NEVER GIVE UP!

"Never Give Up"; these are the words inscribed upon the plastic wristband Dr. Robert Miller, of the Forbes-Norris MDA/ALS Research Clinic, gave to Gene when we were wrapping up our visit to San Francisco. What an uplifting trip it was. We were greatly encouraged by the kindness and attentiveness of the whole staff. Dr. Miller spent nearly 3 hours with us, examining Gene and questioning him in great detail. Dr. Miller informed us that he has cared for thousands of ALS patients, yet when he asked Gene how his spirit was, Gene, with tears, explained his Christian faith in Christ; Dr. Miller had tears in his eyes. He later informed us that he shared our faith, would always remember us and would be praying for us. It was a very touching moment. Dr. Miller believes that Gene is fairly early in the disease process and is considered fairly high functioning at this point, and with normal lung capacity. This was encouraging news. The trick with ALS is staying ahead of the game by anticipating the next need before it becomes a crisis. ALS clinics address the disease from a multidisciplinary approach, as every voluntary muscle of the body will eventually be affected. This means that the ALS team will include a physical therapist, occupational therapist, respiratory therapist, nutritionist, psychological help, social work, etc., etc., etc. Finding the right clinic is very important. All of this can feel very overwhelming and easy for us to only focus on ALS. But, the staff at the Forbes-Norris clinic were full of compassion for how their patients must feel. How many times have you been to the doctor where he/she cries with you and the nurse walks you out to the curb, hugs and kisses you goodbye? They truly treated us as they would want to be treated. We will be going up to UC Irvine's ALS clinic for a comparison.

Oh, by the way, we should mention the mood lighting on the flight, as we are sure you all must be dying to know; we liked it very much and we can't imagine flying without it. It was very 1960's! Ummm, just kidding. It was actually kinda weird! We did learn some of the ins and outs of traveling as a disabled person. We have such admiration for those that are disabled.

We promised you in our first post that we would not just focus on ALS, even though we would keep you all informed about Gene's health. We want to be true to that promise. There are at least 2 things that inspired us during this trip. First, was the slogan on the wristband, "Never Give Up". What does this phrase mean to you? We will try to explain what it means to us. To us, "never give up" does not mean that God owes us a miracle healing. He may do that, and He may not. Every day we are praying for a complete healing, but there is so much more to anticipate than just physical health. We think there is a greater miracle worth seeking. Luke 18:1 says that "we should always pray and not give up." Don't give up what? We think Jesus meant the pursuit of Him. The final words of Jesus' parable say, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" When God does not answer our prayers the way we think He should, rather than trusting Him and His goodness and wisdom, we often become angry at Him, embittered, and turn our backs on Him. But, knowing Christ is far more valuable than our health, our wealth, or anything else we could ever achieve. If we will permit it to be so, it is in our suffering that we can come to know Him more deeply.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-10.

Knowing Him is the reason we will "never give up".

The second thing that inspired us, was something Dr. Miller said to us, "there is no cure, but there is hope". This is not the first time we have heard these words as it relates to ALS. But, we want to ask, if there is no cure, what are we hoping for? What are you hoping for? This is a very important question to ask yourself, for everything in life depends upon it. Where does your hope come from? Is it a feeling that you make yourself feel? We don't know how you would respond, but can we share with you how we respond to that? The word "hope" is derived from the root word meaning "to anticipate, usually with pleasure; to wait for with full joy." The disease ALS (or any other disease, for that matter) is anything but a pleasure and the anticipation of what lies ahead can be frightening. If our hope is in finding a cure, it is likely we will be disappointed. If we focus on our ALS, we can feel very hopeless. But, we have made a choice. We have chosen to put our hope in the Living God, who is the Savior of all men (1Timothy 4:10). He is the ground upon which our hope rests. This is the opposite of despair.

Yes, everyone, there may be no cure, but there is much to hope for!

Well, forgive us for being so long winded. Let us leave today's post with a blessing to you, as you have all been such a blessing to us.....May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Until next time...

With love and thankfulness,
Gene and Michele