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!