awesome update on Ryan...

Ryan Corning has made more than amazing progress. Last night he began responding to commands (gave the nurse a thumbs-up), he woke up, was looking at people, etc. Today he is up eating ice cream, trying to talk (hard with the trach hole), writing "bathroom", standing up on his own and taking a step...! Dan just posted that when he brought Ryan's IPOD, he was able to distinguish the artist who was playing. Not to mention, IVs are being removed, the catheter has been taken out (I'm sure Ryan is grateful! Haha). Positive changes moment by moment.

This is a GOD thing! Your prayers have sustained Ryan and have made him well slowly but surely. God is truly working a miracle in this young man. We keep praying for his continued success and for God's mercy on him. He still has a ways to recovery and we are here to love and support him until he is back to normal.

Ryan, we love you! Hang in there!

Keep updated at CarePages:
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/RyanCorningPage

go green

I got a 2009 calendar today. Medtronic orders calendars for all of their employees every year. You browse the Staples catalog and pick out whatever you want (desk, wall, pocket, etc or even all three if you want). And people wonder why Medtronic doesn't have enough money to give us a big bonus every year. But I digress. Anyway, concerned for my bonus, I opted for a plain, simple, cheap one. It's made out of recycled paper and for each month, they have a little "go green" tip. I thought I would share them. Keep in mind I don't necessarily agree or disagree with all of these. You can take 'em or leave 'em. :)

1. Buy locally- not only is it good for the local economy, it will save energy because products haven't traveled across the globe to get to you.

2. Avoid running large appliances during peak energy demand hours: 7-9 am and 4-7 pm.

3. Use ceramic coffee cups, plates, and silverware instead of disposables to reduce waste.

4. Using cruise control while driving can improve fuel efficiency by maintaining a consistent speed.

5. When not in use, cover your swimming pool or hot tub to reduce evaporation by 90%.

6. Water your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to minimize evaporation.

7. Set air conditioners at 78 degrees or higher to conserve energy and reduce cooling costs.

8. Plan ahead when driving by combining trips and errands to reduce cost on gas and its emissions in our environment.

9. Use the cool-down cycle to allow clothes to finish drying with the residual dryer heat to conserve energy.

10. An average of 30 gallons of water can be conserved if the water is turned off while washing dishes.

11. You can save several hundred dollars a year by using rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.

12. Turning off your car engine wen you wait for more than 30 seconds will reduce pollution of gas.

And one of my own:

Start riding a bike! It's fun, really. And you lose weight. But please, wear a helmet. =D

ryan corning

A dear family friend of ours was injured on Sunday Sept 21 while longboarding (longer version of a skateboard.) He fell off going pretty fast and hit head-first on the ground. He is currently in the trauma ICU at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Ryan is only 20 years old and is my brother-in-law's best friend.

We have just passed the 72nd hour of his head injury, so hopefully he will very slowly start the up-hill climb toward recovery. It is going to be a very long and difficult journey and he will be in the hospital for a while. His family (with the suggestion of TN Tech) has withdrawn Ryan from school for this semester, which is really the least of his worries, but it conveys the gravity of the situation he is in.

Ryan needs lots of heart-felt, faithful prayer. God is the Healer and we pray that He gives Ryan a miraculous healing.

Ryan's family needs prayer- they are emotionally and physically drained.

Keep informed of what's going on at CarePages: (you'll have to create a log-in email and pw)

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/RyanCorningPage

Ryan and my father-in-law, Mark, on a mission trip to Mexico:







Ryan, Dan (Ryan's dad), Mark, and Michael (my brother-in-law and Ryan's best friend):



James 5:14-16
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

food for the body

This information circulated around in an email a while back and thought it was worth posting for everyone to read in case you missed it. Quite interesting. Once again, it is evident that God is the perfect desginer of all things.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.



Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food..

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Oranges , Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actual ly balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

i made it 50 miles...

The MS 150 Bike Tour... 450+ riders all piled up a Graceland, ready to take off for Tunica... but somehow I ended up biking the whole thing alone. It was a really nice day, but unfortunately there was about a 200 mph headwind the entire way to Mississippi, which made the ride extra difficult. Steve's bike, as I suspected, was awesome to ride. There were a lot more large hills on our route than I thought there would be, which wiped me out quicker than I would have liked. No East TN hills, but hefty hills, nevertheless.

So I am be-bopping along and suddenly, around mile 25, something hard and large hit me directly in the middle of my forehead. Probably a flying beetle or something. Anywho, it scared me half to death and I went flying off the road into the grass. I maintained composure and slowly let my bike come to a halt. Thank goodness I didn't crash. Flooded with embarrassment, I regrouped and got back on the trail, only after the group behind me stopped to ask if I was okay. Yeah, I'm fine- a bug freaked me out, thanks. It was a big bug!!

Note: There was an eclectic plethora of roadkill along the trail. I counted 3 armadillos, 1 opossum, 1 cat, 1 unidentifiable carcass with a tail, 1 butterfly, multiple cicadas, 3 turtles, 2 huge snakes, and 2 frogs .

Anyway, I made it to mile 35ish, stopping at each rest stop (about 10 miles apart) to down some H2O and eat something packed with carbs. I had to walk my bike up 2 of the hills- they were vicious. At mile 35.2, I decided I couldn't go any further until I got some rest, so I flagged down the SAG vehicle and hitched a ride about 6 miles to the next rest stop. They provided lunch there- I ate a turkey sandwich, chips and a giant Oatmeal Creme Pie. (yummers- haven't had one of those since middle school). Then the headache started. Dehydration? Probably. But I pressed on.


My goal was to at least make it to the Medtronic waterstop... on my BIKE and not the stupid SAG truck. So I pedaled another 9 miles and made it. My BFF, Betsy, was there screaming for me as were the other 30 Medtronic water-stop volunteers.

I was greeted with water and ice-cold rags. Awesome.

See Betsy in the sunglasses? She's da bomb.

At the water-stop: Kristi, Sarah, Me, Barb and April.

My head was really hurting at this point. My knees were cramped and my left elbow hurt. I felt like I could spend about 4 hours with a massage therapist at this point... maybe longer. I hung around for about 10 or 15 minutes, then I threw in my towel. They called a truck for me.

See me raising my trusty water bottle? Oh yeah.

Me and this nice lady on the FedEx team rode together in the back of this pick-up truck for the next 19 miles. I needed the rest. I pushed myself and I honestly couldn't ride anymore at that point.

Medtronic was water-stop # 5. When we arrived at water-stop # 7, I noticed that the terrain was incredibly flat. Finally! Ok, I am NOT riding a truck to the finish line. How many miles are left on this tour? Six. Excellent. Get me out of this truck. People who have MS suffer a lot worse things than what I'm gonna put myself through on this ride, so I'm biking to the finish despite my head, knees, elbows, shoulders, and other random parts. Yeah, the butt bones are hurtin'... It was a good decision to finish the tour, though. I had biked 44.2 miles before we got to rest-stop # 7, so the last 6 miles would put me right over 50... 2/3 of the way ain't bad. Especially since I've only been riding a bike for 2 months and my longest ride to date had been 15 miles.

That shower at the hotel was one of the best showers ever. We got a buffet at 5:30 filled with all kinds of pasta, which I inhaled. There was a presentation and awards ceremony at 7, then I headed to my room at 8:30. I was asleep at 9:00.

Below: part of the group after dinner

Well, due to Hurricane Ike hitting Tunica in the middle of the night, Day 2 of the ride was canceled. Well, dang. We could have biked, but the weather was too unpredictable to let everyone go out on the road. The tailwind would have been nice, though. Picking bikers up had bad weather struck again would have been a logistical nightmare. I hitched a ride home with a Medtronic friend and then the best part of the day came...

I picked Christopher up at the airport at 11:00 and completely surprised him! It was great. It's so nice to have him home.

More photos:

My athletic and much-faster-than-me-biker-friends:
Al Newberry- using Christopher's roadbike- he loved it
Jason & Laura Bodwell- Laura was 2nd female to finish the tour- she's awesome.

50 miles... I'll take it.

september 11, 2001

I did not have time to post anything yesterday, but I wanted to take time to acknowledge the anniversary of the death of so many innocent American citizens. As time passes, the wounds slowly heal, but I truly hope we don't forget all the families who lost loved ones that day. Take just one day out of the year to lift up the families in prayer and ask God to comfort them in their loss- this can be any day of the year, not just on Sept 11. Pray that those who do not know the Lord may come to know Him through this tragedy... He has a larger plan than we know in allowing 9/11 to happen. Pray that our country may become reconciled to God. Pray that Christians get rid of the complacency and start sharing the love of Christ with the lost. (I am guilty too.)

Every year I am reminded of the value of life and how blessed we are to have each day that is given to us. Make good use of your time while you're here. Ask yourself: What am I doing to further the kingdom of God? Am I showing genuine love to people?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and may it be fruitful in the Lord.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23

MS 150 Bike Tour

Saturday and Sunday are quickly approaching... I'm biking in the Multiple Sclerosis FedEx Rock'n'Roll Ride. It's a 75-mile ride each day (Graceland to Tunica and back). We're staying at Harrah's for the night. Fortunately for me, there are these great things called SAG vehicles that not only will repair your bike for you if it breaks, but will also give you and your bike a ride if you poop out. I forsee having to ride the SAG. They'll take you whatever distance you want or need to go. I am hoping that I can at least finish the whole 75 miles on Saturday. That's a long way and I'm going to do my best. I'll go as far as I can on Sunday, maybe ride the SAG for a little bit, then bike the last 10 or 20 miles in to the finish. Although, by the grace and power of God, I might be able to do the whole thing.... but probably not... I'm not setting unrealistic goals for myself. I am new to cycling and didn't have enough to time to properly train for this insane endeavor. Again, I'm going to give it my best and that's all I can do. After all, the purpose of this ride is not to see how fast you can complete it- it's not even a race. The real purpose is to push yourself to ride for those with MS who can't ride a bike. That is our motivation to try hard to succeed. Your donations make all the difference, and thank you to all who have contributed to the cause thus far. I have three friends at work whose immediate family members have MS- I am riding for them. I am riding for a cure. I, too, might need a cure of some sort once I finish this ride, so I will be taking personal donations to pay for my hospital bill later! Haha, I'm kidding.

Please pray for all of the riders' safety this weekend. Pray for our health. And pray for a cure for MS.


You can donate to the MS Society and sponsor my ride here:

http://biketns.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TNSBikeEvents?pg=pfind&fr_id=9290


p.s. Thank you team captain (Steve Franklin) for letting me borrow the AWESOME Felt roadbike... it will make my life so much easier this weekend.

zambia update

you can read about the team in Zambia on the church's blog:

http://cumcmemphis.blogspot.com/

Chris says the weather is so nice- it is late winter/early spring there in southern Africa. I miss my husband, but I am so proud of him for doing God's work. His life will be changed.

Here's a map. They are in Zimba, Zambia.

umbrella

Ok, so I gave Christopher’s nice golf umbrella away last night...

It was pouring rain when I left for women’s Bible study. (Thank you, Gustav.) I spotted my husband’s umbrella in the living room floor, so I grabbed it. Usually I would just run to the car, but I had to take a photo album to share and I didn't want it to get wet. Anyway, I turned right onto Poplar and up ahead I saw a black woman and her three small children getting absolutely drenched on the opposite side of the road- she was carrying one of them. She looked miserable. Let’s be honest, I would be too. They were walking the same direction as I was driving, but on the other sidewalk. As I approached them, I felt the Lord speak to me softly and He said that I should give them the umbrella. Immediately I thought, "But they are on the other side of the road, it would be dangerous to turn around, and besides, that's an expensive umbrella!" I drove about 25 feet and said out-loud to myself: "I have sinned." Talk about a serious conviction. Again, I heard the Lord say "Give them your umbrella." There was no ignoring His voice, so I whipped a U-turn in the middle of the bridge and drove back to them. I turned on my hazard lights, pulled over, rolled down my window and hollered "Excuse me!" She politely came over to the window and as I handed the umbrella out the door, I asked her if she would like an umbrella and that she was welcome to have it. The smile on her face was worth 10,000 words. She said Thank You in the most grateful way I've ever heard. Her little boy said Thank You too. She popped that thing open, set her youngest child down, and proceeded to travel down the sidewalk. I started boo-hooing and not at the loss of my golf umbrella. I thanked God for speaking to me. I was overwhelmed with joy. A simple umbrella made such a difference for that lady.

Why can’t we all (and I am speaking to myself) be more generous? Everyone who knows me knows that I am a coupon-cutting, deal-hunting maniac. So what if that umbrella cost a lot? Of course, “a lot” to me is like 20 bucks or something at Wal-Mart. Anyway, isn’t our purpose on this Earth to serve other people? We are commanded as Christians to take care of the widows, the orphans, and the poor.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

James 1:27

Pretty simple… yet we hoard our money so that we can get our nails done, buy another pointless home decoration, or even give to some random charity. I’m not saying we shouldn’t or can’t do those things, but what about REAL love for people and REAL generosity? I was so happy all last evening. Maybe because I knew I obeyed the Lord. Maybe because I saw the smile on that woman’s face. Maybe because I thought there might be hope for all of us, including me.

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”
James 2:14-17

I’m going to Wal-Mart this weekend to buy Christopher a new umbrella. Maybe the Lord will let me keep this one. Maybe not.