Thanksgiving

Health Update

We did our quarterly ALS Clinic meeting by Zoom this week. We didn't go in person because there is nothing they can do  — especially because my lung capacity is close to zero. Last week I had a trip in our wheelchair accessible van with my wife Cathy and my daughter Hannah. As soon as we pulled out of the driveway my breathing hose came unconnected from the machine. With no air in my lungs I couldn't say a word or moan about the problem.  So I dropped my head down and eventually got Cathy and Hannah's attention. It took a minute to figure out what the issue was but Cathy figured it out and I kept living! We then found a way to have the breathing machine have an alarm if I don't breathe for 22 seconds. We have always had an alarm on my breathing machine at night but we've never had one during the day. Thankfully there is one!

A few weeks ago I was experiencing a strong pain in my stomach that would be really bad in the late afternoon. After a couple of days, we talked to my family doctor who suggested the pain could be from one specific medication I was taking. She prescribed another liquid drug I would take once a day to coat the wall of my stomach. Within 24 hours it worked! No pain anywhere for the last two weeks!

My arm and hand muscles have been getting weaker, in part because of the colder weather. The main implication is that if my arm is not appropriately positioned for the joystick I use to drive the chair, then I can't drive it. To fix that problem we are going to get a second joystick installed on the back of the chair so that someone else can drive me!

As I mentioned in my last blog there is a lot of saliva in my mouth which I spit and drool all the time. Believe it or not, the doctors say that injecting Botox into the salivary glands will eliminate the issue. I thought that Botox was only used to eliminate wrinkles in your face! I have my appointment in November to hopefully clear up the saliva. 

Otherwise I am sleeping well and my mind works fine and people who visit me say I look great. Praise God! I know there are hundreds of people (including me) that are praying for a miracle of healing from ALS. God's Word says in 1 Peter 2: 24 "Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed you."

Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. In the USA it is the fourth Thursday in November.  Regardless of the date everyone is thankful for something. Here is the list I am thankful for: 

#1 My dear wife Cathy. We have been married for almost 34 years. Before I had ALS I was thankful for all the meals that Cathy prepared; the wonderful mother she was to Hannah and Deagan; the volunteering she did at various school councils, Christmas Cheer and Help Lesotho in Africa; and the time we got to spend together traveling around the world. Since the ALS diagnosis I have been more thankful for Cathy because she is my primary caregiver. She gets me in and out of bed; organizes the PSW's and doctors visits; and if I need something in the middle of the night she wakes up and fixes my problems which is very stressful for her. I love my wife dearly and am praying for peace and comfort in her life with me. 

#2 My Daughter and Son who have been so positive in their lives. And they are loving me well while I sit in the wheelchair and can't talk. 

#3 My siblings and their spouses and children. Here is a picture of almost all of them at my nephew's wedding in early September. 

#4  My grandchildren. They bring me such joy. Here is a picture of my six grandchildren including three that have adopted parents (and I am so thankful for those parents who are doing a great job) and a second picture of the three grandchildren that are parented by my kids and their spouses. Roman, Mason and Betty. 

#5 All of my friends from school and work and church and neighbors as well. If I had a picture of them it would include over 1,000 people. 

#6 The PSW'S  who are looking after me from 8 a.m.  to 10 p.m. every day.  By God's influence they are all Christians who go to church and pray for me. 9 out of 10 of them are recent immigrants to Canada from Africa or the Caribbean or from South America.

#7 My Prayer warriors. I imagine there are over 100 people who are praying for me every day. I love you all!

#8 My God and saviour. My God is made up of three elements: God the Father; Jesus, His son who lived on earth for thirty some years and he died to forgive our sins and to heal our physical bodies; and the Holy Spirit who lives inside believers of Jesus in order to speak to us from God and to provide wisdom for our lives. And part of God is His Word contained in the Bible, which is the only book I have read more than once.  Just because God is listed last doesn't mean he is last on my priority list. God is the most thankful thing that I have. But He is not from this earth. Instead He is from the Heavenly Kingdom. And believers in Jesus Christ will end up in the Heavenly Kingdom for eternity.  

Psalm 118: 29

Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,

because his mercy endures forever.

My Accounting Career 

I just celebrated my 64th birthday in September. Life has been a bit of a mess since the ALS diagnosis in the spring of 2021. But the 61 years before that were amazing! As I contemplate my accounting career I realize that the successes I have had were not because I purposefully looked to move ahead in my life but God made the path for me and all I had to do was say "yes"!  Proverbs 3: 5-7 says:

"Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths smooth. "

As I look back on my life I realize that I did not rely on my own understanding. Here is my story... 

 I was a chubby kid and I hated gym class at school. Fortunately, when I got to high school I didn't have to take gym classes. In grade 11 though, I had signed up for geography class but it conflicted with music class, which was my favorite class, so the school put me in gym class instead of geography. After one day of running around the track wearing dress shoes, I had enough and went to the guidance counselor to see what my options were. There was only one option, and that was accounting. So I said "yes" and I loved the class and ended up with the highest mark of all the students. By grade 13 I decided to do accounting in university. I didn't know what university to go to. My Dad owned a pharmacy and they delivered prescriptions to customers in a pickup truck. One day I sat with the driver who worked for my Dad on the weekends. Turns out he was an accounting student in the co-op program at University of Waterloo. We talked about that and I ended up applying there and got accepted, so I said "yes"! After six weeks of school I had eight interviews to land a co-op job. I desperately wanted to work for my Dad's accounting firm in Ottawa. But I didn't get that job and ended up with an offer at a firm I had never heard of before called George. A. Welch and Company. Because it was the only offer in Ottawa I said "yes".  Over the years the name changed to Welch LLP and I ended up working there for 42 years! My whole accounting career was at Welch. I started working in auditing and was the senior manager for a construction / commercial landlord company. After a few years of working on that job the Controller offered me a job as the assistant controller. I loved my job at Welch so I said "No" to his offer. He ended up hiring a beautiful and smart young woman who I worked closely with on the audit. We eventually fell in love with each other and she said "Yes" when I proposed to her. We ended up getting married in December of 1990. Cathy and I have been married for 34 delightful years. Because I was her Auditor there was a conflict of interest and I had to step down from that role. That company took about one third of my time, so I had a lot of time to spare. Turns out that GST/HST was coming in to Canada on January 1, 1991. The Welch tax department needed a full time resource to help our clients move into the GST/HST world, so they asked me if I would move in to that role and I said "Yes". I worked in that role until I retired. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants asked me if I would act as a teacher for CA's across the country for the In-depth HST course and I said "Yes" to that and I did that every year for over 25 years. The partners at Welch liked my leadership skills and asked me to become a partner in 1993 when I was 33 years old and I said "Yes". Over the years our clients knew how to handle GST so I had a bit of extra time and Welch was looking to develop a marketing strategy and they asked me if I would head up the marketing initiative and I said "Yes". We eventually grew our marketing and business development team to five or six people. What an excellent career I had at Welch!

God introduced many options for me to say "Yes" to (and one "No") and I followed His guidance. I am truly blessed and thankful for my life guided by God. I realize that I wasn't accessing and building my pride, but my decisions were based on humility and God's direction. Here are two verses from the Bible that talk about this... 

Proverbs 19: 20-21

Listen to advice and accept discipline

so that you may be wise the rest of your life.

Many plans are in the human heart,

but the advice of the Lord will endure

Colossians 3: 17

 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Faith Over Fear

I am counting on God's word to bring healing to my body. But if it doesn't happen I will still head to Heaven and I will give Jesus a big hug because I love him and he loves me. But on the assumption I will be healed, I am going to host a huge party and speak at many events about how God is real and Jesus died to forgive our sins and the Holy Spirit will guide our decisions from now until evermore. Interesting that I found a Bible verse this week that says what I am going to do.

 Psalm 35: 18-19

I will give you thanks in a large gathering.

 I will praise you (God) in a crowd of worshipers.

 Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.

 Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink at me. 

My faith is a lot bigger than my fear ! Amen to that.