Its Sunday night, and time for another blog post (pause for applause!)HA! Thank you for all of your prayers. I have seen amazing gains in the past week. I have decided to double my workout regiment each day! I am now riding my bike for two hours a day, and getting in my standing frame for an hour a day. I then get on my workout mat and do various exercises. Once my dad gets home I put on my braces and work on walking in my driveway. My therapist has been coming to my house a few times a week and as of lately I have started going to her house as well to get therapy. Each and every time my therapist works out with me I see tremendous gains! She works me hard...VERY HARD never letting me give up! She pushes me hard, which is what I need. Like she always says..."Im an athlete in training" I sometimes have to stop and sit up because my back is soaked in sweat! Just when I think we are done with a set of exercises she tells me...OK BRENT...5 more! HAHA! I am no stranger to a gym and use to enjoy working out, but NOTHING is as hard as what I am doing now! It is a total physical and mental workout! I strain as hard as I can to hold each contraction. If you were to walk by my room you would think I am giving birth. HAHA
I knew this wasn't going to be easy from the beginning. All I can do is work as hard as humanly possibly and leave the rest up to God! Nothing is impossible for those who believe. As I mentioned in my previous posts we must not doubt the power of God. If we believe WITHOUT DOUBT in our hearts then mountains can be moved!
Throughout my trials I often think of Peter when he walked on water. It took FAITH for Peter to step out into the water. It was BY HIS FAITH, he was able to walk on water with Jesus. However, once he saw the waves crashing around him he lost his focus, for a second....he doubted! "could this REALLY be HAPPENING?" "Is this possible?" once he took his focus off of Jesus, HE SANK! "Ye of LITTLE FAITH!"
In order for this miracle to become a reality I must have this faith, and I pray that all of you believe in your hearts as I do, that I will walk again! Do not doubt, do not think for a second that it wont happen! For as the bible says. "When you ask for something in prayer, believe that you have received it, then IT WILL BE YOURS!" Have the faith that it WILL HAPPEN and it will be so!
This injury has been a strain on me! It is a grueling test of endurance. As it says in James "consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds because the testing of your faith develops perseverance!" My faith has been tested, the mountain that I must climb is steep and will take every once of perseverance to concur it. I am lucky to have the support of so many faithful brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage me and help me along the way! THANK YOU!! PLEASE KEEP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS!! Please do not forget about me or put off prayers on my behalf. I NEED THEM! I desperately need them because it is THROUGH Christ I have the only hope of regaining my legs!
I LOVE YOU ALL
SO MUCH IN HIM
BRENT
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
More Progress!! Thank You For Your Prayers!
Let me start off by apologizing for being late on my weekly blog post! I am going to start writing a new entry every SUNDAY NIGHT! So be sure to check out the blog weekly for the new updates on my life and you can see the results of your prayers!
In the past few weeks my legs have started feeling in such ways I had never had them feel before! I am getting new sensations that are strange and exciting at the same time. I am starting to feel my muscles flexing in my legs. I can feel most all the way through my legs. Light touch is still lagging a little, but deep pressure and moments are coming along GREAT! My proprioception (which is the ability to know where your body is in space without looking at it) is WONDERFUL! I can close my eyes and tell you exactly what you are doing to my legs. I can tell if you are raising it, lowering it, moving my ankles exc. I can feel my legs well enough to know what they are doing!
My movements have also increased dramatically. I am starting to get much stronger and my legs are moving now, without me having to think about it! The knees and ankles are still slow, but they are coming in! My quads are firing and my hips have gotten really strong. In the past few rehab sessions I have been able to raise my leg in the air at the hip and HOLD the leg in the air. I can then lower my foot back to the ground slowly and stop my leg at anytime during the decent! This takes VERY STRONG muscle control and strength to maintain the weight of your own leg in the air! PRAISE GOD!!!
Your prayers are working and I am getting more and more return in my legs. This is a very, very slow process, one that takes a long time but the goal of walking is getting closer!
Last week I received a phone call from a man who is considered a CELEBRITY in SCI circles. He is the poster child for what is possible with someone who has a spinal cord injury. He SWEARS by ACTIVITY BASED THERAPY as being a huge reason he has regained so much return. Pat Rummerfield was involved in a high speed car accident in 1974 at the age of 21. Pat broke 4 vertebrae in his neck and was a QUAD! Pat started working out EVERYDAY on a motorized bike and doing activity based therapy. HE NEVER STOPPED working! After several years...he could stand and barely walk....after 17 years of INTENSE ACTIVITY BASED THERAPY, He is walking PERFECTLY FINE!! NO limp, no cane, no braces. He has done several marathons and triathlons to raise support for SCI victims! Pat called me to encourage me and tell me that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE, if you never give up and have HOPE! Well my hope lies in God, and my faith does also! With the prayers and support of so many of you! I know I will overcome this and WILL WALK AGAIN ONE DAY!!
(copy and paste this link to watch this AWESOME video of Pat Rummerfield!)
http://www.aarp.org/aarp/broadcast/Quiet_Heroes/Walking_Proof/
I LOVE YOU ALL!
SO MUCH IN HIM
BRENT
In the past few weeks my legs have started feeling in such ways I had never had them feel before! I am getting new sensations that are strange and exciting at the same time. I am starting to feel my muscles flexing in my legs. I can feel most all the way through my legs. Light touch is still lagging a little, but deep pressure and moments are coming along GREAT! My proprioception (which is the ability to know where your body is in space without looking at it) is WONDERFUL! I can close my eyes and tell you exactly what you are doing to my legs. I can tell if you are raising it, lowering it, moving my ankles exc. I can feel my legs well enough to know what they are doing!
My movements have also increased dramatically. I am starting to get much stronger and my legs are moving now, without me having to think about it! The knees and ankles are still slow, but they are coming in! My quads are firing and my hips have gotten really strong. In the past few rehab sessions I have been able to raise my leg in the air at the hip and HOLD the leg in the air. I can then lower my foot back to the ground slowly and stop my leg at anytime during the decent! This takes VERY STRONG muscle control and strength to maintain the weight of your own leg in the air! PRAISE GOD!!!
Your prayers are working and I am getting more and more return in my legs. This is a very, very slow process, one that takes a long time but the goal of walking is getting closer!
Last week I received a phone call from a man who is considered a CELEBRITY in SCI circles. He is the poster child for what is possible with someone who has a spinal cord injury. He SWEARS by ACTIVITY BASED THERAPY as being a huge reason he has regained so much return. Pat Rummerfield was involved in a high speed car accident in 1974 at the age of 21. Pat broke 4 vertebrae in his neck and was a QUAD! Pat started working out EVERYDAY on a motorized bike and doing activity based therapy. HE NEVER STOPPED working! After several years...he could stand and barely walk....after 17 years of INTENSE ACTIVITY BASED THERAPY, He is walking PERFECTLY FINE!! NO limp, no cane, no braces. He has done several marathons and triathlons to raise support for SCI victims! Pat called me to encourage me and tell me that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE, if you never give up and have HOPE! Well my hope lies in God, and my faith does also! With the prayers and support of so many of you! I know I will overcome this and WILL WALK AGAIN ONE DAY!!
(copy and paste this link to watch this AWESOME video of Pat Rummerfield!)
http://www.aarp.org/aarp/broadcast/Quiet_Heroes/Walking_Proof/
I LOVE YOU ALL!
SO MUCH IN HIM
BRENT
Thursday, February 5, 2009
KEEP THE FAITH!! MIRACLES WILL HAPPEN!
I wanted to start this post off by telling everyone how blessed I feel everyday! Since my accident I have been overwhelmed with love and support from so many people. Most people never understand what being a Christian is all about until a serious injury or circumstances come your way which you can not face by yourself. My accident although tragic has opened my eyes to what is required of me as a Christian. I am NOT living for this life, I am living for GOD and for his will for me. My legs are the consequence of a tragic accident, but through me God is effecting others by showing them that he is all powerful. I want to be a tool for God to use to show others his mighty power.
Since the day I was told “I WOULD NEVER WALK AGAIN” my thoughts immediately went to prayer asking God for a miracle. It wasn’t just me but people from around the world started praying to God for a miracle. FAITH is something we all must have as a Christian. Having faith is the building blocks to being a Christian, without it can we really truly believe?
God requires us to have faith, which mean we can not doubt the power of God. I have spoken on this topic several times. When Jesus performs miracles in the bible there is always something present in the verses…a single word….FAITH! “No where in all of Israel is there greater faith than in this centurion. Go and your servant will be healed as you said he would be!”
While in Little Rock, my friend Jake Smith was giving me a ride back to the hotel when he told me a verse that has stuck with me to this day. Not a day goes by that I do not think of this verse.
MARK 11: 22-24
22 Have faith in God” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go , throw yourself into the sea , and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours!
That is the quintessential verse to me in regards to faith and prayer! The two go hand in hand together. Some people will say, well….Brent, that is not meant to be taken LITERALLY some things are impossible. I do not believe that AT ALL!! Jesus used the example of the mountain as an EXAMPLE that nothing is impossible. If I am to walk again, and this miracle is to happen I must have this kind of faith. An unwavering, undoubting faith that I will be healed and I BELIEVE it will be so! Like the verse says above…If you ask God for the impossible “AND DOES NOT HAVE DOUBT IN HIS HEART BUT BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS WILL HAPPEN, IT WILL BE DONE FOR HIM!”
I ask for everyone to have this type of faith! BELIEVE…do not doubt, do not say, I pray one day you will get better, but if you don’t bla bla bla….. If you say that…. Do you doubt that I wont in your heart?
We serve an amazing and powerful God whose power is limitless. He put me together before I was born, and he can do it again!
Please continue to believe! God has blessed me so far beyond measure and my healing is NOT DONE YET! I FEEL IT IN MY LEGS!! I get new feelings and sensations through my legs daily! I get throbbing and I am starting to feel ALL of my muscles!! My movement is getting stronger and stronger and my therapist is noticing NEW things that my legs can do in EVERY session. I have made REMARKABLE progress!! I still need the prayers if I am to be healed! THANK YOU ALL for your love and support! I could not do this without you!
I LOVE YOU ALL
SO MUCH IN HIM!!
BRENT
Since the day I was told “I WOULD NEVER WALK AGAIN” my thoughts immediately went to prayer asking God for a miracle. It wasn’t just me but people from around the world started praying to God for a miracle. FAITH is something we all must have as a Christian. Having faith is the building blocks to being a Christian, without it can we really truly believe?
God requires us to have faith, which mean we can not doubt the power of God. I have spoken on this topic several times. When Jesus performs miracles in the bible there is always something present in the verses…a single word….FAITH! “No where in all of Israel is there greater faith than in this centurion. Go and your servant will be healed as you said he would be!”
While in Little Rock, my friend Jake Smith was giving me a ride back to the hotel when he told me a verse that has stuck with me to this day. Not a day goes by that I do not think of this verse.
MARK 11: 22-24
22 Have faith in God” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go , throw yourself into the sea , and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours!
That is the quintessential verse to me in regards to faith and prayer! The two go hand in hand together. Some people will say, well….Brent, that is not meant to be taken LITERALLY some things are impossible. I do not believe that AT ALL!! Jesus used the example of the mountain as an EXAMPLE that nothing is impossible. If I am to walk again, and this miracle is to happen I must have this kind of faith. An unwavering, undoubting faith that I will be healed and I BELIEVE it will be so! Like the verse says above…If you ask God for the impossible “AND DOES NOT HAVE DOUBT IN HIS HEART BUT BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS WILL HAPPEN, IT WILL BE DONE FOR HIM!”
I ask for everyone to have this type of faith! BELIEVE…do not doubt, do not say, I pray one day you will get better, but if you don’t bla bla bla….. If you say that…. Do you doubt that I wont in your heart?
We serve an amazing and powerful God whose power is limitless. He put me together before I was born, and he can do it again!
Please continue to believe! God has blessed me so far beyond measure and my healing is NOT DONE YET! I FEEL IT IN MY LEGS!! I get new feelings and sensations through my legs daily! I get throbbing and I am starting to feel ALL of my muscles!! My movement is getting stronger and stronger and my therapist is noticing NEW things that my legs can do in EVERY session. I have made REMARKABLE progress!! I still need the prayers if I am to be healed! THANK YOU ALL for your love and support! I could not do this without you!
I LOVE YOU ALL
SO MUCH IN HIM!!
BRENT
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