Daddy Daughter Dance

Eric and Maddie went to the dance on Friday night after a very full day of running to appointments right up to eating dinner and getting all dressed up and out the door. It was very special that Maddie asked her dad to take her to the Father Daughter dance at her school. Eric originally had said he wouldn't be able to go to this with her when I asked him when we received the first flyer on this from school. But when Maddie asked him this week, he just couldn't say no. Eric went and got her a wrist coursage and had it resting on his feet as she came out in her dress. They both looked great considering how quickly I got them ready to go. We were off and she was proud to escort her dad to her school with her. I did tag along to make sure Eric didn't have any problems while he was there and of course to take pictures. The theme was Candy Land so Maddie's mission became to get as much candy as she could and to run around with her friends from school. She did stay by Eric's side for much of the night and when the music slowed down, she would sit on Eric's lap and rest her head on his shoulder while they spun around the floor in his chair. Eric said how special the night was to him and how glad he was to be able to go with her. Our kids are growing up so fast and you have to treasure these times. Hope you like the pictures. It's been raining like crazy here this weekend after a beautiful 86 degree day on Friday. Zach played his first baseball game on Saturday and they mercied the other team in the 5th inning 11-1 and we were able to make it downtown for inner city missions before the rains came down. It's been a really good week and a great reminder of how blessed we are. In Him, Lori and Eric

An amazing night of worship

Last night we were blessed to receive tickets to see Micheal W Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman in concert together (this was their first tour together). We were supposed to go with my sister, Kristi and Brian courtesy of their friend Margorie (Thank you so very much!) Unfortunately, Kristi was not able to go after her chemo on Monday as she was very tired so we invited our friends Tom and Heather who were able to go with us. These two artists are two of our all time favorites! They have revolutionized the Christian music industry and are so inspirational to Eric and I with the songs they write and perform. They took us back with some songs and then sang some of our new favorites and then ended the night with some powerful praise music. Stephen Curtis talked about how some of his songs have took on a different meaning after the tragic death of his 5 year old daughter, Maria eleven months ago. His songs that night really spoke to Eric's and my heart. Particularly, Miracle of the Moment, a few words.... "there's only One who knows what's really out there waiting in all the moments yet to be and all we need to know is He's out there waiting. To him the future's history and He has given us a treasure called right now and this is the only moment we can do anything about. And if it brings you tears, then taste them as they fall. Let them soften your heart. And if it brings you laughter, then throw your head back and let it go. Listen to your heartbeat."
I have heard this song so many times, but never really listened to the words. Eric and I shed a lot of tears during this song and of course, the song, Cinderella as that touches the heart of any parent especially a daddy about his daughter. Madison invited her daddy to the father daughter dance on Friday and that is all we could think about. Maddie doesn't care that her dad is in a wheelchair, she just wants to get dressed up and dance with her daddy. The last verse he changed in the song to say I'll dance with her again. Not a dry eye in the church I imagine. That is so true, the life after this one is where we will dance and worship our Great God and see those we love again. He sang of how everything we have, even our children, our spouse, our money, it all belongs to God. How quickly we forget that He has so graciously given us all these things. He gives and Takes away, blessed be the Name of the Lord! What a night of reminders of how great our God is. We have been blessed beyond measure this week! To top off the night, Margorie found us after the concert and said she had one back stage pass left! She allowed me to go back with Eric too so we got to meet Stephen Curtis Chapman and Geoff Moore who is another amazing singer and song writer we had the pleasure of meeting and hearing perform at our church about 4 years ago. It was a late night, but an amazing night of worship!
I am coming to the end of a Bible study on the life of Moses and just went through most of Deuteronomy this week and these versed leaped off the page to me and I wanted to share them.
Deuteronomy 4:39-40
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God has given you for all time."
And one more....
Deut 4:7
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?
Have a blessed week and give God praise this week if not for anything else, then for the sun coming up and the warmer weather on it's way.
Lori and Eric

God answers prayer!!

Wow! We have had quite a week. It's amazing how God's timing is not our timing, but he knows exactly what we need and is so faithful to provide what we need in his perfect timing. Thank you to all of our prayer warriors out there who have been asking God to provide our needs. Specifically, this week, our elevator grant was approvedand was ordered today. Along with that, Eric's Dynavox machine which is an environmental control unit as well as communication device was approved which will give Eric more independence in the home and allow him to continue to communicate with all of you. We also had a grant for a fire exit door in the bedroom approved and they already cut it and installed it today (WOW!) We got fitted for a manual chair for Eric on Friday and were told that it could take a while to get it and received a call that it will be delivered tomorrow!
Here is some really exciting news about IPLEX. For those of you who don't remember, Eric and Zach went to Washington DC in November to convince Insmed to release IPLEX for ALS patients for compassionate use as it has proven to aid in improving symptoms of the disease such as swallowing, speaking, chewing, muscle tone, etc. After a long drawn out battle with this, they have finally agreed to release it to 7 PALS (hoping soon to be all PALS for a trial) We just received word today that it will be to our pharmacy TOMORROW! Lori gets to inject this drug daily to Eric and we are praying that it will have positive results for Eric. Praise God for all that He has done for us! We are so blessed!!!!! Words cannot express how blessed we are.
On a lighter note, Maddie lost her first tooth this past weekend and stayed up til midnight waithing for the tooth fairy to bring her "lots of money". The kids are both in Baseball/Teeball and have great teams and coaches. Life is again busy in many ways but life is so good! Have a wonderful week. We really enjoyed the sunshine last weekend and are looking forward to warmer days this week.
Be blessed!
Eric and Lori

He is Risen!!!

We hope you all had a glorious Easter weekend! We had a wonderful weekend with family. We went to St Johns yesterday and had dinner with Eric's family. They got a ramp for their front porch and his Dad rigged it so that Eric could get his wheelchair in their house. This was the first time Eric had been in their house since Thanksgiving when Eric was still walking much more. It's nice to know that Eric can still go home and access the house. Eric's brother made Eric a puzzle that says "The Joy of the Lord is your strength" in a cross and he framed it with some pictures we had done the summer of 2007 with the siblings. It is very special to us. Thank you, Jary. We have been enjoying nicer weather compared to earlier this week. Today, we went to church and remembered all that Christ did for us on the cross and how He did not stay in the grave. He is Risen and sitting by God's right hand in heaven preparing a place for us in eternity with Him. We sang one of my favorite songs by Newsong called "Arise" Some of my favorite words are
"God looked down on his Son and said. Arise, my love. Arise, my love, the grave no longer has a hold on you! No more death's sting, no more suffering! Arise!!!!
Aren't we so thankful first of all for Christ's sacrifice by taking our sin on the cross and most of all that He is Risen. We, too have that promise of life after death if we are a child of his. We will have no more of death's sting and no more suffering in heaven. It's hard to think about that while we live here on earth, but I think of how people with ALS and cancer do suffer and it brings me comfort to know that those who have gone on to be with Christ no longer have to suffer.
I have a hard time explaining the meaning of Easter to my 6 year old daughter who loves to get Easter baskets and hunt for candy at Easter, but I keep trying knowing that someday she will understand fully. We did have two Easter egg hunts this weekend which were fun for the kids.
This Spring break has flown by. It started out kind of rough hearing of the suicidal death of a dear friend of Eric's parents. It was so sad seeing his wife and thinking of the loss that she feels from him being gone so suddenly. It made us think a lot of all the hurting people out there that think that death might be a better option than living. I know depression plays a big part in this and also that Satan would like nothing more than to tell you that you are right. Talking to people this week about this really surprised me how many people said they could relate to feeling this way at some point in their life. It sure makes me want to tell people how much I love them and how much more our Father, in heaven loves them! Suicide is so irreversible and can change so many lives in seconds. It was just heartbreaking. I know he will be greatly missed by so many. Zach got sick in the car on the way home from St Johns that night and it was snowing to start off our Spring break.
The rest of our week was very relaxing. We watched Michigan State win and then lose in the Final 4 with some friends here. We went to stay at a hotel in Lansing with the Stelma family on Tues night. It was fun hanging out with them by the pool, in the room and getting ALL the food from the concierge lounge. I am not looking forward to getting up early again tomorrow but I am very happy to be nearing the end of tax season!
Be blessed this Easter!
Love,
Lori

Thank you, Dad!

Just a quick update. My father-in-law uploaded the videos of our testimony on YouTube. The testimony was at our church at Wellspring on Sunday, March 8th. I included them on the video link to the right, part 1 thru part 6. We'll be sending another update soon. Thanks for your prayers.
Love,
Eric and Lori

Testimony to the Homeless

I wanted to touch base with all of you out there, those of you who have been praying for me and my family. Four weeks ago I started a new treatment at the Born Clinic. It's NASA technology using electro magnetic wavelengths through my body. It's helps the body's natural function to heal itself, particularly muscles, tissues and organs.

Last Monday I was having problems swallowing. When I went in on Tuesday for my treatment I requested something for helping me to swallow and speak. The doctor said they had a program which they then ran on me that very day. It helped right away. That night I was able to eat, swallow and speak more easily - I was even able to eat steak on Friday. (Thank you Klumpp family)

As many of you may or may not know, Lori and I have been volunteering our time to help the Hytinen's ministry, serving, speaking and showing the love of Christ to the homeless on Division Ave at the Inner City Church. I would encourage you to come down and check it out sometime. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. When you give 2 1/2 hours of your time, you will be amazed how God blesses you.

We've been going down there for the last three weeks. I'm overwhelmed at the amount of need that I have seen. So many people need to know Christ. There is a song we sing at Wellspring that makes me weep when I hear it, "God in the City." One of the verses talks about that there is lots left to do in the city for His kingdom. It makes me think about the people in Grand Rapids who live under the bridges who need to be clothed and fed.

It would be a pleasure to work side by side with you going to the inner city to clothe these people, rehabilitate them and show them that they don't need to live on the streets anymore because of the love and hope of Christ. I hope to see some of you out there soon. Call or email us if you want more info or want to ride with us.

Some of you may be wondering what is going on with our home in Jenison. It is still for sale and we have had about 3 showings a week recently. We are praying for God's direction with this home. Please pray with us.
I woke up the other night and God put Psalm 61 in my head and I'm not sure why but I thought I would share it with you.
Psalm 61
From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Increase the days of the king's life, his years for many generations. May he be enthroned in God's presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him. Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.
I am continuing to trust the Great Physician for his healing. My faith and trust are in Him.

Thank you for your continued prayers and love,
Eric

What we have been up to lately

We have been busy as usual so we thought we would give a quick update (if that is possible)
Tonight we did something really fun. We had a local photographer, Kerry Sierveld come take our pictures. I know it was not my dad who is a wonderful photographer too! I came across her blog thru Zach's teacher and I just fell in love with her work. She has a unique gift and I just wanted her to do some shots of us. She had her hands full with us trying to get us to do what she was trying to capture but she did it beautifully and she is so in love with her work, she went home tonight and already posted a preview on her blog! http://imagesofessencephotography.blogspot.com
I sure hope this link works. If it doesn't, try to google images of essence photography and you will find her blog. WE LOVE THE PICTURES and will post some when we get them!! Wow, my kids look so old!! When did that happen??? Thank You, Kerry!!!!
Last week we went to Winter Jam at the VanAndel and saw Toby Mac and other great bands with a huge group of friends. We had so much fun and the place was packed for God praising and dancing. The pictures above are from that night.
Last weekend we went downtown to Inter City Church Planting Mission on Division with Steve and Cheryl Hytenin to help them with their street ministry they have been doing for a long time. It was a blessing to be there on a beautiful sunny day helping hand out soup, coffee and warm clothes and praying with people who have such a great need to see the love of Christ. Eric was born to do this and I am excited to do this with him. I really need prayer to build up my confidence to share freely with the homeless and down hearted people that come by. We plan to go there every Saturday that we can with Hytenin's and the other people that have been a part of this ministry. We encourage any of you who are interested in joining us to call us or Steve or Cheryl to help out! They really need some more people to help reach out and you will be so blessed for doing it!
I am still buried in tax returns and can't wait for April 15th!!
Zach has started Little League Majors in Grandville a few weeks ago and has a great team and coach this year! Sadly, his hamster Shadow died tonight. Zach discovered him before bed tonight and we both cried. He lived a good life so I think Zach is OK with his passing, just sad.
Maddie is busy playing with her new friends in the neighborhood since it is getting nice and is still all girl and all 6! She will be starting Tee ball soon.
Eric has been busy reading up on all of the latest info on the drug IPLEX. Eric is one of 6 original and now 20 people who have their Investigative New Drug (IND) for compassionate use approved finally since November 08 when he went to DC. They will finally be conducting a trial with this drug in patients with ALS. This is a huge release thru the FDA and has been posted on many ALS sights and many of you have been asking us about this. Please pray that this would continue to go along quickly and that the IND cost would go down from $2,000. We are praying we could split this with the others involved and not each charged this much just to get access to this drug. We also pray that this drug will help stop the progression of ALS in Eric and others and that the trial would start soon and prove effective and be released to all PALS. Eric has also been doing a new treatment at the Born Clinic that uses technology that NASA uses for astronauts coming back from space. It is pulsating electromagnetic wavelength frequency that helps the body heal. He has done two treatments and has felt relief of pain and has been able to sleep much better which has been great for both of us. We are excited about this! Pray that this continues to help Eric in the healing process. We have been praying almost the last two years that Dr.s will find a cure for this disease and there have been some new breakthroughs. Keep praying for this. We appreciate all of your prayers!!

So many things left unsaid

Hi Everyone,
It is late and I can't find sleep tonight. We have many nights like this and my mind keeps thinking of all of the things I wish we could have shared tonight at the church service at Wellspring. We haven't shared our testimony in a long time and about what it is like living with a terminal disease and we were somewhat unprepared tonight (well, at least I was) We were overwhelmed by seeing a sea of faces that came from near and far to support us tonight and the familiar faces of our church body listening to "our story". It means so much to us, the love and support we have from so many. We want to thank all of you for your love! I thought we were going to just answer Pastor Gary's questions tonight, but Eric (who loves to talk and share) took us way back tonight to his childhood and his need to be loved and feelings of rejection that followed him throughout his life. I know it brought back some feelings in his family of life growing up (many of his aunts and cousins who we rarely see came into town) All of us can relate to struggles in childhood and past experiences that left hurts or insecurity. I know people in my own family struggle with feelings of self worth and inadequacy. I know that these feelings have carried forward from generation to generation and have put us in bondage to that generational sin.
Eric brought you through our relationship when we met and got married and the struggles we had. We were on a path to destruction in our marriage. I am so grateful for the day that my husband gave his life to Christ and the changes that God made in his heart that was now filled in a way that no thing or person in this world could fill. It changed our life, our story, our kids lives and their children's lives. It broke the chains of bondage that Satan had on us.
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20
We have come through so much since that day. We have had legal battles, miscarriages, loss of jobs, overwhelming debt, deaths in our families and loved ones, and this terminal diagnosis. I know many of you have similar stories. But our God is so much bigger than all of these things and He has carried us through all of these things in such powerful ways we should be shouting it from the rooftops!
My son, Zach said we should read the verse More than conquerors when we asked him if he had anything to say (he actually whispered that to me) This was the theme verse for our fundraiser last year and I had thought I had that on my sheet and knew it was from Romans 8, but was not prepared to share it. Pastor Gary knew that it needed to be shared because God put in on his heart while we were speaking and he shared it at the end and I want to share it again with you:
Romans 8:36-40
As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen and Amen!!!!! Thank you Jesus for bridging that gap for us!
If you haven't read the book of Romans it is so powerful!
I am so proud of Eric and my children. I believe Zach wanted to share tonight that people who look at him at school and at play outside of our home, don't have any clue what he is going through. He has come home crying some days because people just don't understand and it just breaks my heart. His life is not your average 12 year old's life and he has matured more than he should have needed to going through this disease with us. I know that God sees his struggles and his pain and he LOVES Zach and He understands. Who endured more than God when He sent his own son to be crucified for our sins. Zach has a heart for God and is so much like Eric. He loves music (and sports) like his dad. Our kids are watching our every move and they want to be just like us. We need to lead by example (Christ as our role model) Do we mess up? Oh yes!!! We are so far from being perfect, but God loves us anyway!!!
Then my beautiful daughter Madison, who gets her hair and her mischievous grin from her dad ran up at the last minute to sit with us. She was signing numbers to grandma and waving periodically to people and pointing out her stamps on her hand and handing me a rubber duck while on stage with us. That girl has a free spirit and I have been told repeatedly throughout her 6 years of life by Eric's parents how much she is like her dad! It doesn't surprise me because I know I was never that naughty!! :) We love her dearly and I know that she is processing all of what we go through and doesn't quite know how to deal with her emotions at this age but when we are sad, she comes and places her hand on ours or just hugs us. I pray that she will come to know Christ at a young age so she can live the life God wants for her and not go through the things we learned the hard way!
We forgot to show the video of what it is like living with ALS that my dad made a year ago. If you haven't already seen it, I think it is a link on the right of our blog page. The night really didn't focus around living with ALS and I pray that God used us to share with people the powerful change He brings when we ask him into our hearts and accept him as our Saviour! If you haven't done this and feel God tugging on your heart, we would love to pray with you and share his free gift with you. We don't know when we will take our last breath. Life is so short here on this earth, but eternity is FOREVER with Christ! That just puts it into perspective. Life is not about us, we were created for HIS GLORY by HIM. People always tell me how strong I am, and sometimes I wonder if people think I just don't have feelings because I don't always cry, but Christ has given me such a peace about where Eric is going if he should pass away from ALS or anything else that I don't think about that. I treasure every moment that God gives us together. I am so happy and blessed. I focus on that so I don't cry every day and wallow in self pity. I have no idea what the future holds, but neither do you. I am a person who likes to be in control of things (just ask Eric) but I have NO control here. That's how God wants it, can you imagine what life would be like if we were in control?? CHAOS!!!
We were overwhelmed by the applause and some of you standing to your feet and I really hope that wasn't for us, but for God and what he is doing. We know you love us so much and so many of you are praying for us. We know the road may get harder and we know you will come along side us and most of all God will see us through!
I was reminded recently in studying Moses life that it is God's privilege to provide for us and it is our privilege to trust and obey.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So true, God provides all our needs when we seek and trust Him.
My daily study bible which I have failed to pick up for a very long time brought me again to Numbers where Joshua and Caleb said, let's go to the promised land that God has given us while the 10 others said no, there are too many obstacles in our way.
I love quoting Charles Stanley so I will do it again "Joshua and Caleb lived to see the Promised Land, but only because they focused on the goal God had laid out for them and not on the obstacles standing in the way. The blessings God has in store for you are just as rich! Never allow shortsighted vision - especially one focused on obstacles - to block the far-reaching plan of the Lord." What a great reminder!
Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.Our goal is not anything here on this earth, our goal is heaven and reaching as many people as we can to Jesus while we are here. I know God is not finished with us yet, hence the incorrect title of Eric's e-mail to some of you called "my last speech" His voice might go, but there are other ways to share the message and we pray that He will continue to use us for His glory.
Well, this was much longer than I had planned but there were many things that I didn't share that were consuming my thoughts. Hopefully now I will find rest.
God bless you all!!
Lori
Thanks for the photos so quickly, Joel

P.S. My dad and brother video taped the evening, if you would like a copy, let us know. It may take a while but we will have one. We video everything now for our kids and others who we can impact if Eric loses his voice.

Heading back to Michigan

Our vacation has sadly come to an end. We are heading out tomorrow morning so if you could keep us in your prayers on Saturday and Sunday for safety while we travel, we would really appreciate that. We had an absolutely wonderful vacation! Great weather, great accomodations, great fun with family and our dear friends, just a great vacation. We just love Orlando! The time flew by, we had hoped to get meet some people we have met thru our blog and ALS and friends that have moved to FL while we were here, but time went by too quickly so maybe next year!
It's time for bed and we are TIRED!! We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends at home soon!
God bless!
Lori and Eric

minor setbacks on our trip

Matt and Steph's first excursion in Florida was to the ER!
Eric enjoyed a little too much sunshine!

Hanging out in the sunshine!

We made it to Florida on Saturday at 4:30 after 22 hours in a van packed with six people and luggage for more like 12 people :) We stepped outside to 76 degrees and had heard that Michigan was being pelted with lots of snow and cold temps. What better time to leave! Unfortunately, we spent our first night worrying about our friends Matt and Stephanie who went to the ER at 7pm for chest pains that Matt was having on the last leg of the drive that wouldn't go away. They called their Dr. and they said to call 9-1-1 and go to the hospital so while me and the kids were out getting a few groceries and picking up pizza while Kucinski's and Eric were napping, The ambulance and 6 people came in and hooked up Matt to all kinds of stuff and hauled him off to the hospital. We waited at the timeshare to get an update on all of the tests that were run to rule out any cardiac problems (EKG, Catscan and chest X-ray) Praise the Lord, they were released about 1am and they ruled out anything serious and said it may have been stress related (getting everything set to go on the trip with work, etc.) or maybe driving in the car for 22 hours with only a few hours of sleep) Needless to say, we will be splitting the trip up on the way home by stopping overnight somewhere. Even with three drivers, it was hard to get sleep on the off time in the car. The trip down went really well, traffic and weather wise though. The kids even did really well.
Now that we are all caught up on our sleep and rested, we have been really enjoying the sunshine! We hit the pool yesterday and Eric opted for no sunscreen on his arms and legs (as a mom and wife, I should have lathered him up anyway) As you can see from the photos, the sun is very hot here and Eric is a little lobster like right now. He will be enjoying time in the shade today. We will be going to Sea World tomorrow and can't wait. We've heard great things about and the kids have never been. We are so grateful for the time to take this vacation and so grateful for our wonderful friends who have been so helpful and fun to have along. We are blessed beyond measure! Feel free to drop us a note by commenting on the blog or email us direct at info@ericfox.us We'll try to update again soon!
Love,
The Foxes and the Kucinski's

We made it to Florida

Good news... bad news...

An older picture of Eric when he returned from his mission trip to Vietnam three years ago. He looks so handsome with his tan!


Many of you are wondering what happened with our house sale and the bad news is the
family was unable to secure their financing at this point so our deal fell apart. We are disappointed by this, but we know that God has it all in his hands and will bring along another buyer so keep sending those prayers up! We had two showings on Monday already so maybe we will get an even better offer which will be worth the wait. That's the bad news. The good news is that we got our final approval letter on the Specially Adapted Housing grant after over a year from applying. It is such a process and you have to be diligent in following through, but it finally paid off! We will be able to pay a portion of our home off as principal only when we receive that grant money in approx 3 weeks,so that is great news and it came in time to get the exemption on our property taxes for disabled veterans which is what we have been praying for. I need to share this because it is a huge answer to prayer!
On a sadder note, the disease is really taking it's toll on Eric lately both physically and emotionally and I won't lie, it has been so hard to watch him as this disease progresses and there is nothing we can do to stop it. I just read today that the President of ALSTDI (huge research institute in Boston) passed away at age 39 (Eric's age) from ALS. It brought me to tears as I thought about the prospect of losing my husband and father to my children! It makes me want to cling on to every day, yet life still goes on all around us, there are still appointments to keep, bills to pay and responsibilities to uphold. Yet the sun is shining today! God hasn't gone anywhere through it all. We are so grateful for his love! We are looking forward to a break from it all in Florida and we leave Feb 20th and return March 2nd. (JoAnn, we need your contact info if you still want to meet us in FL :)
Eric's mom is here again this week and is again a huge blessing and help. I am supposed to be working right now so I should keep this brief (like I can do that)
Thank you for your prayers and love!
Lori and Eric
P.S. please keep Kristi (my sister) in your prayers as she is still undergoing chemo treatments. I was able to go to her appointment with my mom yesterday and I just thought, why do we have to live in this world of disease! Jesus, come back soon! That's a whole other post, but share His salvation with your friends and family. We want to be ready when He comes back!!

Updates-lots going on...

We wanted to let you know that we sold our home in Jenison on Saturday after a few counter offers. We are disappointed in where the market has taken the value of our home, but very excited and relieved to have this home sold after 10 months on the market. Please pray that we can get an inspection and appraisal in the next few weeks to close before we leave for Florida and that the appraisal will come in where we need it to. Good things are happening with our VA grant and the elevator request so keep praying we will hear from the VA soon!
Other good news is that our basement is finished and the kids now have their own rooms which they love. I have an office for the first time ever and just in time for tax season. My dad and brother helped me to put together a huge desk from Costco (thank you!) so I hope to get my personal and tax stuff organized this week which will hopefully help me keep on top of things.
I have to say I am excited to see how God is taking care of every detail of our lives but in the same breath I am so worried about what the future will bring. Please pray for Eric as I worry about him every day. I have noticed changes in his breathing which scares me a lot. I have been dealing really well with the changes that ALS has brought to Eric's body, but I can't help him breathe. I feel very helpless and have been praying that God would restore his breathing and his speech. We sang a song in church last week by Frontline worship that really spoke to me called "Better in the End" the words are below:

If theres anything left I haven't given
Anything left disguised or hidden
I can fell you pulling me far away from what used to be
Tired of feeling the same old feeling
Want to move on to what im dreaming
I can feel you pulling me far away from what used to be

Anything that's left to do
Anything ive kept from you

I don't want to fear when you bring change
Make yourself at home in me again
You can see the picture of my life
so much better in the end
so much better in the end
so much better so begin

I know God doesn't want us to fear change and I know that change is part of ALS and our life right now so please pray for God to give us the strength and not to worry about the future. I am so lucky to have Eric as my husband and don't know what I would do without him in my life so we hold on to each day as a gift from God.
I have to put a plug in here for the movie "Fireproof" now out on DVD. We never got a chance to see it in the theatres so we bought the DVD and watched it last Friday. SO powerful with such a great message for marriage! We cried a lot and were reminded of our covenant to each other and the powerful change that can only come from God. We experienced it early in our marriage when Zach was just born and Eric gave his life to Christ. God saved our marriage! Eric became on fire for God and he gave me a desire to turn my life back over to Christ and to live for Him! Our marriage has been able to withstand any "fire" that has come our way and that is how God intended marriage to be.
Have a great week and if you are married, love your spouse! Do something special for them or watch the movie together.
Thanks for praying!
Lori and Eric

An offer on the table!

A quick update. We have an offer on our house. Praise the Lord! It is quite low so we have been praying about it and have put our counter offer in today. Could you please pray that they accept our counter as is. We would be so happy to have this house sold. Today's market is do difficult to sell a home. Home values have dropped so much that we are needing to get a loan to sell our home. I know this has affected so many of you out there and we are praying for many of you in tough economic times.
I attached a picture of the sun coming up over the lake through the woods behind our house to remind us that God's mercies are new every moring! Even when it is bitter cold and snowing. We are blessed!
I'll try to update more soon!
Lori and Eric

A huge thank you!

Eric and I wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to his mom, Joan for staying with us last week from Monday thru Friday. She offered to come help out this week and ended up staying until Friday. She was my extra set of hands this week as she prepared breakfast every morning for Eric and fed him after sleeping on the couch with Maddie at night. She helped get Maddie off to school and cooked and cleaned every day for us. I woke up to coffee perked in the pot every morning. I was able to run errands this week with no worries. Eric and his mom had great conversations as did I about life with ALS and how it has affected our family and how hard it can be to see Eric having this disease. The kids loved having their grandma here too. I am not saying this to make anyone feel like they haven't done these things. Some of these things can only be done by one other person, his mom. We just wanted to share our appreciation and let her know publicly that these things don't go unnoticed by us nor by God. So, thank you!!
Last week was a very busy week for me since I decided to plan a surprise birthday for Eric about 10 days ago and had to be sneaky and do a little running around more than usual so the timing was great to have some help. I only invited some close friends (I apologize that I left some good friends out in hindsight) without kids and didn't include our family this time due to lack of space. We packed this house to the max and Eric was quite surprised and a little overwhelmed. Personally, I hate surprises, but I really wanted to take some time to show Eric how much we all love him, especially as his birthday is fastly approaching. We celebrate life daily and the gift that it is.
Eric (and I) wanted to let everyone that came know that he really appreciated them coming and making him feel so loved. It had been a rough week physicaly and emotionally for Eric and he was really growing weary and tired of this disease. The fellowship was great and so uplifting!!! The food was great! We had Pasta Carrabba (Eric's favorite)and other food and we stuffed ourselves and have meals tucked into the freezer for later.
He was reminded today at church in a Loui Giglio video about how tiny we are compared to our great BIG GOD yet He is so involved in every detail of our lives walking beside us and seeking a relationship with us! That's what life is about! First and foremost, a relationship with Christ and the relationships he wants us to have with eachother on this earth. He was moved by the worship music to stand to his feet and praise our God which inspired a friend who said she just didn't feel like worshipping today because of some bad circumstances she was going through. We all have those days where something is blocking us from receiving from God (sickness, finances, broken relationships, past hurts, etc.) but God desires our everything and we need to surrender to Him when he calls us to draw near. We watched a great movie that a man says "I've given up on God" and the priest replies, "that's OK, God hasn't given up on you". (Count of Monte Cristo). Sometimes we give up on God, but he ALWAYS pursues us.

My husband, the "Iron Horse"

It has been busy as usual around the Fox household. We went to an ALS research update last night downtown presented by the ALS Association and were honored when they surprised us by presenting the Iron Horse award to Eric. Iron Horse was Lou Gehrig's nickname and they gave this to Eric for all of his efforts in the ALS community including the ALS walks (thanks Fox Trotters), his speaking, his work towards grants for ALSA, help in the office and inspiring others with this disease and more, I can't even remember everything they said, just how proud I was of my husband. He has a huge heart and is full of passion in everything he does. I feel like the luckiest wife alive.
We started this new year in a quiet way with the Stelma's and the Barr's coming over with the kids to hang out which was great! Notice in the picture above that our dog Prince is sitting on Dave's lap with his Michigan State jersey to match Dave's hat! Our dog sees a lap and he gives no warning and he is there! Poor Dave comes in the door in his wheelchair and doesn't have a chance! Prince has been such a wonderful addition to our family! We have almost had him one full year! The kids made a huge snowman after all of the crazy snow we have been getting and the next day, the snow melted to the ground! Michigan is so unpredictible! It is just plain cold this week! temps below 0 with windchill. This is really hard for Eric because of his poor circulation and atrophied muscles. We are really looking forward to our trip to Orlando, FL at the end of February. It can't come soon enough!
Eric had 13 guys over for the College Football National Championship. He really had a great time hanging out with them. It really lifted his spirits being surrounded by his friends. Our new home as all of our other homes has an open door policy. Everyone is welcome here and we love to have people visit here. It has become harder to go out due to the cold and needing to load the wheelchair and plan accordingly when we do so visitors are always appreciated!
We love you all so much and don't know what we would do without you!!
Be sure to tell Zach Happy Birthday this weekend! Our firstborn turns 12 tomorrow!!!
Eric is also approaching his birthday this Wednesday, the 21st and will be 39! We don't dread birthdays at our age but rather celebrate life daily and thank the Lord for every day He has given us to live and to love! 33 Miles sings a song called one life to love which I love! Both of their albums speak to me in such a powerful way!
Have a blessed week and stay warm if you live in Michigan!
Lori and Eric