Another prayer request

This past weekend Ian preached in Hamilton, Ontario. In that congregation there is a family struggling with the illness of a loved one. He also is a member of the church and has shown great strength through this trial. He has ALS... 

What is ALS?- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease, first identified in 1869 by the noted French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Although the cause of ALS is not completely understood, recent years have brought a wealth of new scientific understanding about the physiology of this disease.

He found out about a year ago that he had this disease and now he is at the brink of death. Basically, the muscles in his body are giving up and will continue till his heart muscle doesn't work anymore. Mentally though he is as bright as day, he could carry a normal conversation if he could still talk. He has a blog that his daughter helps him keep up. The faith of this man and his family is an amazing gift from God. The struggles they deal with everyday doesn't seem to be as important as them being able to proclaim the love and faithfulness of the Lord to His people. This is him and his family... he has 3 children (an their spouses) and 11 grandchildren.

As we sat there visiting with him and his wife, you could see the struggle he had with wanting to join in on the conversation. His wife said he was a real talker, he loved socializing with people. But now the Lord is challenging him, testing him and his faith by taking away his ability to speak. He cannot move around, he is confined to the chair or wheelchair but he can move his head yet. In fact he has a machine he can spell words with and it will speak for him. As we were all talking, you could hear the little beep of the machine as the dot on his glasses reflects onto the machine and hovers over each letter. 

 

What an amazing technology available for him to still communicate! He cannot speak but grunts at times, but the most memorable part is his smile! He has such a winning smile that brightens up the whole room. It makes your insides feel warm as you see his whole face light up. 

If you want to follow his blog, click here. Please remember him in your prayers, as well as his family. Slowly every day he looses more and more muscle movement but mentally he is all there still.