Getting off My Tush

 ”He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our^[a] behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”  2 Corinthians 1:10 -11

I continue be amazed at God’e goodness and the comfort of being surrrounded by the prayers of many.  I got back from Pittsburgh this week where we added something new to my  treatments.  It was a medication (natural, of course, with no risks of side effects) that was mixed with my blood and injected into my vein.  The nurse told me that we would know if it would help within a few days.

The verdict is in.  I have new return in my glutes!  They are weak, but receiving messeges and actively moving enough to get my hips off the mat with minimum assistance!  I am so excited!!

 My trunk is getting stronger, too.  Today I was fighting the resistance from the PT enough to make him sweat!

My once paralyzed (I love saying that!) left arm and hand are making progress.  I’m working really hard on reaching forward and getting more use of my thumb.  I’ve also gotten enough muscle back in my scapula to allow me to start working on my deltoids.  My endurance is steadily increasing, as well.  I’ve gone from 3 minutes on the hand bike to 16 minutes, as of today.

It is so redemptive for me to be able to go to physical therapy and actually be able to work and see results.  For years it was futile, exhausting and discouraging.  I longed for the day when I could actually do something to get improvement, and now, praise God, that day is here.  I still have a very long way to go, but I have no doubt that God intends to finish what He started and I know He will fulfill every word He has spoken to me.

All of this is very exciting, but also really, really hard work, so please keep praying.  Please pray as we make medical and financial decisions, as well.  One of my doctors has a new treatment that he thinks I should try.  I just want God to open the right doors for me.

Death is Swallowed in Victory

Right now I would  normally be writing an update on my health, but that’s just not on my mind.  Last Sunday we were praparing for our trip to Pittsburgh to visit the doctor.  Josiah always stays with Tom and Kitty Hinkle and their four boys.  He had never been away from me until I started going to this doctor.  He was aprhensive at first, but because of Tom and Kitty and their huge hearts for children, he was now looking forward to staying away from home.

While we were packing, we received a call that Tom had just died of a heart attack.  The news was so shocking and the ramifications so devestating that I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it.  Tom worked from home and Kitty homeschooled the boys.  They were about as close as a family can get.  The boys were accustomed to playing with their dad in the middle of the afternoon when most dads are away at work.  He loved his family and took time to build it.  His absence would be a glaring one for both family and friends alike.

Unfortunatly, I was in Pittsburgh during the viewing and memorial service, but I wanted to share the incredible report I heard about it.  The night of the viewing a storm hit both the church and the Hinkle’s home knocking out power and causing small amounts of damage.  The viewing had to be postponed until the next day and the Hinkle’s had to stay the night with friends.  It seemed like the enemy was kicking them while they were down, but God would get the final word.

 The next morning the viewing was held as scheduled and the service began on time.  The Hinkle’s were surrounded by family, both spiritual and natural.  In a move of incredible grace and bravery, Kitty spoke at her husband’s funeral, reassuring those gathered that Tom was safe in the Father’s arms.  At Kitty’s request, an altar call was given at the end of the service and 31 people gave their lives to the Lord.  I couldn’t help but think of this scripture:

John 12:24 (Whole Chapter)
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Nothing will take away the pain of missing Tom, but there is such comfort in knowing that God answered our prayers to bring something beautiful out of this tragedy.  Praise and honor to our faithful God and all of His love and mercy to the Hinkles.

Running Together

I got the idea to run in the New York marathon in December of 1995.  I was being wheeled out of ICU on a gurney and as I passed the neurologist I said, “Don’t worry.  You’ll see me run in the New York marathton someday.”  He wasn’t convinced.

It wasn’t until recently that I went public with this declaration of faith.  I get a variety of responses when I say things like that.  Some people look at me in disbelief, some feel sorry for me, but most join their faith with mine and pray even more.  I got one response, though, that I didn’t expect at all.  When my cousin, Karen, heard of my dream she said, “I want to run with you.” 

 ”That’s nice,” I thought. 

 She wasn’t whistling Dixie.  She went to church and started talking to a friend who has run marathons and told him of our plan.  He gave her a concerned look and asked,”Do you really think she’ll be able to do that?”

“You don’t know my cousin,” she answered flatly.

She knows me.  We’re a little bit alike.  They call it being “hard headed” where we’re from.  Once we’ve made up our mind about something, you better have God on your side in a convincing way if your going to try and talk us out of it.  She said she would run with me and that’s exactly what she’s set out to do.   She actually started training!  Lubbock, Texas isn’t the easiest place to run, either.  It’s hot, windy and prone to dust storms.  Up ’til now, she’s never been a runner.  Somehow, though, my faith ignited hers and she took off.  She recently ran her first 5k and is planning for her first marathon in the fall.  She may be getting a head start, but we have faith that we will run together someday.

This has turned into something that neither of us  could have predicted.  Every time she runs it’s intercession for me and at the same time, she’s gotten a whole new dimension in her relationship with God as well as gaining an independence she’s never had.  God is so good!

That’s how He loves to work…in us and through relationships.  It’s a beautiful thing when the Body of Christ works the way God intended.  He gives some of us the vision, and others the ability to run with it, and then He causes great things to happen and He gets the glory. 

I love His ways.  I love His Body and the way we’re all connected. I’m so blessed to have so many people running alongside me!

How To Stay Encouraged in a Very Discouraging World

Sometimes it seems that we stand, believe, pray and declare only to see everything we think should happen go in the opposite direction.  There are some days when nothing happening is a relief from the deluge of bad news and real life drama.  I have actually told God that when I prayed,  “More, Lord!”  I didn’t mean more suffering!  There are times when I am spiritually and emotionally too tired to pray anything more than, “Help!”

I know I’m not alone;  especially in these days, for those who are going after God and the things of the Spirit with their whole hearts.  The warfare is heavy and it is real.  So how do we keep from getting discouraged when we are in the middle of personal battles and distress, not to mention wars and terrorist attacks and starving children?

I did a search on the word “encourage” in the Amplified Bible.  I got over 60 scriptures.  Most of those were somehow referring to people encouraging people.  There was one about the comfort of the Holy Spirit.  We know how real and sweet that is, but the plan of God is to pour out His Holy Spirit through clay vessels.  Just read a couple of these.

1. Job 16:5 (Whole Chapter)
   [But] I would strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would soothe your suffering.
2.  Romans 1:12 (Whole Chapter)
   That is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
3. 2 Corinthians 7:6 (Whole Chapter)
   But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus.

Jesus knows how discouraging the world can be.  He lived here.  So in His love for us, He made a way for us to get through all of this successfully.  His way is the cross.  Always.  It is by receiving His sacrifice that we are forgiven and released of the burden of sin, guilt, and death.  Ok, meditating on that alone should dispel discouragement, but that’s not all.  The only way to receive Him and His way is to follow Him to the cross, humble ourselves, take up our own cross and become living sacrifices.  You may be thinking that this is not what you signed up for and not very encouraging, either.  Oh, but it is; on both counts!

If you want to follow Jesus, there is no other way but the cross, and although it is counterintuitive, there is no life, joy, peace or happiness until we die to ourselves.  Once we start this process the Holy Spirit is able to fill us and there is no greater joy than knowing His presence and then we can’t help but talk about how good God has been to us!  It’s really that simple.  When we speak about what God is doing for us it releases faith in ourselves and to those we speak to and we all get encouraged!  If you don’t have a recent testimony of your own, tell someone else’s.  Put yourself around people who have bigger faith than you do, then go find someone to encourage.  It’s hard to be discouraged when your praising God!

Marathon Training

Yesterday I officially started training for the New York City Marathon. 

I have a long way to go since my legs don’t move yet, but I had to start somewhere, and for me, somewhere is at the outpatient rehabilitation center in Monroe, North Carolina.  We are going to be doing electrical stimulation, horse back riding (if I can get a time slot), the hand bike (an exercise machine pedaled by hand) and whatever else these creative therapists come up with. I am totally psyched for a few reasons.  First of all these therapists are so on board with pushing all the limits.  Unlike some I’ve had to put up with, these therapists believe people can keep getting better!  The best thing is this:  My once completely paralyzed left arm has most (if not all) of its neurology back in tact, so now it’s just a matter of strengthening it!! 

 Did you get that??  A once completely paralyzed limb is no longer paralyzed!  How many times have we heard that this is impossible?  So if I can get my arm back, why not my legs? My trunk is also coming back.  We didn’t have time to evalute the my trunk or lower body yesterday, but everything has improved. Even my once useless fingers and hand measured in the functional range for movement and strength.

I’m going back tomorrow and will be going three days a week until school starts, and then I’ll probably cut back to twice a week plus the equine therapy.  On top of that, I will continue making visits to Pittsburgh for the light and sound therapy.  Additionally, we are discussing the possibility of stem cell therapy.  Stem cells would be extracted from my own bone marrow and then replaced into my spinal cord.  I’m not sure when this would happen, but I’ll keep everyone posted.

This is really starting to feel like the home stretch, maybe an extended one, but the home stretch nonetheless.  So please keep praying!  That’s how we’ve gotten this far and that’s how we’ll get to the finish line (of the New York City Marathon).