Zac - Teaching on Mark 2, The Healing of the Paralytic
Zacs teaching on the Healing of the Paralytic at Little Country Church McAurthur.
Forward to 35:30 min for Zacs teaching
https://www.facebook.com/100084003733499/videos/804141514276676/?d=n
8/6/2022
8-6-22 Zac Update
The remainder of our trip in Colorado proved to be quite the adventure. Zac was able to meet up with a wonderful tennis coach who got him in tennis wheelchair and gave him a tennis lesson… so fun. With us having local tennis courts at home, this is something we’ve been wanting to explore.
We also met up with a wonderful team of people linked to Craig Hospital that got us out kayaking! It was a blast to be in the water with the boys. Again, the Lord gently reminding us that nothing is off limits to Zac. It takes extra planning and a bit of effort, but the end reward is always worth it.
The highlight of the trip was our short (2 1/2 hr) drive to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where we met up with Tim at Return to Dirt, in order to get Zac into the back country in an off-road vehicle. What an incredible trip!! Tim and his team were so incredibly kind to us. Tim had a similar injury level to Zacs, so he was an excellent coach - Zac in the drivers seat, Tim as his co-pilot, Everest and I in the back seat, just along for the bumpy ride! It was awesome and I was emotional seeing Zac drive again. What joy!!
Linked to our trip to Glenwood Springs, we were able to get into one of their famous mineral springs pools. The pool was like a gigantic hot tub and felt awesome to all three of us. Again, proving to us that swimming is a great activity for Zac, and certainly able for him to do. We all slept very well that night!!!
Equal to therapy and our accessible activities while in Colorado, was our opportunity to plug in with Red Rocks Worship. In our two weeks there, we attended 6 services lol. The worship (and teaching) was a balm to our hearts, reminding us that God is in control, that He is good, that He still works, that He is up to something in our lives… we just keep our eyes focused on Him and trust/ rest! There is nothing in the world like an evening of blessed worship to re-align our focus back on God.
We were also able to meet up for lunch with several of the guys from their audio/ video team who wanted to hear Zacs story. Zachary shared with them his entire journey from the very beginning. And then to see the tears/ emotions in Zacs eyes as he shared on Gods faithfulness to Him and his desire to keep his eyes fixed on the Lord “even though… even if… yet I will still praise Thee” (Hab 3:17-18)… It was quite overwhelming for this Mamas heart.
We are back home in Brookings now, taking a deep breath, and seeing what God has in store for this next season.
“The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you,” Deut 1:30
7/16/2022
It caught me a little off guard.
Zac, Everest, and I were all looking forward to returning to Craig Hospital in Denver this week for Zac’s one year re-eval on his progress. We were looking forward to seeing his therapists, meeting with his doctors, attending Red Rocks church, accessing the Peak Center gym…
What caught me off guard was the flood of emotion once we landed… catching our first view of the giant blue Craig sign, remembering when we first landed here as they brought Zac in on a stretcher…
driving back up to the round-about entrance to see clusters of families with their loved ones in wheelchairs, all beginning their journey, seeing in my mind the days we spent outside in the sun, finding our own courage to adapt…
checking into the Family Housing apartments, recollecting the hours I spent in those rooms, crying out to the Lord to make sense of the journey, journaling His word to my heart…
entering back into the familiar therapy hallways, visualizing the last time I saw Zac walk around the corner in the mechanical eco-Skelton…
So much flood of emotion. Raw, vulnerable emotion.
And I suddenly realized I was so glad to feel that again… deep, raw emotion, face to face with the stark reality of this journey, and the flood of Scriptures and hope that came rushing back all at once too.
It seems like a contradiction.
Our hearts long for the rest, the seasons of peace when all is well, when our spirit feels content.
Yet, deeper still, there is the craving to let the Lord dig in, til up the comfortable, to feel the unsettling, the hopelessness…
Because He is there.
And He is the only One who can rescue.
The glorious rescue in which my heart gets scooped up by my Savior, and He floods me with His truth, regardless of what I think I know; where He floods me with faith, despite what my eyes see; where He floods me with His peace, in the center of the storm.
*sigh* it’s all so much. But all so wonderful. To walk with my Jesus, hand in hand. It’s what I crave.
————-
It was great to meet with his therapists yesterday. They discussed his improvements and set goals for him this week to what he wanted to focus on. It’s good to be back in the game.
We enjoyed church on Sunday at Red Rocks and went for a stroll around a near-by lake where he was able to try out a motorized power wheel that attaches to the back of his wheelchair.
We spent time watching a Bible Study video last night where the teacher directed us examine Mark 2:1-12. Interestingly, it happened to be the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. It was a sweet, deep study - to study the story of Jesus healing the paralytic with my paralytic. I told Zac he should teach on that story some Sunday. What a perspective it would be!
How grateful I am to be a part of this story. How grateful I am to have the Lord keep me uncomfortable. It all drives us to Him. And that’s what we ultimately long for. #zacsHope
7/4/2022
7-4-22 Zac Update
“He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.” Psalm 147:10-11
Three years ago our family ran a Fourth of July 5K together. It was an awesome day to commit to run a race as a family. Side by side we started the race, stride by stride, as our legs pounded along the concrete. Even as we grew weary, the motivation never wained, for we had a finish line ahead of us. The finish was an exuberant moment as we each celebrated our accomplishment; of course Zac finished ahead of us all, but the finish line was a wonderful, joyful moment.
Then eighteen months ago, our race changed. Everything changed when Zac got paralyzed. Then again, nothing changed. For the race Zac was on, that my kids were on, was not about their strength, but about their eyes “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith”.
And I’m reminded that it is not the strength of their legs that God delights in. That is not where our hope is found. I watch my kids daily, each running their race with hearts and minds fixed on Jesus, and I ask myself, “Has this last 18 months been worth it?” I don’t know if I have the courage to shout yes too loudly, but I could certainly say that anything that draws us closer to Jesus and puts our focus on heaven is absolutely, undoubtedly, worth the race. So I guess, yes, a gentle yes; it’s been worth it all.
It’s another great race we are on this Fourth of July, side by side and stride by stride, for God pleasures not in the strength of our legs, but the hope in Him. #zacsHope
5/16/2022
5-16 Zac Update
God fully covered our trip to the Mayo Clinic last week. We landed in Minneapolis at midnight and then had to drive 90 min to Rochester, getting to bed around 3:30 am. But we arrived a day early and had all day Sunday to rest and catch up on some beautiful quiet Bible reading. It is lovely how God speaks when our hearts are still.
I was reminded that our faith is never wasted.
I was challenged to consider: Would I have the faith to offer my hand to Zac and say, as Peter did to the lame man at the temple gates, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” ? (Acts 3)
Well, we did run across such a person on our adventure at the Mayo Clinic.
Evidently, they had been observing Zachary for a while. And then, quietly they approached him, (Zac was unaware but I observed), looked upon Zac in his paralysis, and spoke in full faith, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
And believing, they offered their hand to Zac to help him up.
Nothing happened.
Or so it seemed.
Did it surprise me? Yes.
Did it bother me? Not in the least. Was I inspired? Absolutely.
Must faith produce an instant outcome? Not always.
Faith is never wasted.
Often, we believe, but we expect certain results. Or rather, we exercise belief because we know we will get certain results.
But what if we could live in such a way that we offered acts of faith, while letting God apply the outcome of that faith the way and time HE knows best?
Do I trust Him to do this?
I was humbled and inspired to see such an act of faith poured out upon Zac.
Will God honor that man’s faith? Yes, somehow, someway, at sometime… God is now working in response to his faith,
For faith is not wasted.
The visit at the Mayo Clinic confirmed what we have been seeing: Zac is getting improved strength in his triceps and gaining better sensation overall. His legs remain muscular and defined. Mostly due to the FES bike, his Standing Frame, and constant leg spasms. His coordination has improved as well.
*sigh*
I enjoy these trips back to where we began to remind me that God is still working.
Back home again, our days are filled with routine of daily workouts and therapy. Additionally, Zac was awarded a grant for a recumbent road bike not long ago. He still has to get fitted for it and then we get to hit the open road!! Can’t wait!
4/28/2022
4-28 Zac Update
This month has been rolling by so fast I can hardly keep up. I’ve sat to begin a dozen updates but continually find myself either distracted or at loss for words. Yet Easter Weekend struck me with great remembrance of our journey last Easter, still in Denver, Colorado where we were learning to manage a new course that had been set before us. What a year it’s been.
This year, the Saturday before Easter struck me most. I found the silence of the day before Resurrection Sunday to be a place I can often find myself living now - The space between the cross and the resurrection, between heartache and hope fulfilled.
Jesus had equipped His Disciples with all of the Truth they would need to maintain hope in the confusion of their loss as they watched their Savior die.
But they had to wait out the silent Saturday, the application of hope yet to come.
For not only was there a greater hope beyond their loss, but the Loss itself would become the Hope they didn’t even know they needed.
I was reminded of this again in my journey with Zachary: just because you don’t clearly see God’s work at this moment does not mean He is not working.
I find myself living in silent Saturdays - Days between knowing the truth and seeing hope fulfilled.
Yet we do not have to wait for Sunday as the Disciples did. For our Hope has been completed in Jesus resurrection.
So now it comes down to an application of the heart - a work to maintain joy because I live in the truth that Jesus will indeed do all He said He would do.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for Zac. We still need them more than ever.
pray for our return to the Mayo Clinic this weekend for his six month check-up after his stem cell injection. They will do a full sensory evaluation and we do believe the doctors will see many changes!
Pray for our flights there and back as well as our midnight landings. Travel will be a bit rough!
pray for pain management. There is a daily silent suffering for those with spinal cord injuries that make them heroic in my eyes… the spontaneous leg spasms and nerve pain….
Some days are worse than others, and not to minimize it, but truly, the joy of the Lord is our strength… we look for hope to cling to and Zacs humor moves us past it all.
pray for continued therapy. God is building him an awesome team of local therapists here, physical and massage, that are learning with us, challenging him physically and bringing relief to his pain. We are so thankful for them!!
pray pray pray for the closure of our house remodels. We are still holding up in a temporary rental house as we make our new place accessible for Zac. Progress is very slow, workers are few, vision is challenging as we have fully gutted one bathroom and are trying to create a roll-in shower with the space that we have.
So those silent Saturdays, those moments between the cross and the resurrection… I must remember that God is still bringing to pass all that He said He would even if the day is quiet and the heart is full of questions. Jesus’ resurrection reminds me that our promise fulfilled is coming.
3/4/2022
God knows what He is doing.
So many times over the past few months I have had to remind myself of this. Trust Him, Kristi. Do not fear.
Looking back, my journaling, my words and thoughts easily flowed as we were at Craig Hospital, in the thick of therapy and purposed healing, in the season of silence and Red Rocks worship evenings.
Curiously, I am almost at loss for words now that we are home, learning to simply “do” life, where Zac is not the central figure and therapy not able to be the central focus, where life and family and tasks and decisions all come crashing in on a daily basis.
I cried yesterday, getting off the phone with Craig Hospital and realizing that our days of extended therapy sessions there may be ending, that my plan for returning for several weeks this summer may not happen after all. I’m always strategizing in my head our next “move”, next therapy push, next “something” to keep a miracle in my boy happening.
But the Lord seems to be stripping away my plans with Craig Hospital, daring me, even constraining me, to believe that He can do His work without their technology. Without those programs. Without the therapists we have come to love.
Without MY plans.
God knows what He is doing. He has His own plans for Zac. I either believe this or I don’t. But it doesn’t change the truth of it.
Zac has not changed.
His heart, that is. He is joyful and purposed. He is not daunted by his paralysis. He continues to put Gods word into his heart daily, as he just finished last week listening through the entire Bible. He lives in the “now”, embracing the day, pursuing what he can do, releasing what he can’t do, not concerned for the future, but enjoying each day.
What a teacher he is to me.
———
We attended a wedding on the beach last month. I thot it would be impossible for Zac to attend - for it required navigating down a slippery, steep, skinny trail over logs. But he and his brother showed up and suddenly, there was a team of friends around him, and I stood back to watch, quite amused, as his brother pick him up and piggy-backed him all the way down to the wedding venue.
Wow. God knows what He is doing. There is nothing impossible for Him.
We just completed a very fast, five-week wedding planning season in which Spencer got married. Zac was the Best Man. He rolled down the isle with the Maid of Honor and was lifted to the stage by the groom. Nevermind the fact that it took him over a minute to open the ring box and present it to Spencer as all 350 of us waited and watched… he finally opened the box with a big grin and we all cheered.
Wow. God knows what He is doing. There is nothing impossible for Him.
Our new house continues to be in remodel mode as we wait it out at our rental. Work is very slow and workers are few, but concrete paths are being forged to give Zac house access. It is tiring to wait for hope to unfold. But I must remember, God knows what He is doing. There is nothing impossible for Him.
And the Mayo Clinic. Remember those lovely Stem Cells that were injected into Zac last November, those “one hundred million messengers, ready to accomplish God’s purposes?” Does it lesson the miracle if we can’t see their effect yet? Does it negate the fact that there is still a work going on at his cellular level, even if it is not evident? God continues to whisper, “I know what I’m doing. There is nothing impossible for Me.”
What a journey of faith and constant release that we are all on together.
1/8/2022
“Consider Him… so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Heb. 12:3
It’s a daily discipline. You would think I would get this by now. You would think I would have mastered this Hope thing.
But daily I have a choice: consider Jesus, Kristi, or you will grow weary and lose heart. Set your eyes on things above, not in things below. Whenever discouragement sets in, it is ALWAYS because I have taken my eyes off the upward vision. But when I look up… what glory. And it’s so easy to have my heart flooded with Hope.
Our return from Craig in mid-December brought us back to a flurry of busyness between house modifications and Christmas activities. Christmas was wonderful and simple as we just rested in fellowship with our family, our Front Line of Defense on this journey. It was Joyful. So glad to all be together. A year ago, Zac was waking up alone on Christmas morning. So grateful to be past that.
New Years was spent in Lincoln City with extended family. The fellowship was so sweet as Zac reconnected with family that had not seen him post-injury yet. They were not quite sure what it would feel like to see Zac, who they have watched grow up, now in a wheelchair. But they told me, “it really wasn’t any different. He’s still just Zac.” Such a good reminder. We are ALL on a constant journey of changes. Zacs changes may seem more obvious, yet we ALL are adapting to the journey God has us on, and it takes us all equal measures of courage to continue at time.
New Years Eve Zac presented me with a beautiful necklace that he designed: a gold flower with 6 petals, each embedded with the birthstone of our family members. But the center of the flower held the largest stone of all. Beautiful blue stone. “I did some research, Mom. That semi-precious gem is an Amazonite. It is nicknamed the Hope Stone. It is what centers us all.”
Of course, I started to cry. Because that truth hit me. Because I’m tired. Because God is so good. Because his thoughtfulness overwhelmed me.
The Hope Stone. I looked it up: “Its turquoise is seen as the bridge between the blues of a cold winter and the greens of springtime laden with life. No matter how cold the winter might be, there is always a springtime to look forward to.”
Thank you, Jesus. What do you have in store for us this year?
We returned to Brookings, still living in our temporary rental, and I went up to our new property to see what had been completed in my absence. Remember, our new house is on top of a steep, muddy hill… and I saw a newly poured cement path with a connecting ramp to the kitchen door that had just been built.
And I began to cry again. “It’s so much Lord. But these ramps remind me that YOU are making a way through this wilderness; You will not fail Zac; YOU will blaze this trail for him.”
That beautiful Hope stone, now resting close to my heart. I can’t see it when I’m wearing it, but Zac can see it when he looks at me. And I see hope reflected in his face.
2022 #zacsHope 2.0
Let’s do this, Lord.
12/8/2021 Update
12-8 Zac Update From Kristi:
It took my breath away.
In preparation of our departure from Craig Rehab, I was wrapping up a meeting with Zacs Case Manager yesterday, then heading over to the Peak Center to watch Zacs final therapy session. As I came around the corner, I almost ran into him, my son, standing a head taller than I, walking down the hallway in the Exoskeleton with a big grin on his face.
I had to catch my breath as my heart did a quick leap. For a moment, I was eye to eye with my son, as if this year had not even happened. I was grateful for the mask that covered my face as I hid behind it with silent emotion. I watched him as he worked to shift his weight from side to side, maximizing the flicker of muscles firing in his abs and glutes, which caused the exoskeleton to initiate a step. He was chatting happily as his therapist complimented him on how quickly he had picked up on how to move in the exoskeleton.
“It’s almost as if I was born to walk,” Zac said with a grin.
Walk. The word echoed in my head. Oh, please walk, my son.
“He is walking, Kristi,” the Lord checked my heart, reminding me that the greatest prayer I can pray for Zac is that he be filled with the knowledge of Jesus, that he would “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col 1:9-10)
Yes, Lord, he IS walking. And he IS bearing fruit. Between he and Everest, I watched them share the Gospel with several other patients and therapists while at Craig. They see his joy, but they do not understand it.
And I realize that fruit must be enough for now; yes, Lord, of course that it is MORE than enough, as I continue to silently intercede for his physical healing.
We’ve had a great time at Craig. In addition to the daily therapy, Zac and Everest were able to scuba dive, go to a shooting range, do archery, and play Quad Rugby with the Denver team….
Today we say goodbye to Denver as we are heading to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where Zac will undergo another INSCI test to see if there have been any neurological changes since his stem cell injection a month ago. I must continue to remember that it is God unfolding this story for Zac, that He leads the way and we follow Him, that I am not to “hope in what I see, but what I do not see.” (Rom. 8:25), that Zac is “Gods workmanship, created for good works that he should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10). Resting in the truth that God is the one to work out the details is what keeps us abiding in peace.
The flight just arrived in Minneapolis. It’s snowing!!
11/25/2021 Update
11-25 Zac Update From Kristi:
It’s a Happy Thanksgiving
by choice
In the quietness of this morning, I began to reflect on last years Thanksgiving, it was 6 days into Zac’s paralysis, it was the day he was discharged from ICU - we celebrated it away from family by having lunch outside on the hospital patio as the nurse fed Zac his Thanksgiving dinner for his fingers were not moving and he could not feed himself.
Zacs “future” suddenly looked very different then any of us had imagined.
So we had to choose.
We had to chose to believe that God was working in the waiting, and though the future was not clear to us, we would trust Him anyway.
A few hours before Zac got injured, he was at the church by himself, standing at the keyboard, singing and playing this song with his working fingers:
“Every breath I breathe an invitation
To believe You are creating
Something good,
Though this season doesn't tell my story
I know You'll move mountains for me
You're just that good
So I'll give thanks to God
When I don't have enough
'Cause He's more than enough
And He knows what I need
So why do I worry?
God knows what I need.”
Truth he believed before he even knew he would need it.
This Thanksgiving, we are back at Craig Hospital for therapy and our entire family is together.
It is a Happy Thanksgiving, by choice, for we choose to give thanks to God, and we choose trust Him; God knows what we need and this is enough to fill our hearts with joy.
11/20/2021 Update
It was one year ago today.
One year ago today, when Rich came into the room saying, “Kristi, there’s been an accident. It’s Zachary.”
These photos were taken by an on-looker at the beach that day, the last moment Zac stood on his own, before running back to the waves to retrieve the kayak that began to float away.
One year ago today, when instantly my heart failed me, when I was suddenly tossed into the raging sea, when the fire was stoked seven times hotter…. my precious boy became instantly paralyzed, as did my heart.
But just for a moment.
For the Word of God came rushing in, speaking a deeper hope and truth.
Eternity.
Truth that life is much bigger than what we live
That brokenness is fleeting
That God is up to something exceedingly greater that we can imagine
Hope.
Belief that God is able to perform that which He has promised
That loss is an illusion
That faith reveals what is not yet seen
I am thankful for this year.
It has set my absolute dependence upon the Lord like never before.
It has constrained me to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Words of Truth greater then Zacs injury.
The first time I saw fear from Zac post injury was in the hospital when he said to me, “I just don’t want lose this closeness I feel to the Lord.” For deep down in Zacs heart, the Lord was carving into my son His eternal purposes and perspective. For the presence of God in his life made the fire desirable.
I enjoyed a sweet moment this week….
It’s a new perspective of airport travel to now remember to request an isle chair to transport my son, to be a part of the disabled group when boarding the plane, to be the last ones off so no one has to wait for us…
Zachary, Everest, and I had just landed in Denver and were making our way together through the terminal when we came upon a long, steep slope to the baggage claim area. Zac’s chair began to pick up speed as he went flying way ahead of us, zipping past all of the people, disappearing into the distance. Everest and I watched with amusement as we continued to trudge on with our suitcases, now very far behind.
“Who’s handicapped now?” I smiled to Everest.
We see things so backwards in life sometimes. Our strength is in Jesus, not in our flesh.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Cor 4:17
Pour down Your glory, Lord.
All we want is more of You.
11/16/2021 Update
Returning to Craig rehab this week truly felt like coming home. We were so excited to pull back into the Denver airport, make our way back through the familiar streets until the Craig campus came into view. Such a comfort to be back where therapists and doctors are familiar with spinal cord injuries.
What caught me off guard was the sudden rush of deep emotion…. Once again, looking up to the window to his old room on the 4th floor, the window I would stand below outside after a full day of therapy with him, as I cried out to the Lord to heal my son.
Once again, strolling the halls with Zachary, the halls we spent hours upon hours of time , as Zac first learned to master movement in a manual wheelchair.
Once again, watching him in therapy class, classes that used equipment to enable him to move in ways his paralysis limited him, as I silently held my breath and cheered every nerve on in recovery.
So many long days here.
So many long nights of tears as I worked out fear and faith, trusting God, believing what I couldn’t see.
Now here again.
Now back to the reconciliation of fear and faith.
First came the physical re-evals. He is able to move his right wrist backwards now. Awesome Lord!
He can stand, with knees locked and a spotter on his hips, for a moment (just a brief moment) as he supports his core. Thank you, Lord!
He can move his right big toe, in addition to the smaller toe on his foot. You’re doing it, Lord!
Then therapy came fast and furious. The electric stimulation going to his core, quads, and hamstrings is now doubled to reach deeper into his central nervous system and shake up those new stem cells. The EksoSkelton that responds to his weight shifts, enabling him to mechanically walk. The Therastride Treadmill to teach his new stem cells what muscles they need to communicate with.
Over the weekend, we took a quick trip to Minnesota, flying over on Sunday and returning Monday, for a quick Mayo Clinic stem cell re-eval. They are gathering information, but God already knows what He’s gonna do.
The saga continues as I brace my heart for Saturday.
One year of this journey.
I would have never wished to be on this journey.
But God is making the trip very worth the while.
11-9-2021 Update
“…so is My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Is 55:11
And off they go! Now racing through Zac’s body, one hundred million of God’s messengers, ready to accomplish His purposes.
Zac’s Stem Cell injection yesterday was successful. We checked into the Mayo Clinic at noon and had to wait until 1:15 pm as the doctors did a quality check on his newly grown stem cells that were harvested from his belly tissue last month. They counted them to confirm the exact number, which measured approx 10 ml or 2 teaspoons (photo is of water equivalent). It reminded me of how God counts even the stars and knows them all by name (Ps 147:4).
Cells in the body have specific purposes, but stem cells are cells that do not yet have a specific role and can become almost any cell that is required. I imagine this past month our Creator forming each one of these new stem cells, whispering into them, one by one, His commands for His purposes.
Ready messengers to perform His will, commanding them to be sent forth to repair Zacs broken nerve cells.
For Zac is Gods workmanship, created created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that he should WALK in them. I’m standing firm on Eph 2:10. We are ready to see what God wants to do with Zac. My heart silently prays that Zachary would be the paralytic that God healed in Mark 2 as an example of His healing power. Yet God could be up to something different too; regardless, His perfect plans WILL be accomplished. We need not fear (I’m preaching to my own heart here.). And there is no greater joy then being an empty, ready vessel for the Lord to use. For He is good and worthy of our trust.
Packing up now and off to Craig Hospital in Colorado for follow-up rehab! Whoohoo!
Journal Entry 11/4/2021 From Kristi:
Sitting on the airplane now, enroute to Rochester, Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. My heart is so full of emotion. I’ve been crying my way through these first few days of November as we have finally reached the month of Zac’s injury one year ago. It is so hard to fathom the fact that my son has been paralyzed for almost a whole year. I pause to wonder why my heart grieves. It’s just flesh. It’s just temporal. God is up to something in his life that is bigger than his injury. And so my heart rests once again in the hope of God’s Word and the belief that God is bigger than this all.
Tomorrow at the Mayo Clinic, Zac gets his baseline physicals to determine where his paralysis is currently. Monday, those lovey stem cells that we left in Minnesota last month will be injected into his spine. God has been multiplying these cells for the past few weeks. A hundred million of them will rush into Zac’s spine and look to heal what is broken. Stem Cells that can become what his body is lacking in nerve communication. They are God’s ambassadors to do as He wills. I’m not anxious. They will obey Him. They will accomplish the purposes God intends. For Zac is already complete as he loves the Lord his God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The plane is now beginning to descend into Portland. We have 20 min for our connecting flight as our current flight got delayed. Time to run!!!
Hopefully, just a preface to what God is gonna do in Zac again.
Journal Entry 10/15 From Kristi
The Lord continues to open doors for Zac. He has made a way for him to return to Craig Hospital in Colorado for physical and occupational therapy after his stem cell injection. I’m so thrilled.
We fly to the Mayo Clinic in MN on Nov 4, Stem Cell injection on Nov 8, then over to Colorado until Dec 8, where he will continue in active therapy with their state-of-the-art equipment that will reward every nerve-muscle connection with movement. His muscles are ready and waiting; we pray God makes a way for his nerves to communicate with them.
Super blessed by a Sunday teaching by Rich last week who spoke about King David, wrongfully taking a physical Census to determine the strength of his army; instead, we should use our spiritual Senses, seeing with eyes of faith, and hearing the Word of God… Senses not Census, again and again to focus, not on what we see, but what we do not see. For what we do not see is the greater truth. So hard for my heart to remember!!!
Like at early morning worship at the church, sitting in the corner of the lamp-lit sanctuary, crying because I still weep for Zac, yet the Lord quietly whispers, “he IS whole, Kristi. He loves me and his eyes are fixed on me. It’s just flesh.”
Somewhere in the blur of lining up therapy for Zac, the purchase of our home went through, so there is that mountain now to climb, wonderful and fearful, and the tearing apart of the house has begun, as necessary remodeling takes place. “A time to tear down, and a time to build up”. It’s hard to see destruction of what we just bought, but God strips us down to build us up. Again, looking past what I see to what I believe. As Zac said in the beginning, “it’s like God has given my life a reset”.
May my eyes be steadfast, Lord. And my life be fixed on You.
Journal Entry 10/2 From Kristi
September was a whirlwind. We moved out of our home of 10 years, putting most everything into storage, and moved into a furnished rental for the time being. Our new rental is smaller but a blessing as it is just one floor, giving Zac much more access to get around. However, the doors are narrow and he can’t fit into one of the rooms because his wheelchair is too wide, but he takes it all in stride. I’m so thankful.
We continue to pray for the multiplication of his stem cells growing over in Minnesota. We are scheduled to return at the beginning of Nov for the stem cell injection. Because we have to remain in Minnesota for a week and then return a month later, I’ve been working to see if the Lord might open doors for us to return to Craig Hospital for rehab following the injection and between Mayo Clinic visits. Still waiting for that to all lineup. Keep praying.
In the meantime, Monday we are closing on a home we are purchasing and will begin house modifications for Zac this next week. So much in this mama’s heart that I want to do to this new home to make it a sanctuary for Zac and an easy place for him to be. So much needs to be done to the home it overwhelms me. But this is now familiar territory: a need that is so much bigger than me I can’t see a way through it. But God can make a way. I see Him do it every day.
I had the sweetest conversation with Zac as we were driving home a few days ago. We were talking about how much it feels like the focus of our life has been minimized to only Jesus. Everything else seems so unimportant. As we were talking, he was reaching for a cup to drink from and I watched him wrestle with getting a grasp of it. “Does it frustrate you, Zachary, to not be able to grab ahold of things very well with your hands?”
He didn’t hesitate, but replied simply:
“It just reminds me not to grasp on to things of this world.”
Wow. He keeps me focused on Jesus.
Journal Entry 9/16 From Kristi
🏃🏻♂️🎹🎸🏊♂️
With our heart full of God’s goodness from the recent Hopefest, Zac and I flew to Rochester, Minnesota on Tuesday for Round Two at the Mayo Clinic for the Stem Cell study. Zac had a few gram of fat cut from his belly (I was able to watch!) and it cracked me up that while he was laying there, he calculated that the extracted fat was equal to enough calories to run a half mile.
The appointment was over by noon, so we jumped in our rental car and drove over to Wisconsin, because… well, why not? Crossed the border, bought some cheese curds, and ate them at the edge of the Mississippi River. We are always up for an adventure. Took a 2 mile stroll along the Mississippi at Frontenac State Park. It was beautiful. Enjoyed a few coffee stops along the way.
CURRENTLY at the Rochester airport (that sits among fields and fields of corn), waiting for our flight home…
HAPPY that we are getting more comfort with managing air travel… but his legs are tight today, so it could be interesting.
CONSIDERING the fact that we are leaving a little piece of Zachary in Minnesota….
PRAYING that God now commissions those extracted stem cells, blessing their multiplication into the one hundred million stem cells needed for injection in Nov… stem cells, the body’s raw materials from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated, that hold the possibility of regenerating his broken spinal cells…
BELIEVING that God able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or imagine.
THANK YOU!
A huge THANK YOU to all who participated in this Hopefest… from the amazing volunteers to all who attended. Our hearts are so full of God’s goodness through you!! It was indeed a wonderful day of proclaiming our Hope in the Lord and we were so blessed by all of your support. May we ALL continue to set our hope in our unfailing God!
- The Abblitts: Rich and Kristi, Charis, Spencer, Zachary, and Everest
Journal Entry 8/30 From Kristi
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him!”
We are learning that the measure of our joy is directly related to our trust in the Lord. Joy is not always found in jubilant expressions, but always with resounding peace. It’s all linked to our trust in the Lord - that He is in control and working all things together for our good.
Trust brings joy, and joy brings peace beyond the circumstances… beyond the grief of losing a friend, beyond the injury of paralysis , beyond the unknown of the future.
And then again, sometimes joy is just joy, filled with laughter. I’m so thankful that our journey with Zachary is joyful. He finds great humor in the smallest of details. Such as a wedding we attended on Saturday. Joy that allows him to not focus on what he can’t do, but what he can do… and for the wedding, that was swing dancing. And dancing with his friend Daniel, of all people, who pulled Zac from the surf in Nov, whose father was our dear friend that passed away Thursday. Two boys that truly have their hope set in God. What a blessing to hear their laughter.
Journal Entry 8/27 From Kristi
Hope seems to be a growing theme for all of us these days. Tragedy and loss press our hearts to grasp for stability. Yesterday we grieved the passing of a very close friend, and even as the call came in, I could hear Zachary processing the news and beginning to weep. We all were. And we still grieve.
But equally, after an evening of fellowship with the body of Christ, where the Word was taught and worship ascended, I heard something else in the voice of my kids: hope. Grief still, but mixed with it, hope. And with the hope, joy. Such a mystery how a grieving heart can process loss and hope at the same time. Yet this has been Zacs journey all along. Loss is of this physical world. Hope is eternal.
“We do not grieve as others do who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again…”
1 Thes. 4:13
So after the evening of worship, where God was magnified, the fruit of joy was also present. Because Jesus paid the Ultimate Loss, His willing death, yet rose again with the provision of eternal life to each of us who believe, Hope triumphs all.
Hope in death.
Hope in life with loss.
One more day, Lord.
Today, we will live for You.