Ten Months

Thursday, July 30, 2009

A message from the SheepDog:

God is good… ALL THE TIME! It has been a little over ten months since my accident, and I wanted to give you an update on what’s happening.

As many of you know, I am now preaching every Sunday. It feels good to share the Word of God with you each week. I am getting stronger every day. I have stated in earlier messages that I have come a long way since my accident, but I still have a long way to go to full recovery. That is still true today.

I had a couple of surgeries in May. The first operation was on my left eye to center it and help improve peripheral vision. Then I had surgery on my right eye, which was sewn partially shut with two surgeries back in October and November to protect my cornea from drying out because my eyelid did not close completely. This time they reversed the two previous surgeries and put a gold weight in my eyelid to help me close my eye. I still must put ointment in my right eye four times a day to prevent my cornea from drying out, and I wear sponge goggles at night to help keep my eye shut while I am sleeping.

These two surgeries have helped my vision tremendously. I am now able to use my prescription eye glasses for the first time. I am still struggling with double vision because both eyes are not in sync with each other.

In addition, I also had surgery on my facial nerves. Because of the length of time that has past since the accident, there was little hope my nerves were going to regenerate in my face. The surgeon cut the 12th h nerve that controls the right side of my tongue and grafted it to the 7th nerve that controls the right side of my face. I was told it would take six months to a year before the results of this surgery would be noticeable. Last week I experienced some movement in the right side of my face for the first time.

In September, I will have another surgery on my right eye to help eliminate the double vision I am still experiencing. All this to say, “God is not finished yet.”

I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to you all. You have stood with me and my family, prayed with us, supported us in so many ways these last ten months. Your prayers, cards, words of encouragement have sustained us through it all. Pat and I have been blessed by just knowing you have been with on this journey. You have reached out to us in so many ways and expressed love and care. You have truly shown us the love of Christ through your actions. Thank you!

Through this entire experience, we have never doubted God’s presence or provision. Our faith and trust in the Lord has never been greater than it is today. We have grown closer to God, and closer to you as a result of where He has brought us thus far. Because of that, we can claim with the Apostle Paul, “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.” {Rom 8:28, CEV}

God works in all things - not just isolated incidents - for our good. I can also tell you that this does not mean that all that happens to us is good. But it does mean that God s able to turn what happens to us around for our long range good. I had a nurse at elect Specialty Hospital tell me one day, “God is too righteous not to do right, and too wise not to do good.” Good words to live by. I thank God for each of you for how you have ministered to me and my family this past year. “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.” {Rom 8:37}

If you want to send a note to Dad, send it here.