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5/2/03 Another Miracle in This House From:
Rob Payne <rob@everydayisprecious.com>
Darcy accepted Christ in her life Darcy got bored over spring break and wanted to go on a trip. Since Dean (Marcy's Dad) had to go back to Southern Illinois for a doctor's appointment, Darcy rode with him so she could visit her Aunt Laura and her 4 year old cousin Alex. They had been gone about 2 hours when I answered our phone at home. Darcy's voice came across the line, "Daddy, guess what? I was listening to my Kids Worship CD in the car and I felt Jesus come into my heart." Darcy had learned about this at church and we had talked about it at home. I thought Dean had been talking to her in the car on the way up, but I found out later that Dean didn't even know why she was calling me. He loaned her the cell phone for the call, but didn't know she was saved until later that night when we called Laura. Darcy will be baptised Sunday, May 18, at the 10:45 service of Clearview Baptist Church. Dean was delivered from 30 years of back pain in our home 4/6 Since last August, Jeannie has been coming to our home and praying for Marcy. Jeannie was healed of a brain disorder during a church service held by a woman who was healed of back pain during a church service held by Katherine Kulman. Before Jeannie left the house, Karen (Marcy's Mom) asked her to pray for Dean's back - he has been in constant pain (from an injury in the service) for over 30 years. They went into the kitchen to pray and about 45 minutes later Jeannie came out and asked Karen and me if we thought Dean had gone to sleep. We went into the kitchen and it looked like he was sleeping - sitting up in the chair with his right elbow on the table and his right fist under his chin. We didn't think anyone could sleep in that position and he would mumble something every so often, then stop and listen. His dogs were worried about him and kept jumping on him but he was totally unaware of them. After a total time of almost an hour, he seemed to come to and thought he had closed his eyes for just a few minutes. Jeannie asked him what happened. He said he wasn't aware of anything except "the hair on my right arm was standing out straight and I had like an electric shock all along my arm." She told him to stand up and move in all different directions. He stood and when I saw him standing, he was at least 3 inches taller - his back pain kept him hunched over all the time. When he stretched and moved, he had no pain at all, anywhere in his body, for the first time since he was 33 years old. Jeannie said, "If you feel any pain from now on, just tell the devil you are healed and to go away." Dean has done that since 4/6 and the pain has stayed away. Jeannie came back the next week and prayed for a knee that had a chipped bone and needed surgery. It had hurt daily for a couple of months. That was also healed - Dean is scheduled to have it x-rayed again, but it has caused no pain since 4/13/03. Since his healing, he is different physically - he stands up straighter and doesn't tire as easily. But he's different in other ways as well. He has a better sense of humor, hasn't gotten angry, and spends a lot of time reading the Bible instead of his Louis L'amor books. It is great to see miracles in action! Marcy got back in her wheelchair and on our back deck again 4/27. After weeks of not feeling up to it, Marcy went back in her wheelchair last Sunday and we went on the back deck for 20 or 25 minutes. Transitioning from the bed to the chair (and back) was difficult on her, but she enjoyed being outside on a fresh, Springtime day - for a while. We're in the process of getting a sling device that we hope will make transitions easier. We'll keep you up to date. I've been given some respite care. When Marcy was in the hospital, my parents brought an application for $1,500 in respite care provided by Ride for Life, an ALS support organization. They had filled out the application and had a stamp on the envelope. They just wanted to make sure that we wanted to apply. We did. I signed the application and my parents took the application to the mailbox for us. They knew things were particularly hectic while we were in the hospital. Within 3 weeks we received a letter saying our application had been randomly selected to receive the aid. We had to find the local healthcare organization we wanted and have them approved by Ride for Life. Then the healthcare organization bills Ride for Life directly. The nurse has come three times now. The first time it took 4 hours to show her the things she needed to do, but after that, the nurse has been able to care for Marcy. I've been able to use the time to run errands that have to be done outside the house: emissions inspection for my car, put "For Sale" signs on the RV, etc. and to eat lunch with Darcy and Matthew. It gives me a change of scene, but I think Marcy has enjoyed having a little break from me, too! (Can you imagine?) If you are interested, Ride for Life also has one of the best, if not the best, ALS news pages on the web. Another miracle with our dinners, want to be part of it? Our neighbors are still bringing dinner each night and it is still one of our biggest blessings. But we've had 2 of our friends move out of state, another tied up with finals at school, and a couple of other issues that have created a shortage of people who can bring dinner. Early last week, we were told that dinners would be cut back to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I've often thought of the people who bring dinners as one of God's biggest blessings during this leg of our journey. It is often the first thing I tell people when they feel sorry for us and our situation. Literally hundreds of people have been uplifted and amazed at the love and generosity of our neighbors. They can't believe that people today perform these acts of love. This daily act helps them (and us) see the good that can come from bad. After hearing that we were going back to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I thought about the dinners a lot. I wasn't worried about the personal loss of the meals - we can replace those. It was a larger sense of loss - Have we been taking this love too much for granted? Should we do a better job communicating our appreciation? Or worse - has the disease outlived love? Or worst of all - is good losing ground to evil? One morning last week I prayed about it again. Fifteen minutes after my prayer, we received an email from one of our neighbors saying that once people knew, they came out of the woodwork. There were enough people to go back to all weekdays - and maybe enough to go to seven days a week! If you would like to be added to the dinner list, or know someone who would, please email. Our current specific prayer request: That Marcy is able to go to Darcy's baptism 5/18. It's not too late to become a Virtual Caregiver, and now it's tax deductible. We are thankful for the response we've had to our request for financial aid. We are still asking you to pledge an amount that you feel comfortable contributing monthly. Now contributions are tax deductible through the church. If you can’t give, that’s OK. We know how that is. If you can give, any amount, we will appreciate it. As with all correspondence, we’ll keep your name and contributions confidential - unless you want it otherwise. If you can’t give, but know someone who can, please direct them to this site or click here for a printable version for friends who are not wired. If you printed the printable version before, we've changed it to reflect the tax deductible status. For epledge, click here; for paper pledge, click here. Email Change If you haven't already done so, please update your address book for us - the new email address is rob@everydayisprecious.com.
We appreciate your gift of prayer. It helps keep our eyes in the right direction. Rob
& Marcy |