Buddy Champion

Update, Friday, February 11

Hi from Illinois:

Last night’s “welcome to Springfield” was 20 degrees and windy, much snow on the ground.

This morning, Grace saw Dr. Pranzatelli, who examined and questioned for about an hour and 1/2. Then, another spinal tap under general anesthesia and blood drawn for more detailed sub-assessments that the specialty lab here is set up to handle.

We don’t expect to hear from any of these tests today, but probably first of next week, with some of the tests taking 4 – 6 weeks to come back. Dr. Pranzatelli will help Dr. Ness and Dr. Dure lay out the next treatment.

Grace is keeping a count of blood drawn: as of today, 38 vials. 🙂

I read through the many emails posted on FBC Trussville’s website on the way up here. You are a constant encouragement to us. Thank you!

Grace says “hi.” 🙂

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in Him.” Jeremiah 17:7

Update, Wednesday, February 9

Hey Friends:

Plans have changed this week and the treatments delayed. Dr. Ness and Dr. Dure are recommending Grace see Dr. Pranzatelli, children’s neurologist, in Springfield, IL, for clinical exam and more tests. Because of a cancellation from another patient, we have an appt to see him this Friday, so God is opening doors for us there already.

Grace’s condition is much the same. We haven’t seen much improvement this week. Homebound study is coming along, just trying to do a little each day. Perm turned out well :-).

We so appreciate all the encouragement and love you are sending our way. Thank you Trussville, Decatur, Sardis, Selma, Hoover, Pelham, Gardendale, Pell City, Auburn, Anniston, Chandler Springs, Texas, Nashville, Calera, Huntsville and many others for praying for Grace’s complete healing. Please pray for safe travel, wisdom for Dr. Pranzatelli, continued healing, peace for Grace, us and sisters these next few days so we can be grace-givers to others.

Love and many thanks…
Lynn

Update, Friday, February 4

Grace has been to the neurology clinic at Childrens’ to see Dr. Ness and Dr. Dure this morning. They were pleased with her progress, feeling like the IVIG treatment has been effective. However, since she is not 100% better, plans are to be re-admitted next week for 3 -4 days for a different treatment, then again in another couple weeks for a second dose of this treatment.

Tests results indicate this is not a tumor, not cancer, not “ms.” These neurologists are optimistic that Grace’s system is responding to treatment and will respond to the next treatment as well.

We want to thank you for holding us up with your prayers. God is our Healer, and we believe He is healing Grace.

On a side note, Grace is about to get a perm. 🙂

Love and thanks…
Lynn

Update, Wednesday, February 2

Hey Friends:

We aren’t noticing big changes in Grace’s condition day to day, but we know for sure she is better today than when we left Children’s 12 days ago. She is able to read some and is working on “catch up” school work. Balance is definitely improved, as she is walking more on her own now. Her attitude still sweet even after dealing with this situation since Christmas day. Grace is able to move around the house without the walker but is still dealing with a persistent tremor. On Friday we have an appointment with Dr. Ness and Dr. Dure who are the neurologists working with us at Children’s Hospital.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, Who daily bears our burdens.” Psalm 68:19

Love and thanks to so many praying with us,

Lynn

Update, Saturday, January 29

Grace’s balance is somewhat improved. She is walking a little on her own, eyes are more steady, and she’s doing physical therapy at home and at Therapy South.

We still have no further word on the cause of Grace’s situation. Neurologists have said that all the information they have doesn’t point to just one diagnosis. Plans are to see Dr. Ness at Children’s next week and she will decide whether to continue allowing the IVIG treatment to take effect or pursue another treatment.

Grace made the mistake of saying she’s bored; so, Mrs. Herring from “Homebound” came this morning with school work. Reading is still difficult.

Thank you for praying with us for Grace! Thank you to Grace’s sweet friends for all of your encouragement!

An update on Grace

Grace continues to making progress with her walking. She is using a walker, but is more comfortable with it, less dependent on it. It’s hard to measure progress day to day, but she is certainly better today than when we came home on Friday… more balanced, less shaky, eyes moving less. As long as she is improving, we will give the IVIG treatment time to work and not pursue another type treatment.

We haven’t had word yet from some of last week’s tests, which are expected to be “negative,” just checking off “what it’s not.”

We again thank you for your overwhelming prayer support and your encouragement to us and to Grace daily. We are asking God to show up and take all the credit.

Our Family’s Recent Journey

Since Christmas Night, our youngest daughter Grace had not been sleeping well, blurred vision, shaky, off -balance. An appointment with our Pediatrician, January 5, sent us from there to Children’s Hospital for tests. After a huge battery of tests, we left with the diagnosis of “inflammation of the cerebellum”, given steroids for 2 weeks and, aside from a few weeks of missed school, a prognosis of full recovery.

Thursday, January 13, we were readmitted to Children’s because her balance and coordination were worsening. We were there until Friday, January 21. During this weeklong stay, doctors remained “intrigued” with her symptoms and ran her through many, many more test and evaluations trying to find the answer. So far, all test and examinations showed no initial, significant findings. Grace continued through physical therapy and began to manage the use of a walker for support.

Grace also began a three day treatment called “IVIG” which is intravenous immune globulin. Thankfully Grace had no adverse reactions to the this treatment.

We are at home now, giving the IVIG treatment time to work (which could be weeks). Her situation is still “intriguing” to neurologists with still no firm diagnosis. Our neurologists are in touch with others around the country thanks to technology allowing shared tests results, MRI, and video

We have been blessed with an abundance of support, a wonderful hospital and staff, constant prayer for healing from so many, a sweet, positive attitude from Grace (which is typical,) and peace that only God brings. Please continue to pray for wisdom and divine healing!

Sabbath

From time to time I am asked about the importance of the “Sabbath” in our world today. Unfortunately, there are many who feel the ministry of Jesus completely abolished the Old Testament and the teachings and principles that God placed for His people. To a degree this would be correct, but it is also true that Jesus completed or fulfilled what we find in the Old Testament. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 (NIV) Some would say this verse means Jesus completed the requirements of the law which we could not complete.

Today, we see people who follow Christ who have completely done away with the “need” for rest, worship and fellowship with fellow believers. The thought is that everyday in Christ is a day of rest, so one is not any more important than another. Likewise, coming to church on Sunday is a point of convenience since we find our rest in Christ. We find many who attend church if not out of town, visiting with family, traveling with ball teams, working, decorating tomb stones, visiting parents, seeing the kids, going to cheerleading competitions…even though there is not a team around, gone on business, attending family reunions, going to football games, going on church trips, getting home from football games, gathering with friends, taking a Sunday School class trip…well you see the point. These are not bad things—but if we’re not careful, we may eventually find ourselves not attending church at all. Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us to be very careful to protect our time together as the body of Christ. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The issue of concern centers on two perspectives on Sabbath keeping: one physical and one spiritual. The physical aspect centers on our bodies being creations of God and the rest requirements of the Sabbath being His operations manual for the refreshing of His created bodies. The specific day and time each week is determine by the individual but the manual says we should do it for our health. That is the physical side of the Sabbath.

The spiritual side of the Sabbath stems from the law of Sabbath observance. The purpose of the law was to reveal the requirements of a holy God and the inadequacy of any man to measure to that standard. The work of Christ was not to erase all biblical requirements for a holy life before God but rather to accomplish those for us. We find our rest in Him because our position before God no longer rests on our ability to carry out the demands of the law but rather on Christ carrying out those demands for us. Both Colossians and Hebrews refer to Sabbath in that spiritual sense.

Jesus said in Mark 2:27-28 that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Simply put…we need the Sabbath. We need the rest, worship and fellowship.

The Old Testament Sabbath was on the last day of the week. After the resurrection of Christ we see believers worshipping together on the first day of the week, Sunday. Why? …because they were gathered together to worship a risen Christ, which occurred on the first day of the week. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. John 20:1 (NIV)

A few examples of this new practice in the early church would be:

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. Acts 20:7 (NIV)

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV)

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” John 20:19 (NIV)

Even in this day God desires for His church to set aside a day each week to worship and fellowship together. He also desires individual believers to set aside time each week to rest physically and to renew that personal relationship with Him.

Calvinism

One of the hot topics among Southern Baptist is the view of our salvation known as Calvinism. These thoughts are not intended to be a theological dissertation (of which there are many) of Calvinism or an argumentative thesis explaining why I am troubled by this becoming so prevalent in our churches. It is just a few thoughts to consider as your reflect on your views.

Unfortunately, throughout those years the adherents of the differing positions battled rather than working together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Each side holds to the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith: God the Creator is the only true God, His Son Jesus gave His life as payment for the sins of people (no one is saved apart from this Divine payment), Jesus was resurrected from death, God’s Holy Spirit lives in each believer today, believers must obey the instructions of God as taught in the Bible, the Bible is authoritative as the inspired Word from God, each believer is responsible for sharing the good news of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, God will end human history and bring all believers to live with Him eternally. These common beliefs should be enough to pull the sides together for Kingdom work but this is often not the case. When theological debate begins to divide, a red flag should be raised. I have many friends that hold to the “Calvinistic” view of salvation and they, of course, are wonderful people who love and serve the Lord with all their hearts.

As it relates to this subject, I am personally always brought back to my understanding of God’s nature and character. In other words: Do I think that God would create a life and then condemn it to hell for eternity?

With any subject, you can look at different verses of scripture that seem to indicate various things. I will share a few of them before I close that indicate to me salvation is available to everyone and God desires for everyone to have a personal relationship with Christ. “Proof texting” can be used in all subjects and can be debated until this life is over. As I study the existence and torment of hell it is hard for me to believe that our loving Father, who has created all of us for a relationship and provided His only Son as a sacrifice would freely and willingly send someone to hell. He doesn’t! Mankind does when he rejects Jesus as the Savior of the world. Does God have a foreknowledge of who is going to say “yes” to His Son and who will not? Absolutely. He is all-knowing, but it is hard to see Him condemning someone to hell regardless of their desire to walk with Christ.

Here are a few verses to consider:

Romans 1:16 (NIV) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

1 John 2:2 (NIV) He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

We could go on for awhile but you get the point. I personally wouldn’t encourage anyone to lose a lot of sleep over something that can be so easily argued from various points. I would ask that you to evaluate your love and concern for the lost! How many people have your led to the Lord in recent days? Do you live your life in light of a lost world that needs to hear the message of Christ? Regardless of your views of how we come to Christ…we must all share Christ with the world!

El Salvador Mission Trip Sunday Update

We had a great day of worship with the people of Vida Nueva. Kevin was able to give a testimony, Johnny helped lead worship and Blake was able to preach. It was so much fun to worship in both English and Spanish and it gave us a little taste of what heaven will be like with people from every nation! Because of the rain we were not able to go sightseeing so we went to an American restaurant for lunch…and boy did that American food taste good! We we able to spend some time with the interpreters and Candace and Vlady. We cannot say enough about how much we love and appreciate this tremendous team (Candace & Vlady)–they are incredible!

We are all looking forward to coming home tomorrow (Monday). Thanks for praying for our team!

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