just sayin… it is easy to lose focus on what can happen with just one dedicated life.

After attending over fifty weeks of camps in a vast array of places, one thing is constant. For just a few days there is a concerted effort to go to a different environment to focus on a personal relationship with GOD! Many discover a higher purpose and calling as there is a concentrated presentation of God’s Word and its power to guide our life.

I have personally witnessed that life changing encounter as it happened weekly in the cool, thin air of Colorado, in the mountains surrounding Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the humid air coming off Lake Texoma mixes with the singing and preaching of an old fashioned open air tabernacle and at the central Texas mesquite tree Junior High camp that shook some young men that are still serving God today. And now it is time to see what God has been/ is doing in Miamisburg, Ohio.

Just one life changed. One person can truly make a difference. It was David Jeremiah who summed up the difference one person can make when he said “It is hard to believe that one person can make a difference in the course of human events. But if you subtract Esther from the Old Testament, there is no Jewish nation, there is no Jesus Christ, there is no Bible, and there is no hope for humankind, because Esther was the link that preserved the Jewish nation. She was one who consecrated her life to God and did what God wanted her to do. God used Esther to turn the events of the world around. He may choose to use you in a significant way as well. The dedication of one can make the difference for many.”