Exciting News!!! and More Movement!

Well its Thursday night and it has been about a week since my last post. Since that time I have been able to do different exercises and move my legs in ways than I have never done before. When my therapist visited me on Sunday we worked on an exercise where she laid me on my back and spread my legs apart. I was able to push my legs together and pull them back apart. The best way to explain this is making a "snow angel." You know when you lay in the snow and move your legs and arms to make a snow angel. Well I can MOVE my legs in the same way! I was so excited about this new movement because I have never done it before. PRAISE GOD on my new movement and I hope that each and every step I make will glorify him!
This week one of my best friends from Little Rock came down with his girl friend to stay with me. I had a blast, we went to Sea World, Gatorland, Cirque Du Sollie, the three of us stayed very busy for days! While I was at Gatorland fixing to watch a man wrestle an alligator I got a phone call! It was from a lady at Shepherds who is head of the day patient program. I have been slotted to start at Shepherds on September 22nd which is a Monday. They are opening up my apartment that Saturday the 20th for me to move in and get acclimated. Jennifer and I had made plans for us to go in at the same time and they did there best to comply with our request. However, Jennifer will be going a week ahead of me but we will still be there at the same time. I am VERY excited about going to Shepherds and can't wait to get started! I am READY TO WORK! All day and everyday, whatever it takes! I have gotten several phone calls from my friends at Pleasant Valley and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! I appreciate your continued prayers on my behalf! All of the progress that I make will be to glorify God! I know that I will make it through this and ask for everyone to keep both myself and Jennifer in your prayers! Thank you all for your support! It is you who motivate me and ultimately God who I am doing this for so that one day everyone can see his power through the miracle he is working through me!

I LOVE YOU ALL,
IN HIM,
BRENT

AN AMAZING MIRACLE!!

I am sorry for the delay in this post. I was having some problems with my password to log onto this site to do an updated post! I wanted to let everyone know that my progress as been AMAZING this week. My therapist visited me again on Thursday and I am getting much better at standing. Once I stand myself up I am able to rotate my hips (kind of like doing the hula hoop). I do the hip rotation in order to work on my balance and keeping my body centered. I am also able to unlock my hips and pull myself forward using my pelvis. My progress is coming along GREAT and I can not wait to get to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta to further my rehab.
On another note, I talk with Jennifer often and she seems to be doing great! Just the other day she was able to regain a little bit more movement in her hands! PRAISE GOD!! Jennifer is new to her injury and is so much further along than where I was during that same time of my rehab. I know that we will both walk again through faith and through the power of miracles which only God can provide!

Now I am going to share with everyone a miracle which happened last night. I can not explain this or how it happened but you be the judge if God wasn't behind this miracle:
I was laying in bed and having a hard time falling asleep. I dozed off for a few minutes but then woke up again. Staring at the ceiling for some UNKNOWN reason....at 4:00 in the morning I turned on the TV?? Who turns on the TV at 4 A.M.??? Once i turned on the TV a show was on the 700 club. This is a religious station that my TV just happened to be on when I turned my TV off last. As soon as my TV came into focus I heard them talking about a girl who had a spinal cord injury. I started watching the show and JUST then the segment started about a girl who was paralyzed in a car accident in Nashville, TN. She was a C-5 quadriplegic and was in very bad shape. I immediately started thinking of my friend Jennifer, this was her injury. I kept watching the show and the young girl went to a rehab center in Atlanta called Shepherds???? WHAT?? this TV show was becoming very very personal all the sudden almost as if I was SUPPOSE to be watching this! The girl started getting better and throughout the entire ordeal she KEPT her faith in God and NEVER gave up in her recover. After a long recovery.....she WALKED OUT OF SHEPHERDS!! On her own two legs with no assistance!
OK.....this was getting weird? I just woke up in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep turned on the TV and it turned onto a girl who was a quad who went to shepherds and started WALKING AGAIN??? really?? Does that JUST HAPPEN!
I immediately thought to myself, "I must meet this girl and talk to her!" So being the detective that I am I pulled up facebook...(at 4:15 am mind you!) I figured there wasn't any young girls in America NOT on facebook so I searched her name....AND FOUND HER!! We ended up talking for quit sometime on the computer. Her story was so inspirational to me and i KNOW that God wanted me to watch that show and that he wanted me to meet her! I thought for sure that she could also help my friend Jennifer because they have gone through the exact same thing. I asked her if I could share her story with my prayer warriors and she said SURE!...this was HER ministry just like this blog is my ministry! I have attached a clip to this video for everyone to watch. PLEASE watch this video and KNOW that God still works miracles! He woke me up at 4:00 AM last night in order for me to meet this girl, there is NO WAY it was a coincidence!

I LOVE YOU ALL,
IN HIM,
BRENT

News On My Progress!

Well its Thursday night and I just got done with my therapy session. Tonight was the hardest I have ever worked with my shirt being completely soaked in sweat by the time I was finished! I was exhausted but the results of my workout was very encouraging! Tonight we worked on lifting my leg up off the ground and setting on the workout table/mat. Laying on my workout mat with half of my body hanging over the edge and one foot on the ground I was able to lift my leg up off the ground with a lot of force and with just minimal assistance set it on the mat with me. This is great news I was able to lift my leg off the ground with a lot of force pulling from my quads. I also worked on negative resistance and trying to slowly bring my leg down to the floor. This was also a great success as I was able to bring my leg down to the floor and even stop it in mid air.

Next we worked on standing pivots. Today I stood up with hardly any assistance and minimal pushing. Once I was standing I was able to weight shift and move my legs slightly with very small increments. Once I took weight off of my feet I would turn myself and sit down in a chair from my workout mat. This was a great accomplishment, once I master this technique I will be able to move from chair to chair without using my arms to transfer. I will be able to stand up and sit down using just my legs!!

After each and every workout session I see great improvements in my abilities. The Lord is definitely guiding my recovery. I have come so far from where I was in Little Rock. I feel like I am very close to walking. I still have a LONG WAYS to go! I don't want you to think that I will be walking any week now.....although with God....It's possible. However, my progress is getting better. We are confident that with braces I will be able to start walking but we are waiting for Shepherds to take me to that step. Until then I will prepare myself each and everyday for Atlanta.

I called the Shepherd Center today and was told that I would be admitted in mid September. I was told I would more than likely be admitted during the week of the 15th. I was also told that Jennifer and I would be going in at the same time. I am looking forward to going through Shepherds with a friend. We are going to keep each other encouraged and motivated all along the way. Please never stop praying for the two of us! We need all of your prayers to make it through this rehab. Each and every workout REALLY takes it out of me. I am use to sports and gym workouts but NOTHING is as difficult as my rehab sessions. It is because of your prayers I have progressed to where I am today! PRAISE GOD!! I can not WAIT for him to use me to further his kingdom. I AM READY!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!,
IN HIM,
BRENT

Please Pray For My Friend!

I wanted to thank everyone who reads my blog. I am in awe of how many people it has reached and the prayers that have gone up on my behalf. It is for that reason I come to you now asking to increase your prayers for a very special friend of mine! Her name is Jennifer and lives in Benton, Arkansas. Through a very tragic sequence of events she had her neck broken and is currently struggling with paralysis from the neck down. I feel like God has put Jennifer in my life through this struggle. We talked on the phone last night and we shared so much in common. She was in the same room I was in at Baptist Rehab once I left and she will be admitted to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta at the same time I will be there. Jennifer is only a few months out from her accident and still has a long way to go. However she shares my faith in God and the power of miracles. She has her prayer warriors already going to God on her behalf and now I wanted to add mine to the mix. Together we are going to flood God with prayers and we will witness a miracle!
God puts people in our lives for just this kind of reason so that we can help others out. Jennifer and I were strangers as of yesterday but we share a common belief and a common goal of complete healing! We are both being dealt with a very big trial in our lives and it in these times that we can rely on God and put our faith in him. Each and everyday I firmly believe that one day I will be whole again. I believe the same for Jennifer as well! In order for this miracle to happen we MUST keep the faith. So far my recovery has been miraculous. I received an email from my physical therapist from Little Rock saying he is amazed by my recovery and the belief that I have in my healing. He said, “I never want to tell people what will happen because every now and then there are “Brents” out there who defy the odds!” I can say without a doubt that my recovery and healing has come from God! Although I still have a long ways to go I know God hears your prayers that you give on my behalf. Now I would like to ask that you extend those prayers to my friend Jennifer! She has a long road ahead of her as do I but together we can overcome this tragedy. Boy, do WE have a story to tell!
The reason I write this blog is to show others that through faith NOTHING is impossible. My recovery is only to glorify God and I know that so many of you do that each and every time you read my posts. If this tragedy can bring others to him than it will all be worth it! I ask everyone now to please lift Jennifer up as well! This blog reaches around the world and it baffles me how many people it has reached, PRAISE GOD! I ask for everyone to not give up on your prayers and to BELIEVE! We can not have faith with doubt. Believe God can answer prayers and I know that both Jennifer and I will be a miracle that he can use to glorify him!

I LOVE YOU ALL,
IN HIM,
BRENT!