12/29/12

Being thankful!!!



(Cameron Mott)

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Courtesy of Kennedy Krieger (taken from her website)

As 6-year-old Cameron Mott sings and dances her way around her family’s North Carolina living room, it’s obvious she has some serious star power.

But things weren’t always this way. At age three she started having seizures and was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia, an abnormality in the development of the cerebral cortex.

"She was having six to 10 seizures a day," says her dad, Casey. The seizures robbed Cameron’s family of their little girl. Every morning she was clear and bright, but then the first seizure would hit. Cameron would lose consciousness and fall to the floor.

"It was like she was being sucked to the ground by a magnet," says her mom, Shelly. "She just hit so hard, so fast."

To control the seizures, the family had to use a sedative.

"It was a huge amount," Shelly says. "It would knock a grown man out." Yet 35-pound Cameron was so adjusted to the drug that, instead of being knocked out, she was in a fog for hours or even days.

Despite the seizures, she continued to function typically, but around age five she started to decline to the level of a two- or three-year-old. And the seizures continued.

Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with Rasmussen’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that causes progressive neurologic deterioration as the body produces antibodies that attack its own brain cells.

When Shelly and Casey heard the diagnosis, they started a desperate search for answers.

"Everything we kept reading was really scaring us to death," explains Shelly.

The answer they got was not easy to accept. Cameron’s best hope was a hemispherectomy, a surgery to remove half her brain. But they realized that the benefits far outweighed the risks.

The surgery left Cameron with hemiplegia - partial paralysis - on her left side. Initially, she could barely sit up, so she spent about a month at the Kennedy Krieger Institute - an internationally recognized leader in pediatric neurorehabilitation. While there, she had a unique opportunity to work in the Institute’s motion analysis laboratory on an unusual split-belt treadmill, a funny new machine that is doing some amazing things.

The treadmill is part of the lab’s innovative work researching how the brain learns walking patterns and how to teach it new ones.

With its two belts, the treadmill moves each leg at a different speed, causing the brain to adjust - temporarily eliminating a limp.

Over the course of two weeks, Cameron showed progress, her brain learning the new walking pattern. This is just the beginning as trials in the near future will explore the results of long-term training on the treadmill.

Cameron has recovered well. She is back in school, and the leg brace she wears is one of the few signs of everything she has been through. And Cameron isn’t letting anything stop her.

"She’s back to her silly singing and dancing self," says Casey.

"All she talks about is ballet," adds Shelly. "I’ve got to sign her up for classes."

As Shelly’s words hang in the air, it is easy to believe that before long Cameron will trade in her leg brace for ballet slippers.

 I defy you to view the video and kennedy's comments and NOT HAVE IT AFFECT YOU!!!  That is... if you have HALF A BRAIN!!!  If you have ever been deathly ill, you already know something of how this little girl must have felt AFTER THE OPERATION!!!  These things remind me of one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible...

John, Chapter 9

 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 
 
  3  Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.   4  I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.   5  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”   6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,  7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.  8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”  9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” 

He said, “I am he.”  10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” 

  11  He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” 

  12  Then they asked him, “Where is he?” 

He said, “I don’t know.” 

  13  They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.  14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” 

  16  Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them.  17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” 

He said, “He is a prophet.” 

  18  The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,  19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 

  20  His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;  21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”  22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” 

  24  So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 

  25  He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” 

  26  They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 

  27  He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” 

  28  They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” 

  30  The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.  31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.*x1  32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.  33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 

  34  They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out. 

  35  Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 

  36  He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” 

  37  Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” 

  38  He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him. 

  39  Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” 

  40  Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 

  41  Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains. 

 Yesterday, I spoke with my insurance agent; I could barely understand him and very soon I realized why- he said he had had a stroke.  I will pray for him AND THIS LITTLE GIRL that someday they will understand God's will for their lives in spite of their affliction.  Anyone can become sick, anyone can suffer, but the heart that seeks God will find relief regardless of how they fare physically.  Today, thank God for that measure of health you have been given AND MAKE A COMMITTMENT TO PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIFE!!!  None of us knows what tomorrow may bring!!!

Bible Reading, Dec. 29


Dec. 29
Zechariah 9-12

Zec 9:1 An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;
Zec 9:2 and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.
Zec 9:3 Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
Zec 9:4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.
Zec 9:5 Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
Zec 9:6 Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
Zec 9:7 I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
Zec 9:8 I will encamp around my house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zec 9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Zec 9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
Zec 9:12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
Zec 9:13 For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
Zec 9:14 Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.
Zec 9:15 Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.
Zec 9:16 Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land.
Zec 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
Zec 10:1 Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
Zec 10:2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.
Zec 10:3 My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.
Zec 10:4 From him will come forth the cornerstone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.
Zec 10:5 They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.
Zec 10:6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them.
Zec 10:7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in Yahweh.
Zec 10:8 I will signal for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they will increase as they have increased.
Zec 10:9 I will sow them among the peoples; and they will remember me in far countries; and they will live with their children, and will return.
Zec 10:10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and there won't be room enough for them.
Zec 10:11 He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
Zec 10:12 I will strengthen them in Yahweh; and they will walk up and down in his name," says Yahweh.
 

Zec 11:1 Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.
Zec 11:2 Wail, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.
Zec 11:3 A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
Zec 11:4 Thus says Yahweh my God: "Feed the flock of slaughter.
Zec 11:5 Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;' and their own shepherds don't pity them.
Zec 11:6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land," says Yahweh; "but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them."
Zec 11:7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called "Favor," and the other I called "Union," and I fed the flock.
Zec 11:8 I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
Zec 11:9 Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other's flesh."
Zec 11:10 I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
Zec 11:11 It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.
Zec 11:12 I said to them, "If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them." So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
Zec 11:13 Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!" I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh.
Zec 11:14 Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Zec 11:15 Yahweh said to me, "Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
Zec 11:16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
Zec 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!"
 

Zec 12:1 An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
Zec 12:2 "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
Zec 12:4 In that day," says Yahweh, "I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
Zec 12:5 The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their God.'
Zec 12:6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
Zec 12:7 Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.
Zec 12:8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.
Zec 12:9 It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:14 all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.



Dec. 29
Revelation 19, 20

Rev 19:1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God:
Rev 19:2 for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."
Rev 19:3 A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever."
Rev 19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen! Hallelujah!"
Rev 19:5 A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!"
Rev 19:6 I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready."
Rev 19:8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Rev 19:9 He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " He said to me, "These are true words of God."
Rev 19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, "Look! Don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy."
Rev 19:11 I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called "The Word of God."
Rev 19:14 The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen.
Rev 19:15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Rev 19:17 I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,
Rev 19:18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and great."
Rev 19:19 I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 19:21 The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.

 

Rev 20:1 I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
Rev 20:4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
Rev 20:7 And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison,
Rev 20:8 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Rev 20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works.
Rev 20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.