This is Tambi Nida, Terri’s sister-in-law. Terri’s health had been declining fairly rapidly for the past 8 months, and she was put on Comfort Care on January 5th at Duke University Hospital. She was very well aware of what was happening and had several wonderful conversations with me and her brother, Jimmy this past week ..read more

I ran across a Bible study I did in 2016 and found it to be very helpful. I hope you find it uplifting. Romans 5: 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame ..read more

Do you ever feel like you are on the path you should be on and you get stopped in your tracks and turned to a completely different direction? Sometimes it feels like a slap in the face or a kick in the backside of your britches – as my dad used to say. You are not alone. This has been my dilemma for the last year and half, and I feel like I’m finally getting some clarity about it. I thought graduate school was the answer for me, the place where I could learn the most to help others. I was doing so well and I loved what I was learning. Then suddenly the hospitalizations started. In 2023 I was h ..read more

You would think after all God has brought me through in this wheelchair, it would make me grateful. But I still have my times when I lack gratitude and get grumpy. Today is an example. I don’t have any of my regular aides here on second shift to transfer me from my wheelchair to my bed. Placing me in my bed using the Hoyer lift is more of an art than a science, and it’s easy to bend my head panels, which I use to drive. If my head panels get misaligned, my wheelchair could be out of commission for several days while I wait for it to be fixed. So, I’m choosing not to get out of bed today, but I ..read more

First the good news. I haven’t been hospitalized for almost 6 months! As many of you know, I was hospitalized every few weeks throughout last year. The doctors knew how to treat the blood infections temporarily, but within 2 to 4 weeks, the infections always returned. In October, the doctors decided to remove several kidney stones, and that was my last visit to the hospital in 2023. Thank you for your prayers! Onward and upward! Last week, my permanent aide told me she was getting new responsibilities and would no longer be working with me. As you can imagine, I was really upset. I’ve gone thr ..read more

I’m working on a project that is requiring me to go back through my old blog posts. I am amazed at how great my faith was, even just two years after my injury occurred. This post really helped me today. It is short and sweet but it drives home a good point, and one that I have forgotten over the years. The Apple of His Eye ..read more

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty (Zec 4:6). I have heard this verse in song and seen it on T-shirts and it has always resulted in a “feel good” moment for me. This morning I had the opportunity to study it more in depth and it lit fire inside of me knowing I possess God’s power and the Holy Spirit. What an emboldened feeling! In this chapter, Governor Zerubbabel (Gov. Z from now on), was faced with the monumental task of rebuilding the temple that had been ..read more

Over the last two weeks I have felt completely useless. I experienced a wicked depression and did not bother to reach out to others and ask for help. I also spent very little time in the Bible and in prayer. Because my chronic low blood pressure caused me to feel dizzy and lethargic, it was difficult to sit up and use my laptop. The longer time I spent away from things that would normally nourish my faith, such as God’s word, prayer, and fellowship with others, the more I began to question if I could be a tool for God with the physical and mental challenges I face. But we all know you do not h ..read more

This blog post was inspired by chapter 2 of Ann Spangler’s book, Names of God (Spangler 2009). Have you ever felt that God doesn’t see you? That maybe he is not aware of how deeply you are hurting? You wonder why he is not healing your physical pain. You wonder why he is not restoring a difficult relationship in your life. I have felt those very things, on and off, since I started my Christian journey in 1989. I felt these emotions as an able-bodied person and then as a wheelchair-bound person for the last 10 years. I want to share the story of Hagar to give encouragement to all of us. Ge ..read more

After another hospitalization last week, I had to set my thoughts on things above and not allow the sickness in my body dictate my level of faith. I thought I would share some of the verses that are keeping me afloat. 2 Corinthians 10: 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Having been hospitalized so much lately ha ..read more