..."Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him." Luke 8:25Today is Sunday and we are thankful to have a restful day that we can go to church and now, just sit and be together as a family. This has been a rather challenging week for us. In this last week alone, we have seen 2 neurologists, a rehabilitation specialist, a speech pathologist, a physical/occupational therapist, a respiratory therapist twice, a nutritionist, a pulmonologist, a case manager, a wheelchair specialist, 2 lawyers, we have spent hours on the phone trying to unravel an insurance issue, and have had to deal with car problems. We have felt stretched, overwhelmed, tired, frustrated, perplexed, pressed down, and weak.
We are not the only ones that have had a difficult week. These past several days have been hard for a lot of people. We, as a nation, commemorated the 7th year since 9/11; parts of our country experienced a severe weather storm, known as Hurricane Ike; and on Friday, a devastating train wreck in Los Angeles claimed 25 lives, injuring many others and changed the lives of all those that traveled on the Metrolink that day. Perhaps you know someone that has been affected by one of these tragic events; maybe they have affected you.
Surely, there are untold numbers of personal events that have challenged all of you this week, as well. Life, itself, is a hard journey for most of us—sometimes it feels a bit like a hurricane or a runaway train. The storms of our lives often gather strength and increase in size; they seem to wreck havoc, as they form their destructive path. This is what ALS feels like; it picks up speed and size, and grows until it is a category 5 hurricane. ALS destroys your body, but it doesn’t have to destroy your soul.
Thankfully, the loss of life caused by Hurricane Ike’s fury will certainly be much less than it might have been because most in her path heeded the warnings to move to safer surroundings. Sadly, there are those that chose to stay with their homes and paid the price with their lives. Jesus tells us of a similar storm: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
As destructive as Hurricane Ike was, those that listened to the warnings were able to get to safe shelter while the weather was still calm. The Metrolink crash was another matter. I suspect that those boarding the train that day could not have imagined what was about to happen to them; there was no time for them to prepare.
ALS is not the first hurricane that we have experienced in our lives, but it seems to have the potential to be the largest and the most destructive so far. Gene fell this morning; fortunately our son was here and could pick him up, because I could not. Gene is, also, having a hard time dressing himself, and he needs my help getting comfortable in bed. But, the most serious challenge this week has been Gene’s struggle to catch his breath; his diaphragm and chest muscles are weakening. He is now using a BiPap ventilator machine at night; tomorrow we will receive a machine called a “sip and puff” ventilator; it will assist him in the daytime when he is short of breath, and another machine called a “cough assist” because Gene has lost the ability to cough; making cold and flu season dangerous for him. We have his special wheelchair ordered; hopefully it will be here within 2 weeks.
Fortunately, God has used our previous storms to prepare us for this current one. We have built the foundation of our lives upon the strong Rock of Christ Jesus, and He has given us the ability to endure this very strong storm. We do not mean that any of this is easy and even though we are “hard pressed on every side, [we are] not crushed; perplexed, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (1 Corinthians 4:8) we know that God reigns, that He is all good, that He is trustworthy, that He is all wise, and that He is all loving.
About this time some may ask, “Why would a God who is supposed to be all loving allow deadly hurricanes, train wrecks, and dreadful diseases such as ALS anyway?” That is a hard question and one we have all asked. We would like to share our thoughts with you on this subject next time.
We are not the only ones that have had a difficult week. These past several days have been hard for a lot of people. We, as a nation, commemorated the 7th year since 9/11; parts of our country experienced a severe weather storm, known as Hurricane Ike; and on Friday, a devastating train wreck in Los Angeles claimed 25 lives, injuring many others and changed the lives of all those that traveled on the Metrolink that day. Perhaps you know someone that has been affected by one of these tragic events; maybe they have affected you.
Surely, there are untold numbers of personal events that have challenged all of you this week, as well. Life, itself, is a hard journey for most of us—sometimes it feels a bit like a hurricane or a runaway train. The storms of our lives often gather strength and increase in size; they seem to wreck havoc, as they form their destructive path. This is what ALS feels like; it picks up speed and size, and grows until it is a category 5 hurricane. ALS destroys your body, but it doesn’t have to destroy your soul.
Thankfully, the loss of life caused by Hurricane Ike’s fury will certainly be much less than it might have been because most in her path heeded the warnings to move to safer surroundings. Sadly, there are those that chose to stay with their homes and paid the price with their lives. Jesus tells us of a similar storm: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
As destructive as Hurricane Ike was, those that listened to the warnings were able to get to safe shelter while the weather was still calm. The Metrolink crash was another matter. I suspect that those boarding the train that day could not have imagined what was about to happen to them; there was no time for them to prepare.
ALS is not the first hurricane that we have experienced in our lives, but it seems to have the potential to be the largest and the most destructive so far. Gene fell this morning; fortunately our son was here and could pick him up, because I could not. Gene is, also, having a hard time dressing himself, and he needs my help getting comfortable in bed. But, the most serious challenge this week has been Gene’s struggle to catch his breath; his diaphragm and chest muscles are weakening. He is now using a BiPap ventilator machine at night; tomorrow we will receive a machine called a “sip and puff” ventilator; it will assist him in the daytime when he is short of breath, and another machine called a “cough assist” because Gene has lost the ability to cough; making cold and flu season dangerous for him. We have his special wheelchair ordered; hopefully it will be here within 2 weeks.
Fortunately, God has used our previous storms to prepare us for this current one. We have built the foundation of our lives upon the strong Rock of Christ Jesus, and He has given us the ability to endure this very strong storm. We do not mean that any of this is easy and even though we are “hard pressed on every side, [we are] not crushed; perplexed, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (1 Corinthians 4:8) we know that God reigns, that He is all good, that He is trustworthy, that He is all wise, and that He is all loving.
About this time some may ask, “Why would a God who is supposed to be all loving allow deadly hurricanes, train wrecks, and dreadful diseases such as ALS anyway?” That is a hard question and one we have all asked. We would like to share our thoughts with you on this subject next time.
As we close today, we would like to encourage you to be part of "Gene's Dream Team". You can sign up by clicking on this link: http://web.alsa.org/goto/genemccain
Let us leave you with this thought...
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:1
Trusting the One that holds our tomorrows,
Gene and Michele
