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September 14, 2008

FEAR - UPDATE

Update: I took Nipper back to the vet last Friday. He had finished up his meds on Thursday. Our vet, Dr. Moore, checked the place on Nipper's face and said that it was not as hard as it had been before. He wanted us to stop the ointment and watch the place and see what happens over the next several days. If the place begins to get red or infected looking or begins to swell up we have to start the ointment again. He did say that since it had gone down some and was not hard like before that he still believes it is a gland problem. That is much better than him thinking it is a tumor or cancer any day!!!!

It's been 4 days since Nipper has had any ointment or medication. He is doing well. The place does not appear to have gone down any more than before...but I am wondering if it may have always been as big as it is right now but covered with hair. He has always had a big brow above his eyes...and this place is right where his eyebrow is...I think. It's hard to tell since only one side of his face is shaved. I guess I will just have to wait and see how it looks once the hair grows completely back in. He seems to be feeling good and he has not been limping since we started the ointment 2 1/2 weeks ago. The place on his face is pink and does turn red occasionally...but usually when he is up running around...so I think that is just the blood flowing into his brow.

I am hopeful that he is fine. I will be watching his every move until I know for sure.

Thank you for praying for Nipper and for me and for asking about him. Most of you know how in love with Nipper I am and I appreciate you sharing my concern for my little guy. You are my true friends and I know I can can share my heart with you anytime. I will keep you updated as we go along.

I love you guys,

Tammy

Are you ever afraid? I don't mean just a little bit afraid....I mean mind numbing, life consuming fear? Do you ever have a problem with trust? Do you ever doubt that God can or will do the right thing by you?

That is where I have lived my life for the last three weeks.

Nipper has a place that has come up on his forehead that our vet has been treating for three weeks. They are not sure at this point what the problem is. They seem to think that it may be a gland but it has also been mentioned that is could be a tumor or cancer. It looks like a big red knot right against his left eye. He was also limping on his left front foot. Our vet Dr. Moore said that if this is a gland it could be what is causing the limping since it is on the same side.

They put him on a two week course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and they did not seem to help much at all. As you might imagine during these two weeks I was consumed with worry about Nipper. My mind ran the whole gambit of thinking ...what if this is something more serious than a gland? What if this is a tumor? What if this is cancer? And the very worst thing of all...What if this is what takes Nipper from my life? It was consuming to my whole thought pattern every single moment.

During this time I poured my heart out to God every waking moment. And God in is graciousness reminded me over and over of all the times that he had protected and healed Nipper. There have been many times that Nipper has been sick with dangerous things. There have been many times that he has done crazy things that could have killed him. During every single thing God has protected him and allowed him to be healed. He has given us wonderful doctors and staff who have treated and taken care of Nipper when he was in need. He has over and over been Nippers healer.

During this time my precious Father constantly brought calming scripture into my mind when I was afraid. He even brought the song....I am the Lord his (I know it's usually your but I heard his) healer to my mind constantly. That would calm me for a little while and then my fear would return.

I took Nipper for a re-check after two weeks of meds and there was very little improvement. Dr. Moore called me and said that he was now concerned it could be a tumor and wanted to remove this place. Talk about putting fear into my heart....that really did. I told him he could praying that if it was a tumor or cancer that we had caught it early. Shortly after that Dr. Moore called me again and said once he had sedated Nipper and shaved his forehead he found about six small spots instead of one and one additional place close to the other eye. Seeing several places made him more convinced it is a gland problem so he didn't cut the place out. That was a huge relief to me.

He decided to do another two weeks of the anti-inflammatories and antibiotics and he added an ointment to be rubbed on those spots every day. The ointment is a deep follicle flush to clean out any bacteria that may be clogging up the gland. The ointment does seem to be making a difference. After a couple of days Nipper stopped limping and the place on his head seems to look better. It is not gone but I think it looks better. He still has four more days of meds to take and then he will have to go back for another re-check.

I do not know at this point if Nipper is okay or not. I know that my heart hopes for the best and I know that God has the power to heal him. I know that God has healed him many times in the past. I know the memories and the scripture and the song to calm my spirit came from him. I even know that God will never take Nipper from me until it is time for him to go.

YET....I AM STILL AFRAID.

Do you ever feel this way when facing something that is a great fear in your life? Like loss...of anything that you love with your whole heart. Be that an animal, a person, your job, your dreams...or whatever it might be. Are you ever consumed by what the loss of this _______ would do to your whole life? Do you trust God to have full control of the things that mean everything to you?

Give me your thoughts.

Tammy

August 16, 2008

A Lifetime Of Service...A Dream Trip Reward

Dewey & Jo holding the Italian flag

July 27th was a very significant day in the life of our Dalton EMC church. This was the final Sunday that Dewey was our Pastor. Dewey had been approached the previous fall about running for the District Superintendent position of our denominations Southern Conference. After seeking God and the counsel of his family and mentors Dewey resigned our church last November.

The actual election for the DS job was not scheduled to be until this past June. We were blessed that during the time between last November and July Dewey remained our Pastor. This was a tender and sweet time for our congregation. God showed up in many wonderful and significant ways. There was such an anointed spirit on the church during this time. Our services were filled with powerful preaching, music, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It was a time of renewal, healing, and restoration for our Pastor, our families, and the church as a whole. It has been a special time for us and I feel like God brought the final cap to a healing that had been coming for about two years. We are now a true family in every sense of the word. I am so thankful to God for giving us this special time. It will always be a treasured time in my life.

Dewey and Jo have worked in ministry for over 35 years. They were our leaders for 16 of those years. They have been faithful servants to our Father and to us for a very long time. I know all of us have many precious memories of them over the years. It wouldn't take long for any of us to come up with a Dewey or Jo story I'm sure. Don't they just make you smile or laugh sometimes? Does anyone talk to you like they are your Father better than Dewey?? (That voice and hair make you want to spill your heart don't they?) Can anyone talk you into doing anything better than Jo?? (Beloved, can you??? smile, I love you....you are so wonderful). It is like Harry says....when Jo says "could you?" you say to yourself...why didn't I already do that? I know also that every single one of us can think of a time that they have stood with us during a difficult or wonderful time. They are a huge part of us and they have shared our lives for a very long time.

Over the years we have often heard Dewey & Jo mention that one of their dreams has always been to visit Italy. We have heard them mention the places they wanted to go and we have seen that far away look in their eyes when they talk about going there. Our church family decided that as a way to honor them for their time with us that we would try to raise the money to send them on their dream trip to Italy. We set a goal of $7000 and we had only 3 1/2 weeks to raise that amount. It was such a fun time. Every day e-mails were going back and forth with everyone wanting to know how much we had raised. Everyone gave so generously and with great love. God greatly blessed and in the end we were able to raise $10,770. It still just amazes me. God is so good!!!

The 27th was a big day. It was a day filled with many emotions. Mike roasted Dewey in the greeting... (three-ring binder, blended worship, old Episcopal priest...enough said). Dewey preached his final sermon to us as our Pastor. We had the table and a time of worship. Then to to finish out the day we had a time to honor Dewey & Jo. Renny prayed for Dewey & Jo at the kneeler surrounded by their family and our hearts. Then we saw a wonderful video that Earl made from the photos that the congregation has sent in of their memories of Dewey and Jo over the years. Then Glo presented a 12 piece setting of the "Feeding on the Word" china from the women's ministry. Then Lynn presented Dewey with some official DS glasses....glasses and sunglasses like Laurens. That was funny! We gave our Thank Yous and our blessing and then the real fun started. We presented them with some beautiful wind chimes that Ronnie & Brenda had found in Kentucky. The chimes are supposed to sound like distant church bells and they are supposed to sound like our church chimes. May they remind them of us every time the wind blows. Then it was time for the big trip presentation. Brad started the music (an Italian march) and then several of our friends came marching in with posters that showed different places in Italy. They marched up onto the podium briefly stopping to show Dewey & Jo each one. Then came Laura with the basket of travel brochures and Italian goodies. After that their grand kids came in holding the Italian flag. While they were still trying to figure out what was going on ...we yelled and told them they were going to Italy. Sandy finished us up by presenting them with the large Publishers Clearing House Check with the value of their trip on it.

It was the first time I have ever seen Dewey speechless and I don't think Jo's feet have hit the ground yet. (I'm pretty sure she still goes home and wears that Italian flag every day). They were greatly surprised and honored and we hope they never forget the depth of our love for them. From what I hear plans are already in the works for a trip next spring or fall. We also had a lunch after the service and everyone enjoyed hanging out and eating together. It was a great day of celebrating our friends.

Tammy

A special note to my precious friends (family) Dewey & Jo,

Dewey & Jo (Maximus & Alexandria Alexis), I truly love both of you more than mere words could express. I am thankful that I have been here for 14 of your 16 years. I am even more thankful that we have become really close friends over the last few years. You know my heart and I know yours. You are both such incredible warriors for our Father and being friends with you has shown me who he is in a deeper way. You are both my hero's!

I know that God is going to bless both of you as you go forward in this new endeavour that he has for you. I know that he still has big plans for you because our Father knows he can count on you and our Father doesn't think small. I know that he is going to continue to use you to show the world who he is.

I'm also so thankful that you get to stay here with us!!!

I Love You Both,

Tammy