MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND & MORE...FUN!

Wow where does the time go? We are sorry we haven’t updated the blog in almost a week! Let me give you a recap of what has been going on in our busy lives. Last Saturday was a dream come true for me; my friend Doug W. was able to secure 2 tickets to go to Joe Louis Arena to watch the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins & the Detroit Redwings. It was truly amazing to be there. The energy was electric and contagious. Detroit won the game 4-0! As a former hockey player it is every players goal to make it to the Stanley Cup…for me just being there watching it meant so much to me, thanks Doug!
One thought I had while watching the game was what would our churches look like if every believer had the same passion as all of these fans that were passionately cheering after the redwings scored a goal? Why don’t we act/praise God in the same way? Is it because we don’t really believe in Him like we do our favorite sports team? Maybe we need to evaluate this and ask God to help us with it…I know I was convicted by this and I’m wrestling with God about it.
Sunday was an awesome day because God was working on me throughout the service regarding the way we passionately worship & praise Him. One time Pastor Gary said something so profound that I totally agreed with and I wanted to get up and shout Amen, start cheering God on to keep speaking through His servant, but I held back - why? I need prayer to just let God get ALL the glory He deserves.
In the afternoon we took the kids to see the new Narnia movie with our close friends, the Barr’s. It was great; almost as good as the first one in my opinion. The kids all enjoyed it.
Monday was Memorial Day, which has more meaning to me because of my service to this great country in the Persian Gulf War. We went to watch the parade at 9:30am; Zach walked with our church [Wellspring] along with 240 others that were dancing, singing, and handing out candy & brochures about Wellspring. The praise team was singing some jamming new songs from atop the float which had huge different sized vibrant colored photo’s of smiling people. The theme this year was “CHANGED LIVES” which was perfect seems God has been busy the last couple months changing over 70 peoples lives by them accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Tuesday we were back to normal with a treatment at the Born Clinic, cleaning to show the house, [9th time in 6 weeks]; we’re praying that they make an offer because they are coming back this Tuesday!
On Wednesday, We had our Angel Care here and Kucinski’s came over to hang out. Matt stayed with Eric and they watched a movie while Stephanie and Lori went to lunch and ran errands together. It was a great day! We found out it was Eric (our angel care person)’s last day and a new person would be starting on Friday. Zach had a baseball game at 6:00pm, which his team won 9-2. Zach pitched 4 innings only giving up one run!
Thursday was a busy but fun filled day. We took Maddie to get her eyes checked for kindergarten she passed no problem. Then we met with a local chiropractor, Dr. Aaron Kik to discuss a new protocol to try to fight this disease. Please pray that I can be disciplined to stay on the new diet & vitamins regiment and that we could see some positive improvements. Afterwards I had another treatment at the clinic and was taken there by our neighbor, Al Garcia, who also has ALS for about 20 years! He has the slow progression type so we compared notes and he gave me some insights on the disease. This was a huge blessing for Lori because she was able to stay home and clean the house for another showing that night; thank-you Al. That night after Zach’s game went to Culver’s with some friends, The Smith family and it was fun hanging out with them talking about life.
Friday morning we went to the VA for bloodwork and to check on our applications for grants. It was good that we went because the adaptive housing grant was approved at 20% of the potential grant so we appealed it since Eric qualifies for the full amount. The vehicle grant had been closed out for some reason so we had to get that reopened and looked at. This is how things are with the VA and you need to be persistant to get what you are entitled to. Please continue to pray for these things to be approved in the time that we will be needing them. We got our new Angel (we will refer to the home health care person from Angel Care as our angel from now on). She is wonderful!! She did everything on the list and more. She has 4 children of her own and has been in this field for over ten years. What a blessing! Sorry this has taken so long to update the blog and it is quite long, but it has been very busy as you can see and we again hope to slow down and relax at home more soon. Four more days of school next week. Have a blessed weekend. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Your brother in Christ,

Eric

Philippians 4:11-13
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

MY BODY IS REALLY SICK...NEEDS TIME TO HEAL

I realized yesterday just how sick my body is. Like some americans I wasn't taking very good care of my body over the years, by what I was eating [mostly fast food diet] & drinking[2-3 2 liters of mountain dew a day]coupled by the lack of sleep [average of 4-5 hours a night]. Then factor in the stressors & anxieties of daily life, environmental toxins exposed to in the Gulf War and in the cities I've lived in; one tends to see the big picture...my body is real sick not getting the opportunity to heal!
Since my diagnosis last May I have tried to address these areas, but find I still need prayers, discipline and motivation to get my body back to health. I have overcome the need/desire to drink pop,thank you God; that was a tough one. I have been taking about $200-300 a month worth of vitamins & minerals...which my body was depleted of for so long. I have tried to eat mostly organic foods, but during the winter months its hard to find them. Due to being so busy lately we have comprimised for convience and time by eating out too much.
Well I am going to need to work harder stronger being more disciplined this next year in regards to my diet in order to get my body back to healthy.

After much prayer, I've decided to FIRE all my doctors seems none of them care like I do. I will rely on the "The Great Physician" from now on!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Love Eric


Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Everyone goes through seasons of difficulty and challenge in life. One of the enemy’s traps is to isolate us and convince us that we won’t make it. But God promises that He will deliver the righteous out of all of their afflictions. We are righteous because of our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. We are righteous simply by having faith in Him, His goodness, and the promises in His Word. If you’re going through a tough time today, keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. Declare His promises over your life. We are more than conquerors through Him! The joy of the Lord is our strength! As we continue to stand, even during the difficult times, we can be assured that victory is on the way. It might be today…it might be next week…next month, or next year, but God is faithful! Through faith and patience, we will inherit the promise. We will get beyond these difficulties.

HIS WORD IS MY GUIDE

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11).

God designed us to live in relationship with others. He wants us to help each other grow. None of us will reach our highest potential by ourselves. We need people in our lives to encourage us, and we need to encourage the people in our lives and help them reach their potential. The word “encourage” means to “urge forward.” Many times you can see things in other people that they don’t see themselves. You can see their strengths and talents. You can see that God has a special plan for them even though they may be going through a difficult time. Don’t assume that people see what you see in them. Take a moment and encourage them either with a kind word or a simple note. There might be a special gift you can give that will remind them of their goal or dream. In whatever way you can, urge the people in your life to keep moving forward. If you’ll be a people builder and help others fulfill their dreams, God will help you fulfill your dreams also, and you’ll live in blessing all the days of your life.
God continues to use His word to change & transform me.
Have a blessed week!
Eric

Faith Hospice Fund

Wow, where does the time go? It was a beautiful weekend with the sun shining although breezy, it was nice. Eric's brother Jary and Erica and their girls came over on Saturday and he got our grill working again (we had a small fire problem with the control knobs last time we used it) so we grilled steaks. It was fun hanging out at home with them and the Hetricks. Sunday eve was the AWANA awards night for the kids so we are done with AWANA this year. It will be nice being able to go to the evening services again. We have showed our house 3 times in the last four days with no real interest yet. Keep praying. We are looking at some quick touchups like painting the porch and trim and stretching and cleaning the carpet. We had our home health respite care start last week and a young man from Grand Valley named Eric came to help Eric with any needs while I am able to leave the house. After going over things for a few hours, I went to work at my brothers and didn't have to worry about anything. This will be such a blessing for us. The night before, I left for Costco for an hour and things did not go well at home. It's hard for all of us when this happens. It's frustrating for Eric because he can not do things on his own, upsetting for Zach because he doesn't always know how to help his dad and other kids in the neighborhood just want him to play and don't understand always and Maddie just wants to play all the time and doesn't think about much else as most five year olds do. I feel bad because I need to leave for things like groceries, etc, but feel like I shouldn't leave even for a short time. Needless to say, this couldn't have come at a better time. This will be a huge relief for me and I can rest easy when I leave during respite care.
This morning Eric was honored by a ceremony at Faith Hospice Trillium Woods where they named a fund the Eric Fox ALS fund which will be used for people with ALS who need hospice care that can't afford it. The way this came about is kind of a long story so I will try to summarize it. Back in November, Eric and Linda Cnossen of the ALS Association were asked to come to a Hudsonville High classroom along with 8 other organizations where Kerkstra Precast had set up a fund to teach the students about philanthrapy and giving to a cause. They had each of these organizations speak and invited Eric and Linda back along with Faith Hospice and Youth for Christ. After hearing them all speak again, they chose ALS association to award $10,000 (this will go to respite care for ALSA). Then Kerkstra Precast surprised everyone and also awarded Faith Hospice and Youth for Christ with $5,000 as well. Faith Hospice decided to create a fund for people with ALS and named the fund after Eric because they were touched by meeting Eric through this school project. I have to say, I was so proud of Eric today. His name will be on a plaque with his picture with the students and teacher and Kerkstra Precast. It just reminds me how God has continued to give Eric purpose despite this disease. We took the kids with us to share the day with us. The facility is abolutely amazing. The rooms are not like hospital rooms and are very home like and spacious. They gave us a tour when we arrived and when we were done with the ceremony, Maddie said OK lets go to our room now. She thought it was like a hotel and we were staying there. She is so innocently cute sometimes! We went shopping for a lift chair for Eric today too and want to check a few more places. He just sinks into the couch we have and a nice big lift chair would be very helpful to have. They don't make them very big and he needs a big chair cuz he is a big guy! Not to mention, his kids are going to want to cuddle up with him on it. Hopefully we can find the right one.
Tomorrow morning, we have a followup visit at the ALS clinic at Mary Freebed on his BiPAP machine and we plan to ask about the surgery for the diaphraghm pacemeker.
Hope you all are well!
Grace for the day! ( I stole this from a dear teacher , Mrs. Weaver)

Lori and Eric

P.S. If you want to view the pictures my dad took in DC, you can go to www.ezsite.com/ericwashington and view them all by clicking on pictures and then choosing slideshow. They turned out really great!

We're home safe!

Well,
we got home last night safely and are so glad to be home. Tuesday was a great day and very busy. It started with a phone call at 7:15am from the VP of Goverment relations for ALS association in DC asking if Eric would be willing to speak at the breakfast at 7:45. Of course you know Eric said he would while laying in bed not realizing that was a half hour away! We quickly scrambled to get Eric showered, shaved, dressed in a suit with a crazy looking tie (not my strongest skill) and out to breakfast as I finished getting dressed and dried my hair. I was praying they would be running behind as I took the elevator down at 7:55 and as I walked in the ballroom, they introduced Eric as I cheered from the back! Whewwww! He did a great job as he motivated everyone there before they headed out to their meetings on Capital hill! Pretty ironic since we didn't even know what to expect ourselves but none the less enthusiastic because Eric was pumped up to be there. We headed out with our group on a bus and met my parents and met with reps for Vern Ehlers, Fred Upton, Carl Levin, Tim Walberg and Pete Hoekstra. Our reason for being there representing the ALS Association was to ask for support on the ALS Registry, which will centralize data for all people with ALS which will help research by leaps and bounds to have all of the info in one place. Second, to support HR 5454 which would help veterans who are diagnosed with ALS receive benefits regardless of when and where served since they are twice as likely to be diagnosed with AlS from military service. Lastly, we asked for 5 million from the department of defense for research specifically for ALS due to the strong tie to military service. We were pumped up and really not nervous because it was a personal environment and everyone was very receptive and supportive to ALS and our causes. It was a great day, but very tiring since we had to bounce back and forth between buildings. Our last visit had a tour of the capital scheduled with Hoekstra's office so we went with my parents to that and they got Eric a wheelchair to keep him from tiring out completely. The capital was beautiful. We had never been inside it before. This was about the only sight seeing we had time for. We ate in Georgetown with my parents for dinner at Papa Razzi an Italian resteraunt and got back to the hotel and crashed after I packed everything up. My parents were able to take pictures in the meetings and video some so we will post pictures when we get them from them. They headed south to the Smokey mountains to camp from DC and it is my Mom's birthday today! Happy Birthday Mom!! We are showing our house tomorrow morning and Sat morning to two different people so we are back to craziness. One good thing I wanted to share with you all as well is that the VA covers respite care for Eric and we have gotten that into place and someone from Angel Care will come out on Wed and Friday for 6 hours to help Eric with anything he needs and I can leave the house to get things done or work at my brothers with no worries! They actually help clean while they are here so I am estatic about this! This will be such a blessing for us so pray that the relationship is a comfortable one for Eric! Thank you to Brian for coming out to mow and trim our lawn tonight before our showing since Zach had a game. What a blessing that was as I know it was a sacrifice of his evening. Sometimes I just wish we could stop time to catch up, but we'll get there. Have a great evening and sleep tight!
Lori and Eric

What a great, full day in DC!

Today was amazing. We had an early start so I snuck down and brought our breakfast up to the room on a tray and we got ready for our meetings. The first part of the day was given by doctors in very doctor like lingo so it was pretty over my head about current research. Eric is always looking at these things and said he didn't really learn anything he hadn't already read. The next meeting was excellent. We chose to go to the veteran affairs issue team meeting. It was very informative and very interesting to learn of the process for veterans with ALS getting benefits. It just reassured us that as difficult as it is for veterans, God has paved the way for Eric to get all of the benefits available to him. It was through prayer and strong persistence and God's hand just opening up the doors and removing all obstacles for us along the way. One of the veterans on the team has been in the process for about 3 years and still does not have his full benefits! Praise God for taking care of us. We met a Navy Veteran named James Thew and his wife who are advocates for ALS. He is in the picture with Eric above in his Yankees jersey. They are from Illinois and we will stay in close touch with them and join them in their fight for a cure and research dollars. He was diagnosed in 2004 and also has an eleven year old boy who was with them. We decided the first day that we will come back next year with our kids, parents and anyone else who would like to join us. Everyone here knows what ALS does and we are all on the same team seeking a cure for ALS.
Lunch today was delicious and during lunch a Dr. Raymond Onders shared about the new DPS which is a diaphragm pacemaker which is inserted with non invasive laser surgery. This new device moves the diaphragm for PALS when their muscles no longer can and can add up to two years to the life of someone with ALS. Their research and results have been incredible and this is very exciting while it is not a cure for ALS, it delays the most devastating effect of the disease which is breathing. Many PALS here have testified that this has been very effective and has made a huge difference. They recommend this surgery be done at the point that a BiPAP is needed which is now for Eric so we have a mission when we get home to start the ball rolling on this. Surgery can be done in Detroit and Cleveland and rumors are going up around here that it may be covered by the VA. This was very exciting to us and encouraging!
We got our letters and our DVD's finalized tonight and ready for the meetings with Congress and had dinner as a group in Georgetown at J Paul's which was delicious and we are now stuffed! We prayed with another man here representing Michigan named Brian who lost his mother to ALS about a month ago asking God to speak through us tommorrow in our meetings and we are ready and excited for tomorrow! My parents are coming up tomorrow to go with us to some of the Congress meetings and then we have one last evening in DC on our own before we fly out. We haven't had time to do any sight seeing so we are glad that we have been here before. On another exciting note: My sister Kristi got her CA125 levels back today and they have stayed at 47 despite her quitting chemo early on her own and the CT scan showed nothing of concern! Praise the Lord! While she is not officially in remission, she does not have to continue her chemo and will only have to do checks every three months. She concluded that while normal is 35 or below, she is just above average! This is so true because she has Christ by her side!
The pictures above are of our group here from Michigan (minus my parents- there are 13 of us) and me with Kate Linder from the Young and the Restless who is the spokesperson for ALS because her brother in law is suffering the affects of ALS. I felt bad when she asked if I watched the show, but I thanked her for representing this cause and speaking out. We were just told that Angela Landsbury of Murder She Wrote is also becoming a spokesperson for ALS (we had to watch that every Sunday night with my grandma growing up) It takes someone you know being affected to take up a cause and be an advocate. I know that is true for me. I am not a political or medical person, but I will support the cause for a cure for ALS for my husband and all of the other people we have met with the disease.
Sorry this got pretty long, but as I said, it was a very full and exciting day!
God Bless!
Lori and Eric

Words cannot express our gratitude!!!

We finally have wireless here in DC and we wanted to express our gratitude for Friday nights fundraiser. It was so overwhelming to drive up and see a firetruck in the parking lot raising a huge American flag and to walk into the Jr. high with our family and see so many people that we love running around in green shirts busily getting everything ready for the night. We know countless hours were put into this night by so many people, we couldn't possibly name them all or thank them all personally. Please know how much this night meant to us and know that we love you all and our hearts are so grateful. We also want to thank all of the people who donated the items up for bid and the food and the prizes, etc. There are so many things that went on behind the scenes that we are not even aware of. We did not lift a finger for this event. We were told that we just needed to show up! We were absolutely blown away by the number of people who came out to support us that evening. It felt like reunion or like your wedding day when so many of our friends and family and people that we have not seen in a long time that have touched our life in some way come out to say that they are praying for us and that they love us. We are so blessed to have so much love and support from family, friends, church, neighbors, past coworkers and so on. Again, we are reminded of Matthew 6:33 which says but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. We don't know what the future holds, but God knows all of our needs and he takes care of us as he always has.

We arrived safely in Washington DC on Saturday and had our first day of the ALS Advocacy Conference and are very excited to be here making a difference for the ALS community. Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and I can't wait to celebrate it with my kids when we get back home! We miss you Zach and Maddie! We will update more about the conference this week. Tomorrow is a full schedule and Tuesday will be our meetings with Congress. Keep us in your prayers especially on Tuesday at 10, 11, 12 and 2:00 that Eric will have the words to say that make an impact on Michigan's congressmen and that God will shine through him.

After we return home on Wednesday, things should slow down for us and we are looking forward to some down time at home with our kids! The picture of Zach above is from his wax museum at school posed as Francis Marion. He did a great job on Friday as did the whole classroom! We just cannot end this without a special thank you to Zach's elementary school (Bauerwood) for their loose change collection this week for our fundraiser which raised over 1300.00 which was presented at the fundraiser in a tote too heavy to lift! We just cried when we heard that! We are so deeply moved by everyone's generousity that night and their love! Thank you again from the bottom of our heart!
Love,
Lori and Eric

Eric Fox Living With ALS

Eric Fox Before The Senate

Eric Fox Family Celebrating Life

GIVING GOD THANKS THROUGH A TOUGH SEASON OF OUR LIFE...

I have been listening to this song by 33 Miles called "Thank-you"; it talks about giving thanks to God first thing in the morning before anything. It is very catchy...it talks about being thankful no matter what tomorrow brings...what if I looked at my life in a different way took more time to stop & pray I know it would change all the moments in between...what if I lose all my muscle strength & function in by body and I needed to totally rely on God and others to exist ...I can smile and some how still be glad & say Thank-you...life is joy and life is pain but the prayer of my heart will never change...Thank-you for everything, Thank-you for loving me...WOW! it is so positive you all know my love of music; anyways a lot of you want to know how things are going since getting back from the Grand Canyon. Saturday I was asked to speak at a conference rally for the 4C's. It is so amazing how good God is. We met many pastors from churches in the 4C all over Michigan and was able to share my testimony and was blessed to have my sister and Mom attend. The main speaker for the conference was excellent and spoke on revival. One of the youth pastors asked if I could come and share my testimony to some local youth groups up by Maple Rapids sometime.
It was great to be back at Wellspring worshipping on Sunday. We missed being there last week and we will be gone again this week over Mothers day in Washington DC.

I am also speaking at a Corporate breakfast for ALSA tomorrow morning and busy trying to get my speech set for that. I am excited to do this and ask for support for research for this disease. It just seems like it is all coming at once right now.

We are really looking forward to the fundraiser on Friday night being put on for our family. It has been really strange driving around town this week and seeing signs for it and hearing that Zach's school is taking up change to help with the fundraiser, etc. It just feels like it should be for another family and we should be going to support them. We have been so blessed by all of the efforts being put into this fundraiser and the love and support we are receiving. It is overwhelming! It sounds like it will be a very fun night for the whole family. There's something for everyone!

We head out on Saturday for Washington DC and are excited to see what the National ALS Advocacy conference is all about and how we can help. There are three days of activities including speaking to congressmen and asking them to help find a cure through research funding. We will meet many people with ALS and that is usually very emotional for me (Lori). We hope to learn new things about the disease and how to adjust to the changes that may take place.

We got the letter on Eric's last ALS Clinic visit and the doctor was concerned about his breathing capacity and that it was 66% of what he anticipated this visit.
We could use your prayers for this and for his overall strength.

We will try to update the Blog this weekend. Thanks for sharing in our journey with us. May God truly bless you this week!