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Every Day is Precious: Slumps of the soul cured by calls from out oft he blue
By ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
Marcy has been in a little slump for the last several weeks. She hasn't felt well, hasn't slept well, and has been more tired than normal. She hasn't wanted to try to get out or try to breathe on her own as she was doing a couple of months ago.
I'm sure part of it is a discouragement in not seeing any physical progress lately she is tired of being in the same place. But I think it's more of her emotional sense of being. I believe they each feed each other.
We can't complain, because quite a few new friends have done some outstanding things for us the last few weeks. But we had a general sense of abandonment from folks who have stood with us for a while. It felt like they had stagnated also, like they are tired of our being in the same place.
It may have all been in our head or just a string of bad timings.
We have received a couple of larger donations that have carried us through, but donations in general have dropped off. We kept hitting dead ends in alternative treatment therapies everything we investigated came up empty. The doctors who cared so much for us in Pennsylvania had no suggestions for reversing the decline. Our friends who were doing Marcy's manicures and massages had other things happening in their lives. There were even a couple of weeks the kids didn't get a ride to church. And the woman who has been coming to pray with Marcy the longest and most consistently seemed to be saying that maybe it was time to give up.
But the downward spiral stopped this week when we got a call from the Pennsylvania doctors. In three hours on the phone in one day, they showed they have redoubled their caring efforts. They apologized for losing touch as they got tied up in a move to a new facility and dealt with some personal illnesses of their own. They had several new ideas for treatment possibilities. Their encouragement lifted our heads and reminded us to keep looking up.
We went back to the source of our strength and prayed and continue to pray. We thank him for loving us (John 3:16). We believe that whatever we ask in his name, he will do it (John 14:13). We remember that by his stripes we are healed and we claim that healing for his child, Marcy (Isaiah 53:4-5).
We confirm that she chooses life that she and her descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). She knows that she will not die, but live, and declare his works (Psalm 118:17). We ask him to continue to strengthen her, help her, uphold her with his righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). We bind the elements working against Marcy's body and we loose his healing power in every cell (Matthew 18:18-19).
We have faith. We remove doubt (Matthew 21:21). We ask him to continue to give this mortal body life through his spirit dwelling inside (Romans 8:2-11). We try not to be anxious, but ask all things with thanksgiving for all he has already done for us (Philippians 4:6-7). We know that he hears us and grants our petition (1 John 5:14-15).
I don't know which is the chicken and which is the egg, but I believe that our thoughts and attitudes whether positive or negative are absorbed into and reflected by those around us.
If you know a family in need, give them a call or drop them a note. It is sure to lift their spirits and may just launch a revival in their soul.
Every Day Is Precious is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August 2000. Now 41 years old, she has gone from winning 5 and 10K races to being quadriplegic and on a ventilator at home. Visit www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com.
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